Playing career

Kapanen was drafted 87th overall in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the Hartford Whalers. His first NHL season was in 1995-96, when he played 35 games with Hartford. The Whalers relocated to become the Carolina Hurricanes following the 1996-97 season and Kapanen averaged 24 goals and 35 assists in his next five seasons with Carolina. His best season was in 2001-02 when he scored 27 goals and 42 assists for 69 points. He was selected twice for the NHL All Star Game (2000, 2002), winning the Individual event for "the Fastest skater" on both occasions.

On February 7, 2003, Kapanen was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers along with Ryan Bast for Pavel Brendl and Bruno St. Jacques. In his first two seasons with Philadelphia, Kapanen played 31 playoff games, scoring 17 points.

Kapanen has played three times for Finland at the Winter Olympics. In 18 Olympic games he scored 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points. In the NHL, Kapanen has played 831 regular season games, scoring 189 goals and 269 assists for 458 points. He has also played in 87 playoff games, scoring 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points. Kapanen also won a gold medal at the 1995 Ice Hockey World Championships.

Since 2003, Kapanen has also been the majority owner of the Finnish hockey team KalPa Kuopio, the same club that gave him his start as a professional. One of the minority owners is Kimmo Timonen who in 2007 became Kapanen's teammate on the Flyers. Following the 2007-08 season, Kapanen announced that he was retiring from the NHL and he would be returning to Finland to play for KalPa. He retired as a player after the 2009-10 season.

On April 7, 2011, Kapanen announced that he would be doing a comeback as a player in KalPa, playing on a two year contract. He, however, stepped down as the club's chief executive officer (CEO) and instead handed that role over to his brother Kimmo Kapanen.

Awards

• Bronze Medal at the Winter Olympics in 1994.
• Named to the SM-liiga First All-Star Team in 1994.
• Bronze Medal at the Winter Olympics in 1998.
• Played in the NHL All-Star Game in 2000.
• Played in the NHL All-Star Game in 2002.
• Awarded the Yanick Dupre Memorial in 2004.
• Awarded the Gene Hart Memorial Award in 2007.

Records

• Tied a record for scoring two consecutive overtime goals in two consecutive games. (Since broken by Andrew Cogliano)
• Two-time NHL All Star game individual event Fastest Skater winner (2000, 2002) completing a lap around an NHL rink in 13.649 resp. 14.039 seconds.
• Fastest Man on ice awarded when he completed a lap around an NHL rink in 12.7 seconds.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1989-90	KalPa	Fin-Jr.		30	14	13	27	4		—	—	—	—	—
1990-91	KalPa	Fin-Jr.		31	9	27	36	10		—	—	—	—	—
1990-91	KalPa	Liiga		14	1	2	3	2		8	2	1	3	2
1991-92	KalPa	Fin-Jr.		8	1	3	4	12		—	—	—	—	—
1991-92	KalPa	Liiga		42	15	10	25	8		—	—	—	—	—
1992-93	KalPa	Liiga		37	4	17	21	12		—	—	—	—	—
1993-94	KalPa	Liiga		48	23	32	55	16		—	—	—	—	—
1993-94	HC Královopolská Brno	1. Liga CZ		—	—	—	—	—		1	0	0	0	0
1994-95	HIFK	Liiga		49	14	28	42	42		3	0	0	0	0
1995-96	Hartford Whalers	NHL		35	5	4	9	6		—	—	—	—	—
1995-96	Springfield Falcons	AHL		28	14	17	31	4		3	1	2	3	0
1996-97	Hartford Whalers	NHL		45	13	12	25	2		—	—	—	—	—
1997-98	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		81	26	37	63	16		—	—	—	—	—
1998-99	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		81	24	35	59	10		5	1	1	2	0
1999-00	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		76	24	24	48	12		—	—	—	—	—
2000-01	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		82	20	37	57	24		6	2	3	5	0
2001-02	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		77	27	42	69	23		23	1	8	9	6
2002-03	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		43	6	12	18	12		—	—	—	—	—
2002-03	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		28	4	9	13	6		13	4	3	7	6
2003-04	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		74	12	18	30	14		18	3	7	10	6
2004-05	KalPa	Mestis		10	6	3	9	2		9	5	3	8	4
2005-06	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		58	12	22	34	12		6	0	0	0	2
2006-07	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		77	11	14	25	22		—	—	—	—	—
2007-08	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		74	5	3	8	16		16	2	0	2	2
2008-09	KalPa	Liiga		55	20	24	44	18		12	4	5	9	4
2009-10	KalPa	Liiga		49	15	31	46	58		13	6	7	13	0
2011-12	KalPa	Liiga		35	13	12	25	33		2	1	0	1	0
2012-13	KalPa	Liiga		38	7	11	18	14		5	0	1	1	2
2013-14	KalPa	Liiga		34	7	6	13	26		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				831	189	269	458	175		87	13	22	35	22
Liiga totals				401	120	173	293	229		43	13	14	27	8

International

Olympic medal record
Men's ice hockey
	1994 Lillehammer	Ice hockey
	1998 Nagano	Ice hockey
World Championships
	2001	Team
	1998	Team
	1995	Team
	1994	Team

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1990	Finland	EJC		6	6	4	10	0
1991	Finland	WJC		7	1	5	6	8
1992	Finland	WJC		7	1	2	3	2
1994	Finland	OG		8	1	0	1	2
1994	Finland	WC		8	4	2	6	0
1995	Finland	WC		8	2	2	4	6
1996	Finland	WC		6	2	3	5	2
1996	Finland	WCH		3	0	0	0	4
1998	Finland	OG		6	0	1	1	0
1998	Finland	WC		10	4	3	7	2
2001	Finland	WC		8	7	4	11	8
2002	Finland	OG		4	1	2	3	4
2004	Finland	WCH		Did not play
2006	Finland	OG		Did not play
2009	Finland	WC		7	2	3	5	2
2010	Finland	WC		7	1	1	2	0
WC totals				54	22	18	40	20
OG totals				18	2	3	5	6
WJC totals				14	2	7	9	10

[ Source: Wikipedia ]