Background
Janssen grew up in the Saint Louis suburb of Eureka, Missouri, where he attended Eureka High School for three years.
Janssen grew up in the Saint Louis suburb of Eureka, Missouri, where he attended Eureka High School for three years.
The Devils drafted him 117th overall in the fourth round of the 2002 National Hockey League Entry Draft. Janssen is regarded as an enforcer. During his sophomore and junior years of high school, Janssen played for the Saint Louis Sting of the Junior A North American Hockey League.
In 2001, Janssen was selected in the third round of the Ontario Hockey League draft by the Windsor Spitfires.
Instead of completing his senior year at Eureka High School, Janssen moved to Windsor, Ontario to begin his first season with the Spitfires. After one season in Ontario, Janssen was drafted by the New Jersey Devils as the 117th overall pick during the fourth round 2002 National Hockey League Entry Draft.
In his rookie National Hockey League season, Janssen led the Devils with eleven fighting majors. On February 24, 2007, he scored his first career National Hockey League goal against the Washington Capitals at 10:33 in the second period in his 82nd National Hockey League game.
In the second period of a regular season game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 2, 2007, Janssen knocked Toronto defenseman Tomas Kaberle unconscious with a late hit to the head
Kaberle was carried off the ice on a stretcher. The National Hockey League announced Janssen would be suspended for three games without pay for the incident, forfeiting $7,220.16. In an interview, Kaberle mentioned that Janssen had not contacted him for reconciliation, and went on to say, "I don"t care.
He doesn"t respect me and I don"t respect him."
On March 30, 2007, Janssen injured his shoulder in a fight with Riley Cote of the Philadelphia Flyers and missed 4 games.
He returned for the playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Janssen was injured in the 2007 National Hockey League preseason as well, suffering an injury in a fight with Jesse Boulerice.
On February 26, 2008, Janssen was traded by the Devils to his hometown team, the Saint Louis Blues, for defenseman Bryce Salvador. He made his Blues" debut two days later, wearing #55 against the Phoenix Coyotes.
A free agent after his contract with the Saint Louis Blues expired in 2011, Janssen signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Devils on July 14, 2011 becoming the 22nd player to be re-acquired and play for the team
Janssen signed as a free agent on a one-year contract with the Nottingham Panthers of the EIHL on August 15, 2015. In July 2012, Janssen appeared on an internet-based radio show called "The Thom and Jeff Show" and subsequently delivered a profanity-laced interview in which he made several controversial comments, including one about gay players. Janssen later issued an apology for the incident, noting that he had "used poor judgment during the course of the show" and saying "moving forward, I hope to eliminate that type of language from my vocabulary.
I would also like to take this chance to express my support for the work the You Can Play project is doing, and for the gay community in general.".