Jarkko Immonen retires

Finnish center Jarkko Immonen, 42, has called it quits on a professional hockey career that began 24 years ago. His lengthy career includes 1,516 regular-season and playoff games in either the elite or second-tier professional league in Finland, Russia, Switzerland and the United States.

He announced his retirement in an Instagram video.

“Now it's time to hang up the skates. The trip has been incredible, full of great memories, wonderful places and above all, great people,” Immonen began.

He then thanked all of his teammates, coaches, team staff, fans and his family – parents, wife and daughters – before concluding: “Although this chapter ends, I look forward to what the future holds. I look forward to new adventures that life offers.”

Immonen was an eighth-round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2002 but his NHL rights were sent to the New York Rangers in March 2004 as part of the Brian Leetch trade. Between 2005 and 2007, he recorded eight points in 20 games for the Rangers but spent the majority of those two seasons with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack.

But the bulk of his career was in his native Finland – 13 seasons, 790 games, 204 goals, 325 assists, 529 points, a two-time all-star and a Liiga title with JYP in 2008-09. Immonen had three separate tours of duty with JYP for a total of nine seasons, and in his third stint with the club won a Champions Hockey League title in 2017-18. He spent his last three seasons with Jukurit.

At the end of the 2023-24 season, Immonen had played in 369 consecutive Liiga games – the longest active streak and the fourth-longest in league history.

Internationally, Immonen represented Finland at six IIHF World Championships, most notably in 2011 when he led the tournament in goals and points and was named to the All-Star Team as Finland won the gold medal. He also played in the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics, taking home a bronze medal each time.