About Jyrki Lumme
Jyrki Olavi Lumme is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) and SM-liiga. After beginning his career in Finland, playing with Ilves Tampere for three seasons, he moved to North America to join the Montreal Canadiens in 1988. The Canadiens had selected Lumme two years prior in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft 57th overall. In his second NHL season, he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks, with whom he spent the majority of his career and enjoyed the most success. Over nine seasons with the Canucks, Lumme was named the club's annual top defenceman on four occasions, became the team's all-time top goal- and point-scoring defenceman, and was a part of the squad's run to the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals. Towards the end of his NHL career, he additionally played for the Phoenix Coyotes, Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs over the span of five seasons. In 2005, Lumme returned to Ilves Tampere of the SM-liiga after a two-year playing hiatus. He played two final campaigns in Finland before retiring, at which point he became a part-owner of Ilves Tampere. In his final year before transferring to the NHL, Lumme scored 8 goals and 30 points over 43 games to help Ilves to the best regular season record in the league. Playing his first season in North America, Lumme split the 1988–89 campaign between Montreal and their minor league affiliate, the Sherbrooke Canadiens of the American Hockey League (AHL). He became the first Finnish player to compete for the Canadiens in team history.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.