Esa Tikkanen (born January 25, 1965) is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey forward. He played for the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, New Jersey Devils, Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers, and the Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League and won five Stanley Cups in 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990 with the Oilers, and 1994 with the Rangers.
Although a talented scorer who rarely fought, he was best known for his ability to agitate the opposition; his nickname "Tikk" was as much a reference to his ability to get under an opponent's skin as it was a play on his name. One classic Tikkanen moment came in the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs when, challenged by the Washington Capitals' Keith Jones, Tikkanen responded by kissing his shocked adversary on the nose.
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He garnered 630 points (244 goals, 386 assists) and 1,077 penalty minutes in 877 regular-season games in the NHL; he also appeared in 186 playoff games, notching 132 points (72 goals, 60 assists) and 275 penalty minutes.
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He was notorious for his barely-intelligible manner of speaking, a mishmash of Finnish and English dubbed "Tikkanese" by teammates and fans. Wayne Gretzky once famously said of Tikkanen, "he brings something special. I don't know what it is, but if you asked him, you couldn't understand his answer". Another former teammate, Craig MacTavish, once quipped: "Esa talks twice as much as anybody else. That's because you can understand just half what he says".
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Children: Enzo, Tito, Sabrina and Stephanie.
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Signed a contract with Halla Winia hockey club in Anyang, Kyonggi province in South Korea of the Asian Ice Hockey League as a coach and a player. [September 2004]
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After finishing the 98-99 NHL season, Esa occupied a brief stint as a New York City MTA subway conductor on the B line which ran to and from Madison Square Garden
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Mentioned as a menu item in "Due South" (1994) episode "Dead Men Don't Throw Rice" [Season 4 Episode #162; 12/8/1998]
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Won four Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers (1985, 1987, 1988, 1990), and one with the New York Rangers (1994).
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Drafted by the Edmonton Oliers, (4th pick, 80th Overall) in 1983 Entry Draft.
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(July 24, 1994) Traded to St. Louis by NY Rangers with Doug Lidster for Petr Nedved; trade arranged as compensation for Blues signing coach Mike Keenan.
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(March 17, 1993) Traded to the NY Rangers by Edmonton for Doug Weight.
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(November 1, 1995) Traded to New Jersey by St. Louis for New Jersey's third round choice in 1997 Entry Draft.
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(November 23, 1995) Traded to Vancouver by New Jersey for Vancouver's second round choice (Wesley Mason) in 1996 Entry Draft.
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(March 8, 1997) Traded to NY Rangers by Vancouver with Russ Courtnall for Sergei Nemchinov and Brian Noonan.
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(September 5, 1997) Signed as a free agent by the Florida Panthers.
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(March 8, 1998) Traded to Washington Capitals by Florida for Dwayne Hay and a conditional draft pick.
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Father managed an ice rink in Helsinki.
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(October 9, 1998) Signed as a free agent by New York Rangers.
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Wife Lotta, a former skier with the Swedish Junior Team, opened Skaters Inc. (Edmonton), which specializes in custom skate building, rebuilding and repair, hockey-glove re-palming and skate sharpening.
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Won Olympic bronze in 1998.
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His best friend in his native Finland is also named Esa Tikkanen.
$1.9 Million
