Longtime NHLer Sami Kapanen has announced his retirement from professional hockey, according to IIHF’s Risto Pakarinen.
Kapanen, 40, last played in North America during the 2007-08 campaign but had been active with SM-liiga team KalPa, of which he is the majority owner and general manager.
The 87th overall pick at the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, Kapanen spent the first seven years of his NHL career with the Hartford/Carolina organization, scoring a career-high 27 goals and 69 points during the 2001-02 campaign. That was the same year he advanced to his first and only Stanley Cup Final with the ‘Canes -- after moving to Philly, he played in a pair of Eastern Conference Finals with the Flyers but never again made it to the big dance.
Kapanen retires as the NHL’s 10th-leading Finnish scorer of all time and eighth in goals, with 189.
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