Esa Tikkanen was a go-to guy in so many ways for Glen Sather during a tenure that saw him win four Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers — he’d score big goals, excel in a checking role and drive opponents to distraction because he’d never shut the hell up. Not so much if you were a reporter toting a notepad or a microphone in search of a juicy quote before deadline during the glory days of the Boys on the Bus.
What you got then was Tikky Talk, some kind of gibberish in-between Finnish and, well, I’m not really sure, that left scribes bewildered and even drew nods of disbelief from countrymen like Jari Kurri. Some examples of Tikkanese here and here. When it came to the universal language of hockey, though, the abrasive and talented Finn opponents called the Grate One had the jargon down pat. What a helluva player Tikkanen was.
Esa Tikkanen
Left Wing
Born Jan 25 1965 — Helsinki, Finland
Height 6.01 — Weight 200 [185 cm/91 kg]
Drafted by Edmonton Oilers
Round 4 #80 overall 1983 NHL Entry Draft
BY THE NUMBERS
Season |
Age |
Tm |
GP |
G |
A |
PTS |
+/- |
PIM |
S |
S% |
Awards |
1985-86 |
21 |
EDM |
35 |
7 |
6 |
13 |
5 |
28 |
44 |
15.9 |
|
1986-87 |
22 |
EDM |
76 |
34 |
44 |
78 |
44 |
120 |
126 |
27.0 |
AS-3 |
1987-88 |
23 |
EDM |
80 |
23 |
51 |
74 |
21 |
153 |
142 |
16.2 |
|
1988-89 |
24 |
EDM |
67 |
31 |
47 |
78 |
10 |
92 |
151 |
20.5 |
AS-5,Selke-2 |
1989-90 |
25 |
EDM |
79 |
30 |
33 |
63 |
17 |
161 |
199 |
15.1 |
AS-10,Selke-3 |
1990-91 |
26 |
EDM |
79 |
27 |
42 |
69 |
22 |
85 |
235 |
11.5 |
AS-4,Selke-2 |
1991-92 |
27 |
EDM |
40 |
12 |
16 |
28 |
-8 |
44 |
117 |
10.3 |
|
1992-93 |
28 |
TOT |
81 |
16 |
24 |
40 |
-24 |
94 |
202 |
7.9 |
|
1992-93 |
28 |
EDM |
66 |
14 |
19 |
33 |
-11 |
76 |
162 |
8.6 |
|
1992-93 |
28 |
NYR |
15 |
2 |
5 |
7 |
-13 |
18 |
40 |
5.0 |
|
1993-94 |
29 |
NYR |
83 |
22 |
32 |
54 |
5 |
114 |
257 |
8.6 |
Selke-15 |
1994-95 |
30 |
STL |
43 |
12 |
23 |
35 |
13 |
22 |
107 |
11.2 |
Selke-2 |
1995-96 |
31 |
TOT |
58 |
14 |
30 |
44 |
1 |
36 |
95 |
14.7 |
|
1995-96 |
31 |
STL |
11 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
18 |
19 |
5.3 |
|
1995-96 |
31 |
NJD |
9 |
|
2 |
2 |
-6 |
4 |
15 |
0.0 |
|
1995-96 |
31 |
VAN |
38 |
13 |
24 |
37 |
6 |
14 |
61 |
21.3 |
|
1996-97 |
32 |
TOT |
76 |
13 |
17 |
30 |
-9 |
72 |
133 |
9.8 |
|
1996-97 |
32 |
VAN |
62 |
12 |
15 |
27 |
-9 |
66 |
103 |
11.7 |
|
1996-97 |
32 |
NYR |
14 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
6 |
30 |
3.3 |
|
1997-98 |
33 |
TOT |
48 |
3 |
18 |
21 |
-11 |
18 |
67 |
4.5 |
|
1997-98 |
33 |
FLA |
28 |
1 |
8 |
9 |
-7 |
16 |
34 |
2.9 |
|
1997-98 |
33 |
WSH |
20 |
2 |
10 |
12 |
-4 |
2 |
33 |
6.1 |
|
1998-99 |
34 |
NYR |
32 |
|
3 |
3 |
-5 |
38 |
25 |
0.0 |
|
8 yrs | EDM |
522 |
178 |
258 |
436 |
100 |
759 |
1176 |
15.1 |
||
4 yrs | NYR |
144 |
25 |
42 |
67 |
-13 |
176 |
352 |
7.1 |
||
2 yrs | STL |
54 |
13 |
27 |
40 |
14 |
40 |
126 |
10.3 |
||
2 yrs | VAN |
100 |
25 |
39 |
64 |
-3 |
80 |
164 |
15.2 |
||
1 yr | FLA |
28 |
1 |
8 |
9 |
-7 |
16 |
34 |
2.9 |
||
1 yr | NJD |
9 |
|
2 |
2 |
-6 |
4 |
15 |
0.0 |
||
1 yr | WSH |
20 |
2 |
10 |
12 |
-4 |
2 |
33 |
6.1 |
||
Career |
877 |
244 |
386 |
630 |
81 |
1077 |
1900 |
12.8 |
PLAYOFFS
Season |
Age |
Tm |
GP |
G |
A |
PTS |
+/- |
PIM |
S |
S% |
1984-85 |
20 |
EDM |
3 |
|
|
|
-1 |
2 |
3 |
0.0 |
1985-86 |
21 |
EDM |
8 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
7 |
19 |
15.8 |
1986-87 |
22 |
EDM |
21 |
7 |
2 |
9 |
1 |
22 |
39 |
17.9 |
1987-88 |
23 |
EDM |
19 |
10 |
17 |
27 |
2 |
72 |
42 |
23.8 |
1988-89 |
24 |
EDM |
7 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
-1 |
12 |
17 |
5.9 |
1989-90 |
25 |
EDM |
22 |
13 |
11 |
24 |
12 |
26 |
54 |
24.1 |
1990-91 |
26 |
EDM |
18 |
12 |
8 |
20 |
3 |
24 |
76 |
15.8 |
1991-92 |
27 |
EDM |
16 |
5 |
3 |
8 |
-1 |
8 |
37 |
13.5 |
1993-94 |
29 |
NYR |
23 |
4 |
4 |
8 |
1 |
34 |
56 |
7.1 |
1994-95 |
30 |
STL |
7 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
-1 |
20 |
19 |
10.5 |
1995-96 |
31 |
VAN |
6 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
-3 |
2 |
13 |
23.1 |
1996-97 |
32 |
NYR |
15 |
9 |
3 |
12 |
2 |
26 |
45 |
20.0 |
1997-98 |
33 |
WSH |
21 |
3 |
3 |
6 |
-2 |
20 |
23 |
13.0 |
Career |
186 |
72 |
60 |
132 |
13 |
275 |
443 |
16.3 |
NOTABLE
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I’ve got to admit, the first time I tried to interview Tikkanen – it was a post-game scramble during the 1990 playoffs – I thought I was having a stroke because I didn’t understand a single word he said. All that was missing as I stood there looking befuddled was the smell of burnt coffee. A knowing grin from colleague Jim Matheson sent me elsewhere looking for something I could make sense of. I was not alone.
“He brings something special,” Wayne Gretzky once said of the unique language Tikkanen spoke. “I don’t know what it is, but if you ask him, you couldn’t understand his answer.” Or, as former teammate Craig MacTavish put it, “Esa talks twice as much as anybody else. That’s because you can understand just half what he says.” Watch Tikkanen play, though, and there was no confusion.
Put on left wing with Gretzky and Kurri when he first arrived in Edmonton from HIFK Helsinki, Tikkanen could play the game any way you wanted. During a stretch from 1986-87 to 1990-91, Tikkanen scored 30-or-more goals three times and at the same time finished among the top-three in voting for the Franke Selke Trophy as top defensive forward three times. He could score. For opposing forwards, he was a skating set of hand-cuffs – yapping handcuffs. Gretzky got a taste of that in the 1990 and 1991 playoffs after he was traded to Los Angeles. Tikky stayed closer to him out on the ice than when they played together.
THE STORY
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What made Tikkanen so special is that he always seemed to find another level in the post-season, when games matter most. In the 1988 playoffs, he had 27 points in 19 games. In the 1990 post-season, with Gretzky gone, Tikkanen had 24 points in 22 games as the Oilers won their fifth Cup. In 1991, he had 20 points in 18 games, including this Game 7 overtime goal to eliminate the Calgary Flames in the first round. Tikky was post-season money.
Tikkanen still holds the record for the fastest two shorthanded goals by one player in a single game – 12 seconds, against the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1988. While Tikkanen never won the Selke Trophy, he was runner-up twice and finished in the top-five in voting four times. Tikkanen sits sixth in franchise playoff scoring with 97 points (he’s fifth in goals with 51).
In an era that would produce future HHOF players like Gretzky, Kurri, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Glenn Anderson and Grant Fuhr, Tikkanen played well down the marquee when it came to being a big name. Still, he was always a force – a big goal, another opposing forward checked to a standstill, another opponent taking a penalty for punching him in the mouth because he just wouldn’t shut the hell up. There was always clarity in Tikkanen’s actions, if not his words.
This series will look at the top 100 Edmonton Oilers from the NHL era 1979-80 to 2014-15, starting with 100 and working up.
PREVIOUSLY:
- 9. Ryan Smyth
- 10. Doug Weight
- 11. Bill Ranford
- 12. Randy Gregg
- 13. Charlie Huddy
- 14. Andy Moog
- 15. Chris Pronger
- 16. Steve Smith
- 17. Craig MacTavish
- 18. Craig Simpson
- 19. Lee Fogolin
I remember a Chris Cuthbert (?) interview after a Stanley Cup win asking Esa if he had ever felt something like this before.
Tikk replied Ya No Never…..always stuck with me as one of his funnier lines.
I wish I could “Talk Smack” as well as Esa did.
If it was the ’90 cup in Boston I believe he wrapped up that interview by saying “…and vee have our family in Ayd-mone-tone, and dey vaiting for, and vee coming home tomorrow, veet da cup!
Loved it!
I think it was earlier, as I believe the interview was in the Oil dressing room at Northlands
Can’t remember if I’d asked this on a previous entry, but do you have any plans to publish this list after it’s done? Could see this with some glossy photos making an excellent coffee-table book or somesuch. If you do so, consider mine already pre-ordered.
Appreciate the compliment. That’ll be up to the folks who run the website.
McDavid should come now. He has great potential and probably will be behind only Gretzky and maybe Messier at the end of his career. But he has not won a Stanley Cup yet. Guys like Tikkanen contributed to some in a decisive way and that should count more. One suggestion, Robin: when you have finished the Top 100 you could write one more chapter about the prominent omissions: Ruotsalaianen, Kent Nilsson, Oates, Samsonov, Peca and others
Oates was garbage here, Samsonov was a rental, and Peca was only decent during the 06 Cup Run, other than that, he was horrid. Now some of the older guys I could see…RR, Nilsson, etc
Kenta only played 23 regular season games as an Oiler. He was great in his one playoff series, 6-13-19 in 21 games, but not enough tenure in my estimation. Same with Reijo. Only 26 regular season games with the Oilers and two playoff years. Talented little player, but a NY Ranger who had a cup of coffee here.
Didn’t Kurri once confirm Tikkanen was equally incomprehensible in Finnish? Greatest pest ever (after Claude Lemieux). I recall being astounded by how he covered opponent like a blanket. They’d think they were clear, get near the puck then Tik would materialize out of no where. Some great clips (incl post-Oilers) here: https://youtu.be/xeAD54-ZWU4
Sorry, Tikk is always pest #1, Lemieux is a close second.
i’m happy with our Puljujarvi pick but the Oilers could have had Tik 2.0 if they had just taken Matt Tkachuk instead. just sayin’….
Tikkanen was my favourite oiler, so seeing him in the top ten makes me smile. He was such a fast entertaining player to watch.
Thank you for doing this series, Mr. Brownlee. It’s been a real pleasure to walk down memory lane.
If memory serves me and It was a very long time ago so it might not be right. I believe Tikkanen made his NHL debut in the Cup final vs the Flyers.
Yep the old melon still works:
http://edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/nhl/cult-of-hockey/the-1984-85-edmonton-oilers-were-great-but-nhls-all-time-best-team-didnt-see-that-coming
It was Game 2 SCF when Esa was placed into the lineup if my memory serves correctly. Glen Sather wanted to mix things up a little and provide a little spark for the team after the Oilers lost Game 1.
This guy was the definition of compete.
My favourite oiler. Played all aspects of the game well. Annoyed the hell out of the opposition. And as clutch as they come.
I hope he’s enjoying life.
In addition to my comment- I wish there was a way to quantify the role a player like tikk served.
Imo he’s a hhof level of player – without guys like him a team doesn’t succeed.
If he’d have won one of those Selke’s he’d be in
Great piece of the puzzle. His penalty minutes per games played were incredibly high even when he played in junior, but he backed that up with the point production. Those numbers are remarkable, and this was in an era when European players were thought to be focused on skill play and avoiding penalties at all cost.
He was a huge pest, and a great two way player.
On to of that, his yapping is still the best ever. The bench had no clue what he was trying to say when he got excited. Opponents had blank stares and skated away bewildered, not knowing if they had been insulted or not.
I don’t know that there was or will ever be another like him. Oil are fortunate to have had Tik.
plus, he was on an episode of trailer park boys.
Okay now we’re talking . . . Tikkanese. (was it Kurri who coined it Tikkanese?)
You just never get tired of beating Calgary.
Tikkenen was always my favorite… the very best at what he did…
The Oil had 2 pests Linesman & Tikkenen.
If your are going to win a Stanley cup, you need a skilled “pest” & Tik was the very best, even compared to now…
I always finding myself comparing modern day pests with him.