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

PLAYOFFS

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