Jannik Hansen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Position | Winger |
| Shoots | Right |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 176 lb (80 kg/12 st 8 lb) |
| NHL Team | Vancouver Canucks |
| Nationality |  Denmark |
| Born | April 15, 1986 , Herlev, DEN |
| NHL Draft | 287th overall, 2004 Vancouver Canucks |
| Pro career | 2007 – present |
Jannik Hansen (born March 15, 1986 in Herlev, Denmark) is a Danish professional ice hockey player. He was drafted into the National Hockey League by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, 287th overall, one of the final draftees of that year. He is generally thought of as a 'draft steal'. He is the first Danish player to dress for the NHL playoffs, and the first to score an NHL playoff point.[1]
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[edit] European career
Hansen's father, Bent Hansen, is a former Danish national team member. Though his father never pushed him to pursue hockey as a career, Hansen was already skating as a two year old in diapers. Despite his hockey pedigree, he played soccer until he was 10 years old, only then making the switch to hockey.
He developed as a player with the Rødovre Skøjte og Ishockey Klub (Rødovre Mighty Bulls), where his father had played most of his career. When Jannik turned 15, he joined the senior team, wearing jersey number 17, as his father had worn in his active career.
Already as a 15 year old he showed promise with energetic play, good technique, good hockey sense and a stellar wrist shot. He played in Rødovre for a season and a half, then was invited to play for the Swedish junior team, the Malmö Redhawks. (It is not unusual for talented Danish players to turn to Sweden to develop their careers). Hansen played the remainder of the season in Malmö, then returned to Rødovre despite the success that he experienced in Sweden. When asked why he wished to return home to Denmark, he stated that he would "rather play in a men's league, instead of a junior league".
The competition in Denmark was physically more demanding, and because of his relatively light physique at the time, he was regularly knocked down by considerably larger defenders. However, his game was marked by perseverance, and he played through the challenges.
After being drafted by the Canucks, he stayed on in Denmark for another year, honouring his contract with Rødovre. His final year in Denmark became his breakout year, with 32 points in 34 games, despite the team being one of the weakest in the league. When the Canucks' management wanted him to play in a league where they would have a better chance of overseeing his development, he asked to be released from his contract. Rødovre let him go, not wanting to stand in the way of his development. That year, he was nominated for rookie of the year, though the honours ultimately went to Ottawa Senator draft pick Peter Regin.
[edit] North America
Jannik Hansen was selected in the Canadian Hockey League import draft by the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League, and chose to move to North America to improve his play. At 19 years old, playing in Portland, he put up impressive numbers averaging exactly one point per game in 64 games. Hansen was one of the most important players on the Portland team, who had drafted with little prior knowledge of his play.
Portland was knocked out early in the playoffs, which meant that Hansen could participate in the 2006 World Championships in Riga, Latvia. Denmark succeeded in remaining in the top pool, and Hansen scored twice in 6 games.
In July 2006 he signed with Vancouver Canucks (press release). After a training camp that saw him manage two goals and an assist, he played the 2006-07 season with the Canucks' minor league affiliate, the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League.
During the 2007 playoffs, he was called up to Vancouver as an injury replacement. He became the first Danish born and raised player to dress in the NHL playoffs[1], and registered his first NHL point in Game 3 of the Canucks' playoff series against the Dallas Stars by assisting on a Jan Bulis goal. Frans Nielsen had been the first Dane to score in the NHL earlier in the year, but he did not play in the playoffs.
His 2007-08 NHL Season was shaped by injuries as he suffered a wrist injury in pre-season with the Canucks which led to him being sent to the Manitoba Moose to start the season. Returning from the injury, he played only one game with the Moose before being recalled by the Canucks late in October. He would play 5 games with the Canucks without registering a point before being sent back down to the AHL. In Winnipeg he also had a slow start to the season before sitting out the entire month of January due to a concussion. When he returned to the ice in February, his point production picked up considerably and he finished the season with 43 points in 50 games while sporting a team best plus/minus rating of +23.
After playing for the Manitoba Moose in the 2008 AHL playoffs, Hansen was again able to compete for the Danish national team in the 2008 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships held in Quebec City and Halifax in Canada. He played in 6 games in the tournament, scoring 2 goals and adding 2 assists. One of his goals was particularly memorable as he rounded Czech defenceman Tomas Kaberle before scoring on Milan Hnilicka in the first period of the opening game of the tournament.
[edit] Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2002-03 | Rødovre IK | ODL | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2002-03 | Malmö IF | J18 Allsvenskan | 8 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2002-03 | Malmö IF | J20 SuperElit | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2003-04 | Rødovre IK | ODL | 35 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 48 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2004-05 | Rødovre IK | ODL | 32 | 17 | 17 | 34 | 40 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 24 | ||
| 2005-06 | Portland Winter Hawks | WHL | 64 | 24 | 40 | 64 | 67 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 16 | ||
| 2006-07 | Manitoba Moose | AHL | 72 | 12 | 22 | 34 | 38 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2006-07 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2007-08 | Manitoba Moose | AHL | 50 | 21 | 22 | 43 | 22 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2007-08 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
[edit] References
- ^ Bucher, John (2007). Danish Remedy For Nerves. Canucks.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-18.
