Lauri Lahesalu (born 29 March 1979) is an Estonian former professional ice hockey defenseman. He made a record 182 international appearances for Estonia, as well as playing club ice hockey in France.

Career Lahesalu started playing ice hockey for the club THK-88, who were local to him, after seeing an advertisement for players for the new club in a newspaper. He went on to make his international debut for the Estonia men's national ice hockey team on February 13, 1998, in a Codan Cup match against Denmark in Rödovre, which ended in a 7-7 draw. He was credited with his first assist for the Estonian national team on April 16 of that year, in the World Cup match against the Netherlands in Jesenice, in a match which finished 4-2. He scored his first international goal on April 6, 2002, in a World Cup match against Israel in Cape Town, South Africa. Lahesalu later served as team captain for the Estonian team.

He moved from Estonia to Finland and represented both the Tappara in Tampere, and Pori Ässäte U20 teams and later various Mestis clubs, including six SM-Liiga games for Oulu Kärpate in the 2003-2004 season. In the 2004-2005 season, he played for the Odense Bulldogs in Denmark.

Lahesalu spent eleven seasons in France and became the national champion twice, including winning the Ligue Magnus as a member of Dragons de Rouen in 2013. He also played club ice hockey in France in Angers for Ducs d'Angers. He stopped playing club hockey after the 2015-2016 season in order to prolong his international career with Estonia, keeping himself fit with daily gym sessions.

He played for Estonia in a record-breaking 182 international matches. His farewell game was held on 21 April 2025, against Lithuania at Tondiraba Ice Hall in the home Division I Group B pre-World Championship qualifiers. The game saw Estonia defeating Lithuania 3-2. In his honour, Lahesalu saw his pennant with the number 182 (to represents the number of games he played for the national team) hoisted onto the ceiling of the rink, an honour that had previously also been bestowed to long-serving national team members Aleksandr Petrov and Andrei Makrov.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM1997–98TapparaFIN U20 200118 —————1998–99TapparaFIN U20 3643720 —————1999–00ÄssätFIN U20 120556 ————— 2000–01 Jokipojat Mestis 422101224 ————— 2001–02 TuTo Hockey Mestis 446263248 40220 2002–03 Hokki Mestis 445232856 30112 2003–04 Kärpät SM-l 60110 ————— 2003–04 Hokki Mestis 1517818 ————— 2004–05 Odense Bulldogs DEN 32461022 150114 2005–06 Hokki Mestis 1101110 ————— 2005–06 Ducs d'Angers FRA 1411226 50002 2006–07 Ducs d'Angers FRA 2653859 61238 2007–08 Ducs d'Angers FRA 266101634 80554 2008–09 Ducs d'Angers FRA 25291130 904410 2009–10 Ducs d'Angers FRA 26420248 132466 2010–11 Ducs d'Angers FRA 266131912 70440 2011–12 Ducs d'Angers FRA 261111214 111562 2012–13 Dragons de Rouen FRA 26011118 150114 2013–14 Dragons de Rouen FRA 2509916 91234 2014–15 Ducs d'Angers FRA 1733612 100220 2015–16 Ducs d'Angers FRA 2113410 160666 SM-liiga totals 60110—————

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 1996 Estonia EJC 20th 4 0 0 0 18 1997 Estonia EJC 19th 4 1 0 1 2 1998 Estonia WC-B 19th 7 0 1 1 0 1999 Estonia WJC-C 23rd 4 1 1 2 6 1999 Estonia WC-B 22nd 7 0 0 0 4 2000 Estonia WC-B 22nd 7 0 3 3 2 2001 Estonia WC-D1 28th 5 0 1 1 2 2002 Estonia WC-D2 29th 5 1 1 2 0 2003 Estonia WC-D1 22nd 5 0 1 1 4 2004 Estonia OGQ NQ 3 0 0 0 0 2005 Estonia WC-D1 23rd 5 0 5 5 2 2006 Estonia WC-D1 24th 5 0 1 1 6 2007 Estonia WC-D1 23rd 5 1 4 5 6 2008 Estonia WC-D1 27th 5 0 2 2 4 2009 Estonia WC-D2 31st 5 0 5 5 2 2011 Estonia WC-D1 27th 5 0 1 1 0 2012 Estonia WC-D2 29th 5 1 3 4 0 2014 Estonia WC-D2 29th 5 0 3 3 12 2015 Estonia WC-D1 27th 5 0 2 2 6 2016 Estonia WC-D1 27th 5 0 2 2 4 2016 Estonia OGQ NQ 3 2 9 11 2 2017 Estonia WC-D1 26th 5 0 4 4 0 2018 Estonia WC-D1 25th 5 0 2 2 0 2019 Estonia WC-D1 26th 5 0 2 2 2 2020 Estonia OGQ NQ 3 0 1 1 2 2022 Estonia WC-D1 25th 4 0 1 1 2 2023 Estonia WC-D1 26th5 0 0 010 Junior totals 12 2 1 3 26 Senior totals 119 5 54 59 72

Awards and achievements Award Year Ligue Magnus champion 2012–13

References

External links

Lahesalu playing in 21st Worlds iihf.com World record with the Estonian ice hockey team? Done! "Now my time is over. I'm really retiring." Õhtuleht, 5 April 2025