Evansville, In.: The Evansville Thunderbolts and Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations Jeff Bes are pleased to announce the signing of forward Eelis Laaksonen for the 2025-26 season. The Thunderbolts will raise their President’s Cup Championship banner prior to their 2025-26 home opener at Ford Center on Saturday, October 25th against the Quad City Storm.
Laaksonen joins the Thunderbolts after recently completing his collegiate career at Curry College, where he played four seasons between 2021-2025, compiling 44 goals and 97 points in 110 regular season games. Laaksonen earned Second Team All-Conference honors in 2023-24, and in 2024-25 was given First Team All-Conference along with Second Team All-American East honors, also being named CNE Scholar Athlete of the Year, all while Curry College won the CNE Conference Championship. Laaksonen, a native of Oulu, Finland, played the majority of his junior hockey career in his home country with the Blues junior program from 2015-2019 and Kiekko-Espoo in 2019-20, playing 2018-19 and 2019-20 in Finland’s top junior league, the U20 SM-Liiga, recording 7 goals and 23 points in 93 regular season games. Laaksonen arrived in North America in 2020-21, playing one final season of junior and transitioning to college prep hockey with the Islanders Hockey Club of the USPHL and NCDC.
“I would describe myself as a two-way forward with good hockey IQ. I like to play in all aspects of the game and do whatever it takes to help the team succeed,” commented Laaksonen on what fans can expect to see from him in his play. “I chose Evansville because of the team’s winning pedigree, as seen with last year’s championship, it’s exciting to have the opportunity to keep building on that. I also have had some old teammates who have played in Evansville (Mark Zhukov, Nolan Dawson, Reid Cooper) and enjoyed their time with the team.” Laaksonen looked forward to his jump to pro hockey in Evansville by lastly commenting: “I think Evansville will be a great spot for me to transition into the pro game, and I think I can help the team work towards another run at a championship. I am very excited to get to Evansville and get back on the ice, and I am especially excited to get to play in front of the fans at Ford Center!”
On the addition of Laaksonen, Head Coach Jeff Bes commented: “Eelis is a workhorse of a player, he is big and strong and skates very well. He plays a solid 200-foot game and possesses a high skill level and work ethic. His compete level is off the charts, and he just wants to help his team win, which you can see from his college career with limited missed games. He will only get better as the season progresses.”
