Lasse Oksanen

Finnish ice hockey player Lasse Oksanen had an incredible career that spanned more than two decades at both the domestic and national levels. Oksanen joined Tampereen Ilves as a teenager and played for the team for most of his career. With the club he won the SM-liiga title three times (1962, 1966, 1972), was named the best player in Finland in 1966, and was the league’s top scorer in 1970. He was also named in the Finnish Championship All-Star team for eight consecutive years from 1965 to 1972, before a ninth appearance in 1975. Towards the end of his domestic career he played three seasons in Italy with HC Gardena, winning the Italian league title in 1976. Following his spell in Italy, Oksanen returned to Ilves before finishing his career with one season with Koovee in 1982–83.

Oksanen’s international career was almost as long as his domestic one, with him playing in 282 matches for Finland and scoring 159 points. He competed at 11 editions of the World Championships and three Olympic Games. Despite his prolific appearances for the Finnish team he never won a medal at a major international competition. Oksanen retired in 1983 and first worked as a coach before becoming involved in the running of the local council in Tampere. He was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1987 and the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1999.