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A Flame from the Past: Jyrki Jokipakka

Photo credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

By Ryley Delaney

Jul 22, 2026, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 21, 2026, 10:57 EDT

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Do you remember Jyrki Jokipakka?

Every once in a while, we take a look at a player who once played for the Calgary Flames in a series called “A Flame From the Past.” This player has to have played a significant number of games for the Flames. I’ll put every Flames’ season into a Wheel of Names, and this time, it landed on the 2016-17 season. In this article, we’ll take a look at Jyrki Jokipakka.

Born in Tampere, Finland on Aug. 20th, 1991, Jokipakka began his professional career with his hometown Ilves in 2010-11. The defenceman scored a goal and nine points in 48 SM-Liiga games, leading to the Dallas “Finland” Stars to select him 195th overall in the 2011 draft.

Jokipakka remained in Finland for the next two years, improving to nine goals and 17 points in 52 games during the 2011-12 season, then scoring five goals and 18 points in 59 games in 2012-13. The defenceman represented Finland at the 2011 World Junior Championship, where they’d end up finishing sixth in the tournament.

The Stars’ product came stateside for the 2013-14 season, just in time to help the American Hockey League’s Texas Stars win the Calder Cup. Over 68 regular season games, Jokipakka scored five goals and 21 points, then added five assists in 21 playoff games. He played another 19 AHL games in 2014-15, but cemented himself in the Stars’ lineup that season.

Over 51 games with the Stars in 2014-15, Jokipakka failed to score, but he picked up 10 assists. He was one of three Finnish-born players on the team, as netminder Kari Lehtonen played 65 games, and fellow netminder Jussi Rynnäs played two games.

In 2015-16, Jokipakka played 40 games for the Stars, scoring twice with four assists, as the Finnish evasion of the Stars began. But before the Stars later acquired Finns like Mikko Rantanen, Miro Heiskanen, and Roope Hintz joined the team, Jokipakka was traded to the Flames

On Feb. 29, 2016, Jokipakka, a 2026 second, and Brett Pollock were traded to the Flames in exchange for Kris Russell. Jokipakka finished the 2015-16 season with the Flames, picking up six assists in 18 games.

The following season, he scored and picked up five assists in 38 games for the Flames, but was traded to the Ottawa Senators alongside a 2017 second for Curtis Lazar and Michael Kostka. Jokipakka played another three NHL games, before joining the Kontinental Hockey League’s Sochi HC in 2017-18.

He spent parts of two seasons with Sochi, scoring a career-best 10 goals in 2018-19. For the 2019-20 season, he joined the KHL’s HC Sibir Novosibirsk, spending another three seasons there where he posted a career-best 32 points.

For the 2022-23 season, he joined his hometown Ilves, scoring five goals and 19 points in 50 games, with a goal and four points in 12 games. For the 2023-24 and 2024-25 season, Jokipakka joined the Mannheim Eagles of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, scoring 10 goals and 39 points in 103 games.

In 2025-26, Jokipakka returned to his hometown of Tampere, but this time to Ilves’ rivals, Tappara. Over 49 games with Tappara, Jokipakka scored 11 goals and 36 points, setting single-season career-highs in not just Finland, but any league he played in. Jokipakka hoisted the second professional trophy of his career as well, as Tappara went on to win the league in seven games over KooKoo.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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