Esa Tikkanen



Esa Tikkanen (b. January 25 1965 in Helsinki, Finland) is a former professional forward who played in the National Hockey League for the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, New Jersey Devils, Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers, and the Washington Capitals and won five Stanley Cups: 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990 with Oilers, 1994 with Rangers.

Esa was a key player early on in his career when he joined the Edmonton Oilers as he has soon been assigned to the first line along with Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri as the defensive element of the line, a role at which he excelled; he was also particularly skilled at distracting the opposition with what became known as Tiki-Talk or Tikkanese, a barely understandable mix of Finnish and English.

Tikkanen also played in his native Finland for HIFK Helsinki and Jokerit Helsinki, as well as for the Moskitos Essen of the DEL. In 2004, Tikkanen joined Asia League's Anyang Halla as player-coach. He then went to coach the Frisk Tigers of the Norwegian GET-Ligaen for one season.