Lasse Pirjetä

Lasse Pirjetä (born April 4, 1974) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward. He represented several teams in the Finnish SM-liiga, Frölunda HC in the Swedish Elitserien and the Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL.

Lasse Pirjetä
Born	(1974-04-04) April 4, 1974 (age 51) Oulu, Finland
Height	6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight	225 lb (102 kg; 16 st 1 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Left
Played for	TPS Frölunda HC Tappara HIFK Kärpät Columbus Blue Jackets Pittsburgh Penguins Kloten Flyers Malmö Redhawks Pelicans
National team	Finland
NHL draft	133rd overall, 2002 Columbus Blue Jackets
Playing career	1991–2009

Playing career

Pirjetä spent the majority of his first nine years of his professional career playing in his native Finnish league the SM-Liiga. After nominating, Pirjetä was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets as their fifth-round pick, 133rd overall, in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, as an overage draftee. Pirjetä made the jump to the NHL immediately in 2002–03 season with the Blue Jackets, appearing in 51 games with a solid 21 points. In the following 2003–04 season, Pirjetä struggled to maintain his form from his debut season and was traded by the Blue Jackets, to the Pittsburgh Penguins, for Brian Holzinger on March 10, 2004.^[1]

After starting the 2005–06 season with Pittsburgh, he was sent down to the Penguins' AHL team, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on December 15, 2005.^[2] After playing only 8 games with Wilkes-Barre on January 20, Pirjetä returned to Europe to play for the Kloten Flyers in the Swiss NLA.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1989–90	Kärpät	FIN U20		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1990–91	Kärpät	FIN U20		43	9	9	18	14		11	4	0	4	2
1991–92	Kärpät	FIN–2		2	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1991–92	Tacoma Rockets	WHL		16	5	2	7	4		—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	Kärpät	FIN U20		24	13	19	32	34		—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	Kärpät	FIN–2		20	4	3	7	6		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	Kärpät	FIN U20		6	2	2	4	2		4	6	2	8	8
1993–94	TPS	SM-l		43	9	9	18	14		11	4	0	4	2
1993–94	Kiekko–67	FIN–2		2	2	1	3	0		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	TPS	FIN U20		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	TPS	SM-l		49	7	13	20	64		8	0	1	1	29
1995–96	TPS	SM-l		45	13	14	27	34		11	6	3	9	4
1996–97	Frölunda HC	SEL		50	14	8	22	36		3	0	1	1	4
1997–98	Tappara	SM-l		48	24	22	46	20		4	1	1	2	2
1998–99	Tappara	SM-l		54	22	19	41	32		—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	HIFK	SM-l		54	18	25	43	24		9	2	3	5	10
2000–01	HIFK	SM-l		56	15	18	33	20		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Kärpät	SM-l		55	15	26	41	24		4	2	2	4	2
2002–03	Columbus Blue Jackets	NHL		51	11	10	21	12		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Columbus Blue Jackets	NHL		57	2	8	10	20		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Syracuse Crunch	AHL		5	1	2	3	2		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		13	6	6	12	0		—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	HIFK	SM-l		45	16	20	36	26		5	2	0	2	2
2005–06	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		25	4	3	7	18		—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins	AHL		8	1	4	5	6		—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Kloten Flyers	NLA		7	1	2	3	2		9	0	2	2	2
2006–07	Malmö Redhawks	SEL		54	10	16	26	44		—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Malmö Redhawks	SWE–2		4	4	2	6	2		10	3	5	8	6
2008–09	Pelicans	SM-l		7	0	1	1	4		—	—	—	—	—
SM-l totals				456	139	167	306	260		52	17	10	27	51
NHL totals				146	23	27	50	50		—	—	—	—	—

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1992	Finland	EJC		5	1	3	4	2
2002	Finland	WC		7	0	0	0	0
2003	Finland	WC		7	1	0	1	0
2004	Finland	WC		7	3	0	3	2
Junior totals				5	1	3	4	2
Senior totals				21	4	0	4	2