BU Adds Finnish Defenseman For This Fall

Today, BU picked up a commitment from Finnish defensman Ahti Oksanen. He is the final recruit for this upcoming fall. Last season, Oksanen played for the Finland U20 team and prior to that was a member of the Espoo Blues, a U20 team part of a Finnish Junior A league named SA- Liiga.

In 47 games played with the Blues last season, Oksanen posted 14 goals, 25 assists for 39 points to go along with 26 penalty minutes. As a member of the Finland U20 squad, Oksanen played in three games, recording no points. 

Oksanen is a left handed shot born in Espoo, Finland. According to Elite Hockey Prospects, he is 6'3" 194lbs and was born in 1993. 

There are three former Finns that come to mind who previously played at BU. Peter Ahola was a key member on a 1991 Terrier squad that lost the National Championship game in triple overtime to Northern Michigan. Kai Lina was on the 1995 team that did capture the National Championship, defeating Maine 6-2. Finally, Tommi Degerman captained the 2000 BU hockey team, a team that was about as close as possible to making the Frozen Four without actually making it, as they fell 3-2 in four overtimes to St. Lawrence. The last european native to dawn a Terrier sweater was Jekabs Redlihs, a defenseman from Riga, Latvia, who graduated in 2006.