Aces’ former power forward was suffering from colon cancer.
Arto Heiskanen represented Pori Ässi for nine seasons and was also the team’s vice-captain. Jari Pekkarinen / AOP
People of Satakunta reported on Wednesday that the former Pori Ässie power forward Arto Heiskanen is dead. He was 59 years old when he died.
The news of the death was confirmed by SK Brother Pekka Ketola. Heiskanen had colon cancer.
Originally from Savolinna, Heiskanen represented Ässi for a total of nine seasons. He moved from SaPK to Ässi for the 1983–84 season.
1986–89 Heiskanen played in the SM league for Rauma Luko, until he changed back to his familiar hat shirt. Ässat played in the 1st division at that time. Heiskanen won the points exchange of the series when he scored 110 points (58+52) in 44 matches and was putting the Pori team back on the league map.
He also served as the team’s vice-captain for four league seasons.
Effective as a winger, Heiskanen played a total of 434 regular season matches in the league and scored 182+137=319 power points.
In the last seasons of his career, Heiskanen played in different parts of Europe. The last club left was the Polish SMS I Warszawa in the 1998–99 season.