Jari Grönstrand
Jari Grönstrand ( born November 14, 1962 in Tampere ) is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey player and coach, who in his active years from 1982 to 1999 among others for the Minnesota North Stars, New York Rangers, Nordiques de Québec and New York Islanders National Hockey League has played.
Career
Jari Grönstrand began his career as a hockey player in his hometown in the junior department of Tappara Tampere, for the first team to 1986 he was active from 1982 in the Finnish SM- liiga. During this period he was in 1984 and 1986 respectively Finnish Champion and 1986 also elected to the All-Star team of the SM- liiga. Then the defender in the NHL Entry Draft in 1986 was selected in the fifth round as the 96th overall player of the Minnesota North Stars, for whom he made his debut in the National Hockey League in the 1986/87 season. In his rookie year in 47 games he scoring a goal and gave six assists.
On 8 October 1987, he was discharged together with Paul Boutilier in exchange for Jay Caufield and Dave Gagner to the New York Rangers. In parallel, he ran in three games in the International Hockey League for the Colorado Rangers farm team. After a year gave him the New York Rangers to the Nordiques de Québec from, for he was little more than a year as active as for their AHL farm team Halifax Citadel, before he was hired in November 1989 by the New York Islanders. While the former Finnish international was in the 1989/90 season still mostly for the NY Islanders in the NHL and in only one game for their AHL farm team Springfield Falcons on the ice, he played in the 1990/91 season in 63 games for the new AHL farm team Capital District Islanders, for whom he scored a total of 13 goals and gave 22 templates. In the NHL team the Islanders but was only used 3 times.
After he had lost his place in the NHL, Grönstrand returned to his Finnish homeland, where he defended for his former club Tappara Tampere in a further three years. For the 1994/95 season he moved for the first time in the European foreign and signed with the ESG foxes Saxons from the DEL newly established. For this, he scored three goals in 41 games and had eight assists. He spent the following season at the French champions record Chamonix Hockey Club in the Ligue Magnus. Also in the following years he remained in France and was for three years at the Hockey Club de Reims under contract, at the age of 36, he ended his active career in 1999.
During the 2000/ 01 season, he served as head coach for the EHC Freiburg in the 2nd Hockey League. He was then replaced by the German - Czech Leos Zajic.
Internationally
For Finland Grönstrand participated in the 1986 World Cup, and the 1987 Canada Cup in part.