Lasse Kukkonen

Lasse Kukkonen (born September 18, 1981) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman who plays for Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League.

Playing career
Kukkonen was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks as their fifth-round pick, 151st overall, in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

Kukkonen played ten NHL games in the 2003–04 NHL season, after which he returned to his hometown Kärpät in the SM-liiga. Kukkonen won the SM-liiga gold medal with Kärpät in 2005.

In the 2006-07 season, Kukkonen returned to the Chicago Blackhawks and played in 54 games before he was dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers along with a 3rd round draft pick in a three-way deal with the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings on February 26, 2007. With the Flyers, Kukkonen was put on a defensive pairing with Joni Pitkänen, also a native of Oulu. The two were also a pairing for 4 years in Finland. On May 17, 2007 he signed a 2-year contract with the Flyers.

On June 24, 2009, Kukkonen signed a two-year deal with Russian team, Avangard Omsk of the KHL.

He was named to the Finnish Olympic team at the 2006 Winter Olympics after defenceman Sami Salo was injured, and played in both the semifinal match versus Russia and the gold medal match versus Sweden.

Awards

 * 2005–06 Pekka Rautakallio trophy