Jyrki Lumme

Jyrki Olavi Lumme (born July 16, 1966, in Tampere, Finland) is a retired professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1988 to 2003, primarily for the Vancouver Canucks. He was originally drafted out of the Finnish SM-Liiga by the Montreal Canadiens 57th overall in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft, with whom he began his NHL career. Lumme spent nine seasons with the Canucks after being traded to Vancouver in 1990 and made it to the Stanley Cup Finals with the club in 1994. Nearing the end of his NHL career, he additionally played for the Phoenix Coyotes, Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs. After retiring from the NHL, Lumme played two seasons for Ilves Tampere of the SM-Liiga, with whom he also began his professional career and spent the 1994–95 season due to the NHL lockout.

Playing career
Lumme began his professional career in with Ilves Tampere of the SM-Liiga in 1985–86. Following his rookie season in Finland, Lumme was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the 3rd round (57th overall) in 1986. He remained with Ilves Tampere for two seasons following his draft before moving to North America to begin playing in the Canadiens system. He split the 1989–90 season between the Canadiens and the Sherbrooke Canadiens of the American Hockey League (AHL). Lumme only played 75 games with the Canadiens over two seasons before being traded to the Vancouver Canucks during the 1989–90 season.

Lumme proved a good fit in Vancouver as he quickly established himself as the Canucks' top offensive defenceman. He recorded back-to-back 44-point seasons in 1991–92 and 1992–93 to lead the team's defencemen in scoring both years and won his first of four Babe Pratt Trophies as the team's top defenceman in 1992. In 1993–94, Lumme posted a career-high 55 points, second only to late-season acquisition Jeff Brown, among team defencemen. Lumme followed up his strong regular season with 13 points in the playoffs, helping Vancouver take the New York Rangers to seven games in the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals before losing in the deciding game.

After coming within a game of the Stanley Cup, Lumme returned to Finland to play with Ilves Tampere due to the 1994–95 NHL lockout. When NHL play resumed, Lumme continued as one of the Canucks' standout defencemen for the duration of his time with the club, as his defensive game improved as well. He fell only one point short of his career high during the 1995–96 season, scoring 54 points — enough to lead the team's defencemen in scoring once more. He also managed a career-high 17 goals. The following season, he won his fourth and final Babe Pratt Trophy in 1997. Lumme led the Canucks' defence in scoring his final two years in Vancouver before becoming an unrestricted free-agent in 1998 and signing a deal with the Phoenix Coyotes. He left Vancouver as the franchise's all-time leading scorer in goals with 83 (surpassed by Mattias Öhlund on December 15, 2007) and points with 321 (tied with Dennis Kearns, since surpassed by Öhlund).

Playing with his third NHL club, Lumme remained a prominent member on his team's blueline. With 28-, 40- and 25-point seasons in Phoenix, Lumme finishing second among team defencemen in scoring behind Teppo Numminen in all three campaigns. Lumme then signed with the Dallas Stars, where he played a brief 15-game stint with the club in 2001–02. Lumme left the Stars on October 29, 2001 to briefly visit his family in Finland after receiving permission from general manager Bob Gainey. His wife Minna and two kids had planned to join Lumme in Dallas during the season, but were reluctant to take a plane after the recent 9/11 terrorist attacks. Lumme and coach Ken Hitchcock clashed openly during his brief time in Dallas, however, and he was put on waivers. After clearing, he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for another veteran blueliner Dave Manson on November 21, 2001. The deal was spearheaded by Maple Leafs general manager Pat Quinn, Lumme's former coach and general manager in Vancouver, who commended Lumme as a "cornerstone" for the Canucks' success during his time with the club.

Near the end of the season, Lumme was suspended two games for cross-checking Buffalo Sabres forward J. P. Dumont in a game on March 2, 2002. After posting 12 points in the 51 games Lumme played in Toronto following the trade, he was left unprotected prior to the 2002–03 season for the NHL's waiver draft. With Lumme set to earn $2.75 million that season, however, he cleared the waiver draft and remained with Toronto, scoring 17 points in 73 games. At the end of the season, the Maple Leafs bought out the final remaining year on Lumme's contract for two-thirds of his expected $1.5 million salary. Lumme subsequently took a two-year hiatus from professional hockey, before playing two more years in Finland for Ilves, a team from his hometown that he had previously played for before entering the NHL and briefly during the 1994–95 lockout.

Though Lumme's smooth skating and deadly-accurate wrist shot made him best known as an offensive defenceman, during the peak of his career he was reliable in his own end too, with an effective backhand that allowed him to clear the zone with ease. Playing on the west coast, many analysts felt that Lumme never received the kind of acclaim he might have in an NHL market with more media exposure. In this vein, Canuck broadcaster Tom Larscheid once called him "the best kept secret outside of British Columbia." Lumme's efforts were recognized by Vancouver Canuck fans and media, who in four seasons named him the recipient of the Babe Pratt Trophy as the team's most outstanding defenceman (1991–92, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97).

Awards

 * Babe Pratt Trophy (Vancouver Canucks' best defenceman) - 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997