Jari Pekka Kurri (; born 18 May 1960) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. Beginning in 1980, he played right wing for five National Hockey League (NHL) teams: the Edmonton Oilers, the Los Angeles Kings, the New York Rangers, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, and the Colorado Avalanche. Prior to his NHL career, Kurri excelled for Jokerit in the SM-liiga, and he rose from playing in the Finnish junior ice hockey team to the country's national hockey team in two years. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 1980 NHL draft by the Oilers and immediately played for the team that year.
Kurri played 17 seasons in the NHL, along with one season in Serie A for Devils Milano. Armed with a quick release for his shot, Kurri recorded a 30-goal season in each of his first ten seasons in the NHL, which included being the NHL goal scoring leader in the season. Kurri led all skaters in goals in the Stanley Cup playoffs on four occasions, including tying the all-time postseason record with 19 in 1985. While he never won the Frank J. Selke Trophy for his defensive skill, he won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for his sportsmanship in 1985. He won the Stanley Cup five times, all with the Oilers, as one of just seven players to be part of all five Cup-winning teams with Edmonton. He was the 18th player in NHL history and first Finnish player to score 500 goals, doing so in 1992, and he became the eighth player to score 600 goals, doing so in his final season in 1997.
Kurri's No. 17 jersey was retired by the Edmonton Oilers and Jokerit. Internationally, Kurri played on the Finland men's national ice hockey team, winning a bronze medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001. After his playing career ended, Kurri served as the general manager of the Finnish national team from 2003 to 2014 before becoming GM of Jokerit in 2013; he became owner in 2019 before selling the team in 2022. In 2017, Kurri was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history.
Playing career Early years (1977–1980) Kurri began his pro career with Jokerit in the Finnish SM-liiga. After an eleven-point rookie season for Jokerit in the 1977–78 season, Kurri scored 30 and 39 points the next two years, playing all 33 games in each season.
In March 1979, Kurri played for the Finnish national team in Edmonton, versus the World Hockey Association-leading Edmonton Oilers. As related by Kurri, he was not initially aiming to play in the NHL, noting that the dream for someone growing up in Finland was playing for the national team. He noted in a 2022 interview:
When we won the European junior championship, we heard there were scouts watching us play. That’s the first time I’d ever heard that people were following us. Matti Vaisanen explained to me (before the draft), that this might be happening. Don Baizley was my agent, based in Winnipeg, and he told me the [Winnipeg] Jets were interested, too, and might even draft me in the early rounds. But somehow there was a rumor over here (North America) that I’d signed a contract with the national federation to play at home until 1982, that I had a contract with the Finnish federation for two more years. I didn’t. It was not true. Matti Vaisanen knew that; maybe Winnipeg didn’t.
Edmonton Oilers (1980–1990)
After his third professional season, Kurri was eligible for the 1980 NHL entry draft, although most teams believed that he still had to fulfill his mandatory military service. Barry Fraser, director of scouting for the Edmonton Oilers, elected to go with Kurri as one of his picks, with the team selecting him with the 69th overall pick. Kurri remains regarded as one of the greatest "steals" in NHL draft history. When Kurri joined the Oilers, he was accompanied by fellow Finnish players Risto Siltanen and Matti Hagman, which made him feel more comfortable in playing in the league beyond terming it as a "one-year experiment". Oilers coach Glen Sather paired Kurri and Hagman early in the year before eventually putting Kurri with Wayne Gretzky on the same line. Kurri and Gretzky became one of the most prolific scoring duos ever to play in the NHL. Despite not always playing on the same line, Gretzky assisted on 364 of Kurri's 601 career goals, while Kurri had an assist on 196 Gretzky goals.
Kurri played in 75 games as a rookie in the season. He recorded his first assist in his first NHL game on 10 October against the Quebec Nordiques. Eight days later against the New York Islanders, Kurri recorded his first-ever goal off Ron Low in the 5–5 tie. On 26 November, he had his first hat trick, doing so against the Chicago Black Hawks with Tony Esposito as goaltender in Edmonton. Kurri went through a dry spell of seventeen games without a goal but credited Gretzky as encouraging him to not worry. In total, Kurri recorded 32 goals and 43 assists for a 75-point season. The Oilers reached the Stanley Cup playoffs in every season that Kurri played with them. In his first playoff game on 8 April, he scored two goals and recorded an assist in the 6–3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens; in total, he had 12 points in nine games. In his sophomore season with the Oilers, he scored 32 goals and recorded his first 50-assist season with 54. Kurri played in all 80 games of the season, scoring 45 goals and 59 assists for his first 100-point season, finishing with 104. He was named to the All-Star Game while receiving votes for the Byng and Selke Trophies for the first time in his career. Kurri reached his first Stanley Cup Final that year, doing so with eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points (with Kurri scoring a goal in each of the first three games of the Final) as the Oilers lost to the New York Islanders.
The season saw Kurri achieve his first 50-goal season. One particular highlight saw him score five goals in the 19 November game against the New Jersey Devils (with Glenn Resch and later Ron Low as goaltender) at home in Edmonton. He scored 52 goals and recorded 61 assists for 113 points in 64 total games. He finished 3rd in the Selke and Byng Trophy voting and was named to the NHL All-Star team on the Second Team. In the Stanley Cup playoffs that year, Kurri started it with his first postseason hat trick in game one of the first round against Winnipeg. He scored two goals with an assist in the 7–4 win in game seven of the second round matchup against Calgary to start a five-game streak where Kurri recorded a goal; in the four-game sweep of the Minnesota North Stars, he scored five goals with three assists as the Oilers faced the Islanders in the Stanley Cup Final once again. Kurri was held in check in the first two games but recorded an assist in game three and two in game four before scoring a goal in the decisive game five to go along with two assists that saw the Oilers win their first Stanley Cup. Kurri's 14 goals in the postseason led all skaters.
The Oilers repeated as champions the following season, and Kurri had his peak in goals (71) and assists (64) for 135 total points in 73 total games. He missed three of the first 50 games that season, which saw him narrowly miss out on scoring 50 goals in 50 games, as Kurri got his 50th goal in the 53rd game of the season. He led the league in even-strength goals with 54 and game-winning goals with 13. He was named a First Team All-Star and won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for his sportsmanship. In the 1985 Stanley Cup playoffs, Kurri excelled on a historical level. Kurri had a goal in three of the first six playoff games before starting his run of goals with game four of the second-round matchup against Winnipeg, where he recorded a hat trick in the 8–3 victory to send the Oilers to the third round. Against the Chicago Blackhawks, Kurri logged two goals in game one before logging a hat trick in game two as the Oilers won each time. He was held scoreless in the subsequent losses in game three and 4 before exploding in game five for three goals in a 10–5 victory before sending the Oilers to the Stanley Cup Final with a four-goal night in the 8–2 victory of game six. He set thtrr records with the hat trick: most hat tricks in a single postseason (4), most goals in a single postseason series (12), and most hat tricks in a single postseason series (3). In the buildup to the Stanley Cup Final against the Philadelphia Flyers, Kurri was labeled as one "may be the most underrated player in hockey." He was held in check for the first two games before recording an assist to start game three and recording two assists in game four. In the decisive game five, he scored the opening goal before recording three assists in the eventual 8–3 victory. Kurri tied the record for most goals in a postseason set by Reggie Leach in the 1976 Stanley Cup playoffs (Leach played in sixteen games, whereas Kurri played in eighteen). All four records that Kurri reached that year still stand as of .
Kurri led all players in goals for the season with 68 and was named to the Second All-Star team. He had his longest streak of games with a goal during the season, recording a goal in ten straight games from 29 January to 19 February. He was limited to just two goals in the playoffs with ten assists as the Oilers were shocked in the second round by the Calgary Flames. Kurri recorded his fourth and final 50-goal season with 54 in 79 games to earn a First Team All-Star selection. In the playoffs that year, Kurri had his second and last career four-goal game in the playoffs in game two of the first round series against the Los Angeles Kings. In the Stanley Cup Final against the Flyers, he recorded a point in all seven games, which included goals in four of the first five games. In game seven, he scored the goal that gave the Oilers a 2–1 lead that they would not relinquish, giving him credit for the game-winning goal, his 5th of the postseason; his 15 goals led all skaters. He played in all 80 games of the season but recorded just 96 points, the only time from 1982 to 1989 that he did not have a 100-point season. He was however named to the All-Star Game. In the last playoffs with Gretzky and Kurri together as teammates in Edmonton in 1988, Kurri led all skaters in postseason goals for the fourth and final time with 14 goals to go along with 17 assists. Gretzky was traded after the Final to the Los Angeles Kings. In the eight years that Gretzky and Kurri played together in Edmonton, they scored the same amount of playoff goals with 79 each.
Kurri responded by recording his final 100-point season in the season with 102 on 44 goals and 58 assists in 76 games; at the time, only nine other players in NHL history had record six 100-point seasons for a career. In what became his final season with the Oilers in the season, he scored 33 goals with 60 assists; in total, following Gretzky's trade, Kurri recorded 195 points in 154 games. In 22 games of the Stanley Cup playoffs, he had ten goals and 15 assists. In game two on 18 May of the Stanley Cup Final versus the Boston Bruins, Kurri tied the NHL record for most points in a Stanley Cup Final game with five, doing so on three goals and two assists; no player has recorded five points in a Stanley Cup Final game since Kurri did so. The Oilers won the Final in four games for their fifth and final championship in a six-year span. Kurri became the first player with 90 Stanley Cup playoff goals in NHL history and held the postseason record until he was passed by Gretzky the following year.