"I think I was at a crossroads during my fourth year in the league," said Jokinen, who tallied 321 goals and 750 points over his 17 seasons in the NHL. "My second year with Florida, being a high draft pick and coming into the league with high expectations, things weren't going my way. It was my third team in four years and I was at a point where it had to happen now or I was going to go back to Europe to find my game.
"When Mike Keenan became head coach, he told me that I was going to play on the top two lines for the rest of the year and if he didn't like what he saw he told me I could go back to Europe. He gave the opportunity to play those top minutes. It look longer than I thought to become an impact player, but everything worked out in the end."
In 2003, Jokinen was named the fifth captain in Panthers history.
"It was a great honor," said Jokinen, who wore the "C" from 2003-08. "It's something I can be proud of. The team was in a transition mode at the time, we had a lot of young players and there were a lot of changes year after year. I was an assistant captain the two previous seasons, so it was kind of a natural move."
A native of Kuopio, Finland, Jokinen also took pride in competing for the Finnish national team on numerous occasions throughout his career, including 10 IIHF World Championships and four Olympics, recording 63 points (34-29-63) in 110 appearances on the international stage.
"I think he's one of the all-time best players in Finland," said Panthers forward Jussi Jokinen, who won a silver medal with Olli at the 2006 Olympics in Torino. "He's had an unbelievable career. I was really lucky to play on the same team and same line as him at the Olympics and World Championships.
"I think we had great chemistry on the ice -- him, Ville Peltonen, who's another fellow Panther, and me, we had a really good line. For sure, he's one of the guys that I was watching when I grew up and I was lucky to play on the same team as him."
With his playing days now behind him, Jokinen won't be stepping away from the ice anytime soon, as the 38-year-old now plans to turn his attention to growing the game of hockey in South Florida through year-round coaching, clinics and camps.