HIFK (ice hockey)

This article is about the ice hockey team. For other sports clubs using the same name, see HIFK.
Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors
HIFK
City Helsinki
League Liiga
Founded 1897 (1897) (1928 first official match, 1945 ice hockey section)
Home arena Helsingin jäähalli (capacity 8,200)
Colours Red, white, dark blue
              
Owner(s) HIFK Ligaföreningen rf.
General manager Finland Jukka Valtanen
Head coach Finland Antti Törmänen
Captain Finland Arttu Luttinen
Parent club(s) Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors - HIFK
Farm club(s) Kiekko-Vantaa (de facto)
Website www.hifk.fi

HIFK (a traditional abbreviation of Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors, English: "Sporting Society Comrades, Helsinki") is an ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland that plays in the Liiga, the sport's top-level league in Finland. The team plays at Helsinki Ice Hall. It was founded in 1897. Since then, HIFK has won the Finnish National Championship title seven times (1969, 1970, 1974, 1980, 1983, 1998 and 2011). The team won the regular season title in 2016.

The derbies against local rivals Jokerit were often sold out and were among the fiercest in Nordic hockey, but are no longer played following Jokerit's withdrawal from the Liiga following the 2013–14 season to join the Russian-based KHL.

HIFK's general manager starting from May 1, 2008 is Jukka Valtanen. He is the successor of Pentti Matikainen, who coached Team Finland to its first hockey Olympic medal (silver) in Calgary 1988.

HIFK won the Finnish championship title in the season of 2010-2011 against Espoo Blues.

The championship team from 1998 is widely recognized as one of the best ever to have skated together in the top flight of Finnish ice hockey.

Players on the 1998 championship team included a number of future (and former) NHL players – including Tim Thomas (Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers), Jan Čaloun (Columbus Blue Jackets), Johan Davidsson (Anaheim Ducks), Bob Halkidis (Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings), *Olli Jokinen (Los Angeles Kings, New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, Phoenix Coyotes, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets), *Jere Karalahti (Los Angeles Kings), Jarno Kultanen (Boston Bruins), *Brian Rafalski (New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings), Christian Ruuttu (Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks), *Jarkko Ruutu (Vancouver Canucks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ottawa Senators, Anaheim Ducks), Kimmo Timonen (Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks) and Marko Tuomainen (Los Angeles Kings).

History

One of the major influences to HIFK was the NHL veteran and Stanley Cup winner Carl Brewer. Hired in 1968 as a playing coach, he advocated a North American style of play which has persisted in HIFK since. Brewer's influence on the way hockey is played in Finland led to his posthumous induction to the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003.

Current roster

(Updated 22. June 2016)[1]

Goalkeepers
# Player Catches Contract Birthplace
30  Finland Kevin Lankinen L 2017 Helsinki, Finland
31  Finland Niilo Halonen L 2018 Loppi, Finland
37  Finland Niklas Bäckström L 2017 Helsinki, Finland
Defenders
# Player Shoots Contract Birthplace
3  United States Joe Finley L 2017 Minnesota, United States
4  Finland Miro Karjalainen R 2017 Vihti, Finland
6  Finland Eemeli Heikkinen R 2017 Helsinki, Finland
8  Sweden Daniel Grillfors L 2017 Enköping, Sweden
11  Finland Saku Salmela L 2018 Helsinki, Finland
33  Finland Tommi Taimi R 2017 Pori, Finland
41  Finland Miro Heiskanen L 2019 Espoo, Finland
42  Finland Teemu Eronen L 2018 Vantaa, Finland
43  Finland Miihkali Teppo L 2018 Helsinki, Finland
56  Finland Markus Niemeläinen L 2018 Kuopio, Finland
Attackers
# Player Shoots Position Contract Birthplace
10  Finland Roope Hintz L C 2017 Tampere, Finland
12  Finland Miro-Pekka Saarelainen R LW/RW 2018 Vantaa, Finland
21  Finland Mika Partanen L LW/RW 2018 Helsinki, Finland
27  Finland Henri Tamminen R RW/LW 2017 Espoo, Finland
28  Finland Jasse Ikonen L RW/LW 2017 Kuopio, Finland,
32  Finland Lennart Petrell L LW/RW 2017 Helsinki, Finland
38  Finland Panu Mieho L C 2017 Helsinki, Finland
39  Finland Arttu Luttinen L LW 2017 Helsinki, Finland
40  Finland Tomi Tuomisto L C/RW 2017 Nurmijärvi, Finland,
45  Finland Micke-Max Åsten L LW/RW 2018 Helsinki, Finland
50  Finland Juhamatti Aaltonen R RW/LW 2017 Ii, Finland,
62  Finland Robert Leino R C/RW 2017 Hämeenlinna, Finland
80  Finland Thomas Nykopp L C 2017 Helsinki, Finland
88  Finland Joonas Rask R RW/LW 2017 Tampere, Finland
91  United States Corey Elkins L C 2017 Minnesota, United States

[2]

Honored members

HIFK (in white) warm-up prior to a game vs. HPK.

NHL alumni

References

  1. ↑ http://www.eliteprospects.com/team.php?team=38
  2. ↑ This is straight copy from Finnish wikisite translated to English. Due the many injuries for HIFK last season players were changing positions constantly and that is reason for multiple positions for many players.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.