Pori Ässie captain and former national team and NHL hockey player Jesse Joensuu, 36, ends his professional career.
Jaakko Servo,
Riku Porvari
Ice hockey championship league club Pori Ässät informs on its websitethat To Jesse Joensuu end his career. He served as team captain for the past two seasons.
Urheilu reported on the topic earlier (9.1).
The professional career of the 36-year-old ice hockey player included more than a thousand matches, including matches in the world’s toughest ice hockey leagues. In his career, Joensuu played in the NHL, KHL and SHL, among others.
– I will miss life and friends in the dressing room the most. The mood is sad now, but at the same time I am proud and happy that I was still able to play in Ässi and end my career here, Joensuu commented on the decision.
However, Joensuu plans to continue with hockey, as he will start as the sports coordinator of Pori Ässie with a two-year contract at the beginning of August.
In the new job description, Joensuu works as an assistant to the sports management and develops the activities of the under-16 and under-20 teams in close cooperation with the coaching groups and the full-time employees of Porin Ässät ry
– This is exactly what I want. I get to learn social work in Ässi and I get to do a job that motivates the hell out of me. By developing the club’s own player production, we get more players from Pori, and it takes Ässi forward and better, Joensuu describes his new task.
Aces sports director Janne Vuorinen congratulates Joensuu on a great playing career.
– The great hockey personality from Pori is now moving on to a new career. It’s great to have Jesse share his knowledge and passion for Pori hockey in the future as well.
Pori Ässie’s own foster started his league career at the age of 15. Joensuu held the title of the youngest player in SM league history for a long time, until Mikko Kokkonen made his debut in Mikkeli Jukurei in the 2016 season at a slightly younger age.
In Joensuu’s last season, Ässät narrowly missed out on a playoff spot after finishing 11th in the series. The 36-year-old gambler recorded power points of 7+2=9 in 41 matches.
Joensuu commented on his termination decision by publishing Ässien on video.
Story updated at 10:54. Added Ässie’s ranking and Joensuu’s power points this season.