Start in Edmonton

Tikkanen made his NHL debut with the Edmonton Oilers during the second game of the 1985 Stanley Cup playoffs. By playing one game in the finals that year, he was eligible to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup even before playing his first regular-season game in the NHL. He soon became an important part of the Oilers, playing on the team's first line with Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri. Kurri and Gretzky's roles were to score goals; Tikkanen was the line's defensive player. Oilers coach and general manager Glen Sather once suggested that Tikkanen should be awarded the Frank J. Selke trophy (the award for the best defensive forward in the NHL). He was a finalist several times in his career, and was a three-time runner-up, but never won the award. Tikkanen excelled at distracting and confusing opponents with his Tiki-Talk and shadowed Gretzky when he was with the Los Angeles Kings.^[1][2][3][4] Between 1986 and 1990, Tikkanen scored 30 or more goals three times and was on three more Cup champions. In 1991, he led the Edmonton Oilers in points in the regular season with 69 points.

Time after Oilers

In March 1993, Tikkanen was traded to the New York Rangers for Doug Weight,^[5][6][7][8] and he was part of that team's 1994 Stanley Cup victory, scoring 22 goals and 54 points in 83 regular-season games. In July 1994, Tikkanen was traded with Doug Lidster to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Petr Nedvěd.^[9][10][11]

The start of the NHL's 1994–95 season was delayed by a lockout, during which Tikkanen returned to Finland to play for HIFK Helsinki. After the lockout Tikkanen, played with the Blues during the shortened 1995 season, and appeared in 11 games in 1995-96 before a trade sent him to the New Jersey Devils.^[12][13] Three weeks later he was again dealt, this time to the Vancouver Canucks.^[14][15][16]

The 1996–97 season saw him involved in yet another midseason trade, back to the Rangers, on March 8, 1997.^[17][18][19] Although he contributed only one goal in 14 regular-season games with New York, he came alive in the playoffs, scoring 9 times in 15 games. Of the Rangers, only Gretzky, with 10, outscored Tikkanen. The Rangers eliminated the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils before falling to the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference finals.

The 32-year-old Tikkanen became a free agent in the summer of 1997, and he signed with the Panthers,^[20][21] but this would also prove to be a short stay. By March 1998 he had appeared in only 28 games, and Florida traded him to the Washington Capitals for Dwayne Hay.^[22] He appeared in all 21 of Washington's playoff games, as the Capitals went to the Stanley Cup finals, where they were swept in four straight games by the Detroit Red Wings. Tikkanen is remembered for missing a wide-open shot on goal that would have iced Game 2, which has been described as a turning point of the Series.^[23] This was to be Tikkanen's last full season in the NHL. After becoming a free agent prior to the 1998–99 season, he signed for a third stint with the Rangers. However, he only played in 32 games before an injury sidelined him for the rest of the season.^[24][25]

Before the start of the 1999–2000 season, Tikkanen attended the Oilers' training camp and was offered a role of playing coach in the minors. Tikkanen declined the offer and returned to Finland, where he played a full season with Jokerit. In 877 NHL games, he had scored 244 goals and 386 assists for 630 points, while racking up 1,077 minutes in penalties. In 186 Stanley Cup playoff games, he scored 72 goals and 60 assists for 132 points, with 275 penalty minutes.

Post NHL career

In 1999–2000, Tikkanen played a season with Helsinki-based team Jokerit, a rival team of HIFK, with whom Tikkanen had played earlier in his career. Jokerit finished in second place in the SM-Liiga. In 2000–01, Tikkanen moved to Germany, where he played what was to be his last season in a recognized professional league for Essen Mosquitoes of the DEL. He retired in 2001.

During the 2004–05 season, Tikkanen resurfaced again, this time as a player-coach for the Anyang Halla, a South Korean team in the Asia League Ice Hockey.^[26] Though he predicted that he and his two linemates would finish 1-2-3 in scoring,^[27] he finished tied for fourth on his team, with 8 goals and 17 assists for 25 points in 30 games. He was 29th in the league in assists, and didn't crack the top 30 in goals or points. He did, however, lead Halla in penalty minutes with 58 (tied for 28th in the league). Halla finished fifth in the league and did not make the playoffs.

After one season in Korea, Tikkanen became the coach for Frisk Tigers of the Norwegian GET-ligaen. Tikkanen was head coach only for the 2005–06 season.

On 27 December 2010 Jokipojat from Joensuu, Finland, announced that Tikkanen would be the head coach of the team for the rest of the 2010–2011 season. Jokipojat plays in Mestis, which is the second-highest league in Finland.

Tikkanese

Tikkanen is famous for his Finnish-English, sometimes referred to as "Tikkanese" or "Tiki-Talk." Even members of his team often did not understand what he was saying. Wayne Gretzky once commented, "He brings something special. I don't know what it is, but if you ask him, you couldn't understand his answer." Former Edmonton Oiler coach and teammate Craig MacTavish said, "Esa talks twice as much as anybody else. That's because you can understand just half what he says."

Even fellow Finn Jari Kurri had difficulty understanding Tikkanen. During their tenure with the Oilers, Tikkanen let go with a particularly colourful pronouncement, after which another player turned to Kurri and asked, "What did he just say?" Kurri simply shook his head; "I have no idea."^[29]

Regular season and playoffs

International