HIFK Hockey

HIFK (a traditional abbreviation of the Swedish name Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors, English: "Sporting Society Comrades, Helsinki") is a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland that plays in the SM-liiga, the sport's top-level league in Finland. The team plays at Helsinki Ice Hall.

This article is about the ice hockey team. For other sports clubs using the same name, see HIFK.
HIFK
CityHelsinki
LeagueSM-liiga
Founded1897 (1897)
Home arenaHelsingin jäähalli
ColoursRed, white, dark blue
     
Owner(s)HIFK Ligaföreningen rf.
General managerJukka Valtanen
Head coachVille Peltonen
CaptainJori Lehterä
Parent club(s)HIFK
Farm club(s)Jokipojat
Websitehifk.fi
Championships
Playoff championships1969, 1970, 1974, 1980, 1983, 1998, 2011
Active departments of HIFK
Bandy Floorball Football
Handball Ice hockey
(men's)		 Ice hockey
(women's)
Athletics Bowling Golf
eSports

History

The club was founded in 1897 and started participating in ice hockey in 1928. Since then, HIFK has won the Finnish national championship seven times, of which three (1969, 1970, 1974) were in SM-sarja and four (1980, 1983, 1998, 2011) were in the SM-liiga. HIFK has the highest number of audience in the SM-liiga and is one of the wealthiest sports clubs in Finland.

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 ice hockey is played in Finland led to his posthumous induction to the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003.

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, Jan Čaloun, Johan Davidsson, Bob Halkidis, Olli Jokinen, Jere Karalahti, Jarno Kultanen, Brian Rafalski, Christian Ruuttu, Jarkko Ruutu, Kimmo Timonen and Marko Tuomainen.

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.

Team identity

Logos and jerseys

HIFK uses a shield for their logo, with a four pointed star and text I.F.K. and year of formation 1897 on it. They wear red, white and blue colored jerseys, and have worn those colors since their beginnings. For the 1993-94 season, HIFK changed their logo to a five pointed star with text saying HIFK Hockey on it. Unpopular with fans, and HIFK wanting to modernize their brand, changed their logo again in 1996 to a red big cat on a blue circle. Commonly referred to as "petologo" (English: "beast logo") among fans. When the beast logo became HIFK's primary logo for the 1996-97 season, they reintroduced the original shield logo to become their jersey's new shoulder patches. For the 2008-09 season, HIFK made their original shield logo the primary logo once again. It would swap places with the beast logo on the jerseys, making the beast logo their new shoulder patches until 2017, when the beast logo was eliminated from the jerseys entirely.

  • HIFK's shield logo, used as their primary logo in 1928-1993, 2008-present; a well as their secondary logo in 1996-2008.
  • HIFK's star logo, used as their primary logo in 1993-1996.

Home arena

HIFK play their home games at Helsinki Ice Hall. The stadium opened in 1966, and seats up to 8 200 spectators. The arena was also used and shared by rival team Jokerit until 1997, when they moved to the Hartwall Arena. HIFK is well known for playing classic hard rock music during games in Helsinki Ice Hall.

Rivalries

HIFK are rivals with Jokerit; games were often sold out and were in the later years among the fiercest in Nordic ice hockey, but are no longer played following Jokerit's withdrawal from Liiga after the 2013–14 season to join the Russian-based Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Following a history of even series of games, HIFK won the game total with 106–105 after a 2–1 victory in a classical outdoor game in March 2014, claiming the title of Helsinki's dominion.[1]

Honors

SM-sarja

SM-liiga

International

Other awards for the club:

  • Harry Lindblad trophy (SM-Liiga regular season winner, since 1975): 2016

Players

Current roster

Updated November 2022.[2]

No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
53 Niilo Halonen G L 25 Loppi
30 Roope Taponen G L 23 Espoo
90 Eemil Vinni G L 18 Vantaa
55 Kasper Kotkansalo D L 25 Helsinki
42 Eddie Larsson D L 33 Mariestad (SWE)
73 Joona Lehmus D L 22 Lempäälä
83 Einari Luhanka D L 24 Helsinki
82 Mico Luoto D L 23 Vantaa
6 Joonas Lyytinen D L 29 Espoo
11 Ilari Melart D L 35 Helsinki
57 Johan Motin D R 34 Karlskoga (SWE)
41 Otto Salin D R 20 Helsinki
54 Sebastian Dyk F R 31 Malmö (SWE)
25 Kasper Halttunen F R 19 Helsinki
19 Kasper Lundell F L 20 Espoo
78 Jesse Seppälä F L 22 Espoo
74 Julius Nättinen F L 27 Jyväskylä
29 Tuomas Uronen F R 19 Kerava
24 Aleksanteri Kaskimäki F L 20 Espoo
81 Iiro Pakarinen F R 32 Suonenjoki
79 Olli Palola F R 36 Oulu
33 Roni Hirvonen F L 22 Espoo
21 Otto Karvinen F L 34 Vantaa
31 Eetu Koivistoinen F L 28 Tampere
71 Leevi Teissala F R 23 Turku
44 Miro Väänänen F L 25 Joensuu
13 Otto Paajanen F L 31 Loppi
18 Teemu Tallberg F L 33 Helsinki
45 Micke-Max Åsten F L 32 Helsinki
51 Juha Jääskä F L 26 Helsinki
10 Kristian Vesalainen F L 25 Helsinki

Honored members

NHL alumni

Other notable alumni

References
  1. "HIFK vei ikuisen Stadin herruuden (in Finnish)". Ilta-Sanomat. 1 March 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  2. https://hifk.fi/pelaajat/
  3. "Dave Siciliano". Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. Thunder Bay, Ontario. 1995. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  4. Turchansky, Ray (September 20, 1996). "From bantam to junior in single bound". Edmonton Journal. Edmonton, Alberta. p. 26.
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