HIFK
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
HIFK (Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK, originally Idrottsförening Kamraterna i Helsingfors) is a sports association from Helsinki, Finland. HIFK has activities in many sports, including ice hockey, football, bandy, floorball, handball, athletics and bowling. It is the oldest IFK club in Finland, established in in 1897.
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[edit] Ice hockey
| HIFK | |
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| League | SM-liiga |
| Founded | 1897 |
| History | HIFK 1897 - present Hockey Section from 1927 - present |
| Arena | Helsingin jäähalli |
| City | Helsinki, Finland |
| Team Colors | Red, white, blue |
| General Manager | Pentti Matikainen |
| Head Coach | Paul Baxter |
| Team Captain | Kimmo Kuhta |
- Founded: 1927
- Arena: Helsingin jäähalli (capacity 8,120)
- Uniform colours: Red, white, blue
- Logo design: Red panther's head in white circle, on blue background.
- League championships won: 6 (1969, 1970, 1974, 1980, 1983, 1998)
The club undertook ice hockey activities after 1927. Ever since, HIFK has won the Finnish National Championship title six times.
The team plays in Helsinki, Finland at the Helsingin jäähalli. The derbys against local rivals Helsingin Jokerit are often sold out and are one of the fiercest in Nordic hockey.
HIFK general manager is Pentti Matikainen, who coached Team Finland to its first hockey olympic medal (silver) in Calgary 1988.
The last Finnish championship title is from 1998, when the team was widely recognised as one of the best ever to have skated together in the top flight of Finnish ice hockey.
Players who featured 1998 championship team included a number of future (and former) NHL stars – including Tim Thomas (Boston), Jan Caloun (Columbus), Johan Davidsson (Anaheim), Miika Elomo (Washington), Bob Halkidis (Buffalo, Detroit), *Olli Jokinen (Florida), *Jere Karalahti (LA Kings), Jarno Kultanen (Boston), *Brian Rafalski (New Jersey), Christian Ruuttu (Buffalo, Chicago), *Jarkko Ruutu (Vancouver), Kimmo Timonen (Nashville) and Marko Tuomainen (LA Kings).
[edit] History
One of the major influencors of HIFK was the Stanley Cup winning NHL-veteran Carl Brewer back in 1968. He was the player-coach for HIFK, and showed the team how to play the game of hockey NHL-way. That was when HIFK adopted it's fierce, hard-hitting style of play, even until today.
[edit] Players
[edit] Notable Players
[edit] Other notables
- Esa Tikkanen
- Christian Ruuttu
- Jere Karalahti
- Bob Halkidis
- Lauri Mononen
- Darren Boyko
- Pekka Rautakallio
- Kimmo Kuhta
- Johan Davidsson
- Terry Ball
- Ilkka Sinisalo
- Iiro Järvi
- Kari Laitinen
- Juha Rantasila
- Lalli Partinen
- Heikki Riihiranta
- Esa Peltonen
- Matti Murto
- Harri Linnonmaa
- Stig Wetzell
- Carey Wilson
- Juhani Tamminen
- Hannu Kapanen
- Pertti Lehtonen
- Matti Forss
- Simo Saarinen
- Frank Neal
- Anssi Melametsä
- Tony Arima
- Sakari Lindfors
- Pekka Tuomisto
[edit] Former HIFK players currently in NHL
- Olli Jokinen
- Sami Kapanen
- Tuomo Ruutu
- Jarkko Ruutu
- Brian Rafalski
- Marek Zidlicky
- Tomas Vokoun
- Toni Lydman
- Lasse Pirjetä
- Ville Peltonen
- John Madden
- Tony Salmelainen
- Niklas Bäckström
[edit] Retired Numbers
- 1 Stig Wetzell, 1972-1983
- 5 Heikki Riihiranta, 1967-1983
- 7 Simo Saarinen, 1980-1996
- 17 Matti Murto, 1964-1983
- 20 Matti Hagman, 1972-1992
- 22 Mika Kortelainen, 1987-2002
- 23 Pertti Lehtonen, 1976-1998
- 35 Sakari Lindfors, 1985-2002
[edit] Not to be Forgotten
- Cory Murphy
- Janne Hauhtonen
- Toni Söderholm
- Peter White
- Steve Guolla
- Raymond Murray
[edit] External links
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| SM-liiga teams : Ässät | Blues | HIFK | HPK | Ilves | Jokerit | JYP | KalPa | Kärpät | Lukko | Pelicans | SaiPa | Tappara | TPS | |
| Trophies and awards: Kultainen kypärä | Kalevi Numminen trophy | Jarmo Wasama memorial trophy | Matti Keinonen trophy | Raimo Kilpiö trophy | Urpo Ylönen trophy | Pekka Rautakallio trophy | Aarne Honkavaara trophy | Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy | Lasse Oksanen trophy | Jari Kurri trophy | |
| Former teams : FPS | Jokipojat | KooKoo | Koo-Vee | Sport | TuTo | |
| Other leagues and teams : Mestis | Suomi-sarja | Finnish national men's ice hockey team | Finnish national women's ice hockey team | |
