Jari Kurri entered the Hockey Hall of Fame as the highest-scoring European-born player in NHL history. The mere mention of Kurri's name conjures up visions of the great Edmonton Oilers team that dominated the NHL throughout the 1980's.
Kurri had the pleasure of breaking into the NHL in 1980-81 with a young corps of talented players that included Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey and Grant Fuhr. Before you knew it, the Oilers were on their way to winning Stanley Cup championships and shattering League scoring records.
But what people don't realize is that Kurri almost didn't make the trek to the National Hockey League from Finland after being drafted by the Oilers with their third pick (69th overall) in the 1980 Draft.
At the time he was drafted, the 20-year-old forward only spoke a smattering of English, so he was hesitant about picking up and moving to a whole new world. Even the hockey was going to be foreign to him, as the NHL game is played on smaller rinks than the ones in Europe. But fellow-Finns -- and Oilers players -- Matti Hagman and Risto Siltanen talked him into giving the League a try and the rest as they say is history.
2001 Hall of Fame Inductions
Editor's note: There's nothing more self-fulfilling to a hockey player than to be elected to the Hall of Fame. On Monday November 12, Four new members, Viacheslav Fetisov, Mike Gartner, Dale Hawerchuk and Jari Kurri, will be inducted into the Hall in the Player Category. Pittsburgh Penguin GM, Craig Patrick, will also enter the Hall, as he will be honored in the Builder Category.
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"My plan was to go over for one year and then come back to Finland and I ended up staying 17 years," Kurri told the Canadian Press. "Back than we didn't know much about the NHL."
But the 6-foot-1, 195-pound winger learned about the League and the NHL's style of play rather quickly, even though it took him some time to wind up on a line with Gretzky. Initially, Blair McDonald started the season on the number-one line with No. 99, but when things weren't clicking head coach Glen Sather called Kurri's number to ride shotgun with Gretzky.
The magic and chemistry was almost instant.
In his first season with the Oilers Kurri piled up 75 points off 32 goals and 43 assists. Over the next eight campaigns, the duo consistently brought people out of their seats with spectacular play on the ice. In 1982-83 Kurri registered his first 100-point season, as he lit the lamp 45 times and assisted on 59 others. The following year, he hit the 50-goal plateau for the first time in his short career. Reaching those milestones also marked the first time in the history of the NHL a Finnish-born player had ever reached those goals.
"I had the chance to play with a great team and great players like Wayne (Gretzky), Mark (Messier), and on and on. A lot of good memories," said the eight-time NHL All-Star.
The 1984 season also was special to Kurri because it was the first year the Oilers won the Stanley Cup, beginning a run of four titles in five years. During that time, Kurri recorded career highs of 71 goals and 135 points in 1984-85 (then a single season record for goals by a right-winger), capturing the Lady Byng Trophy and finishing second to Gretzky in the scoring race.
During the 1984-85 playoffs Kurri notched 19 goals on the way to a second Cup run and also tying the playoff goal scoring record set by Reggie Leach in 1976. From '84 to '88, the winger registered four consecutive 50-goal seasons and led the playoffs in goals each time the Oilers won the championship. He also registered five consecutive 100-point seasons from 1982-83 to 1986-87.
"I have many memories playing against Jari, unfortunately they're not so good," fellow-Hall of Fame inductee, Dale Hawerchuk, said. "He was part of that dynasty in Edmonton, but I remember Jari mostly playing with Gretzky and for sure Gretzky set him up a lot.But I think if you ask Wayne Gretzky he'd say that Jari Kurri made a lot of contributions to his career as well."
Another 2001 inductee, Mike Gartner, also had fond memories of Kurri.
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Kurri, whose number 17 was retired by the Oilers, prospered in Edmonton even after Gretzky was traded in 1988.
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"Jari had a great shot and he had a great ability to find holes and to find openings out on the ice," Gartner said. "Playing with a guy like Gretzky for a good part of his career where Wayne could get him the puck and there weren't too many guys who were ever better at finding those holes on the ice than Jari was."
Kurri even prospered in Edmonton after Gretzky was traded in 1988.
Over the next two years, Kurri piled up the points for the Oilers, as he recorded 195 points in 154 games. In his first year after Gretzky went to LA, Kurri scored 102 points off 44 goals and 58 assists. He followed up that monster year with a 93-point campaign (33 goals and 60 assists) and another Cup championship to boot. In the 1989-90 season, he would also become just the 25th NHL player to reach the 1,000th point milestone.
Before coming to the Edmonton Oilers, the high-scoring winger played three seasons in the Finnish Elite League and now has the honor of being the first Finnish player elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
"It is a great honor since so few players are able to make it to this level," said Kurri. "To be the first Finnish player elected is especially gratifying. Now it's different. There are so many great Finnish players. Now there are about 30 players. That's a big amount for a small country like Finland."
Kurri went on to also play for the Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Colorado Avalanche before retiring in 1998 with 1,398 career points. Not bad for someone who had no intentions of staying in the NHL for more than one year.
