Markku Kyllönen
Markku Kyllönen (* February 15 1962 in Joensuu ) is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey player who played in his playing days from 1980 to 2000 among others for the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League.
Career
Marku Kyllönen began his career as a hockey player in his hometown at Jokipojat, for the first team he worked from 1980 to 1985 in the second class I divisioona active. Then the winger received the 1985/86 season a contract with Jokerit of the SM- liiga Lappeenranta, for which he in the top Finnish league in 34 games scored twelve goals in his rookie year and were as many templates. In the following two years he played for Kärpät Oulu, which he failed to Finnish Champion title at Tappara Tampere in the season 1986/87 until the playoff finals.
During his time at Kärpät Oulu Kyllönen was selected in the NHL Entry Draft in 1987 in the eighth round when a total 163 players from the Winnipeg Jets. For the Canadians he graduated in the 1988/89 season nine games in the National Hockey League, where he gave two assists. He spent the entire rest of the season but at Winnipeg's farm team, the Moncton Hawks in the American Hockey League, for whom he scored 14 goals in 60 games and had 20 assists. After his year in North America, the five-time national player returned to his hometown club Jokipojat, who had risen in the meantime in the SM- liiga. With Jokipojat he went through in the years that followed a turbulent time. After relegation in 1990 he succeeded with his team first, the direct re-emergence, before he again descended with Jokipojat in the 1991/92 season in the I divisioona. After all, his team even got down in the third game of the class in which he paused after the 1994/95 season with the Ice Hockey.
For the 1996/97 season continued Kyllönen continued his career in Europe and signed a contract with the Newcastle Cobras from the British Ice Hockey Superleague. For the Englishman, he scored in 25 games twelve points scorer, of which five goals. In the 1997/98 season the Finn for the EV Landsberg went into the second German ice hockey league for goals. Last played the former NHL player from 1998 to 2000 for the IK Odense in the Danish AL-Bank Ligaen, before he ended his career at the age of 38 years.
Internationally
For Finland took Kyllönen the 1987 Canada Cup and was part in the tournament in five games two assists.