Monday, June 2, 2008

So long, Sami: Kapanen retires

After 12 years in the league, Flyers winger Sami Kapanen has decided to end his NHL career. According to Bill Meltzer of Hockeybuzz.com, Kapanen will play for KalPa in Finland, the team he started his career with, for one season before hanging up his skates for good. Kapanen spent the last 4 1/2 seasons with the Flyers and was a total team player, doing whatever it took to help the team win, including playing defense from time to time. He still had one year left on his contract where he would have earned just over a million dollars, so now the Flyers will have a little bit of extra cap space.

Kapanen spent his career with two franchises: Hartford/Carolina and Philadelphia. He was a true warrior who constantly battled. He represents everything the hard-working Flyers are, and for that he will be missed. Kapanen retires having never won a Stanley Cup.

Here are Kapanen's career stats:
YEARTEAMGPGAPTS+/-PIM
1995-1996 HFD 3554906
1996-1997 HFD 4513122562
1997-1998 CAR 81263763916
1998-1999 CAR 81243559-110
1999-2000 CAR 762424481012
2000-2001 CAR 82203757-1224
2001-2002 CAR 77274269923
2002-2003 CAR 4361218-1712
PHI 284913-16
2003-2004 PHI 74121830914
2005-2006 PHI 58122234-912
2006-2007 PHI 77111425-2122
2007-2008 PHI 74538-1216
Career -- 831189269458-30175

He may be remembered most for showing a ton of heart in getting back to the bench after being laid out by Darcy Tucker of the Maple Leafs in the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs:

No comments:

Post a Comment