Ilves
| Ilves | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City |
 Tampere, Finland |
| League | Liiga |
| Owner(s) |
Vincent Manngard |
| General manager |
Esa Honkalehto |
| Head coach |
Karri Kivi |
| Captain |
Sami Sandell |
|
Website | |
Ilves (Finnish for "Lynx", Finnish pronunciation: [ˈilʋes]) is a Finnish ice hockey team. They play in the Liiga at the Hakametsä.
The colors of Ilves, green, yellow and black, were taken from what was then the coat of arms of the city of Tampere.
History
With 16 championships, Ilves is the most successful hockey team in the Finnish championship league, the Liiga. The club was founded in the spring of 1931, and it played its first game against Tampereen Palloilijat the next winter. In the late 1930s, Ilves won three Finnish championship titles.
After World War II, Ilves started playing its home games at the then new Koulukatu ice rink. It had another championship spree in 1945–47 when it stayed undefeated for over four years (albeit playing only 36 games during that period).
In 1954 Ilves was for the first and so far only time relegated to the second highest level of Finnish hockey but managed to return to the top tier only one year later.
The current logo was designed by Rauno Broms in 1963. In 1965 Ilves moved, along with its local rivals Tappara and KooVee, to the new Hakametsä arena, where they still play.
The last Finnish Cup competition in hockey was held in 1971. Ilves won the title and has therefore been the reigning champion since. In 1972 it also won another league championship, its 15th in total.
During the late 1970s, Ilves went through lean times. Finally, when Koovee, which was in no better condition, was relegated at the end of the 1979–80 season, the two clubs decided to sign an agreement of cooperation. The best players of Koovee moved to Ilves, the most notable of them being Risto Jalo.
In 1985, Ilves claimed its 16th and most recent championship. Along with Risto Jalo, the key players of that team were Raimo Helminen, Mikko Mäkelä, Ville Siren, and Jukka Tammi. Repeating this success proved difficult, however, when in the following summer four players left the team to play in the NHL.
In the late '80s, Ilves had another brief stint of moderate success when coached by Sakari Pietilä. It finished first after the regular season in 1988 but was eliminated in the first round of playoffs. The next year it came away with a bronze medal, and finally in 1990 it reached the finals, only to lose to TPS.
For most of the 1990s, the club struggled with financial problems and unclear issues concerning ownership. In sports performance, the low point was in the spring of 1995, when Ilves finished last in the SM-liiga and had to fight the lower league teams SaPKo and SaiPa for their place among the elite for the next year.
Ilves managed to avoid relegation and was promptly reborn as a viable championship candidate, reaching the semifinals in 1997 and the finals a year after that. No trophies were brought home, however, and the heavy financial investments proved unsound as the club was suddenly facing the risk of bankruptcy in the fall of 1999. By selling players and cutting the wages of the entire organization, Ilves was able to stay afloat.
The 2000s were a fairly mediocre period in Ilves history. After their bronze medal win in 2001, Ilves lost in the first round of the playoffs in six of the next seven seasons and missing the playoffs altogether in 2003. They managed to avoid relegation in 2010 and 2012. The financial situation, however, seems to be more secure than in previous decades.
Honors
Champions
Ilves is the most decorated club in Finnish hockey. However, they have not won a league championship since 1985. In addition to having more men's championship wins than any other club, they also have that distinction in every junior level (with the exception of junior C (U-16) where Jokerit has one more) and the most women's hockey championships. In total, Ilves has won 67 national championship titles, 30 more than the second-best club.
SM-liiga Kanada-malja (1): 1985- SM-sarja Kanada-malja (6): 1957, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1972
- SM-sarja Aaro Kivilinna memorial award (9): 1936, 1937, 1938, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1951, 1952
Runners-up
SM-liiga Kanada-malja (2): 1990, 1998
SM-liiga Kanada-malja (3): 1983, 1989, 2001- SM-sarja Kanada-malja (4): 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970
- SM-sarja Kanada-malja (5): 1963, 1964, 1967, 1974, 1975
- SM-sarja Aaro Kivilinna memorial award (3): 1935, 1948, 1949
- SM-sarja Aaro Kivilinna memorial award (4): 1934, 1939, 1941, 1943
Players
Current roster
Updated September 21, 2014.[1]
Honored members
- 2 Jarmo Wasama
- 7 Aarne Honkavaara
- 13 Risto Jalo
- 14 Lasse Oksanen
- 16 Jorma Peltonen
- 30 Jukka Tammi
- 41 Raimo Helminen
Number 24 has not been officially retired, but is not in use. It was last worn by Veikko Suominen, who died during the 1978–79 season.
Coaches
Current staff
- Head Coach: Karri Kivi
- Assistant Coach: Jouko Myrrä
- Assistant Coach: Olli Salo
- Goaltending Coach: Markus Korhonen
- Team Manager: Matti Kaario
All-time head coaches
- Niilo Tammisalo 1931–37
- Risto Lindroos 1937–46, 1949–53
- Aarne Honkavaara 1952–61, 1967–68
- Henry Kvist 1946–49
- Seppo Helle 1961–64
- Rauli Virtanen 1964–65
- Erkki Koiso 1965–66
- Raimo Vasama 1968–71, 1972–75
- Juhani Ruusunen 1971–72, 1976–80
- Len Lunde 1972–73
- Matti Reunamäki 1974–75
- Esko Mäkinen 1974–76
- Raimo Määttänen 1980–82
- Seppo Hiitelä 1982–87, 1990–91
- Matti Kaario 1986–87, 1990–91, 1999*
- Sakari Pietilä 1987–90, 2006–2009
- Anatoli Bogdanov 1991–93
- Jukka Jalonen 1992–95
- Heikki Vesala 1994–95
- Vladimir Jursinov Jr. 1995–99
- Heikki Mälkiä 1999–2001, 2009–10*
- Ari-Pekka Selin 2001–03
- Teijo Räsänen 2002–03
- Vaclav Sykora 2003–05
- Curt Lindström 2004–05
- Kari Eloranta 2005–06
- Petteri Hirvonen 2006*
- Sakari Pietilä 2006–09
- Juha Pajuoja 2010–12*
- Seppo Hiitelä 2011–12
- Raimo Helminen 2012–2013
- Tuomas Tuokkola 2013–2016 January
- Kari Heikkilä 2016 January–March
(* = interim coach)
Other sports
In addition to hockey and football, Ilves has a futsal team in Finnish league which has won the Finnish championship five times (2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011) and the cup competition twice (2006, 2010), a floorball team at second highest level and a women's ringette team. It has numerous boys' and girls' junior teams in ice hockey, soccer, floorball (boys only) and ringette (girls only), making the organization the largest sports club in Finland.
In the past, Ilves has also competed in American football, basketball, bowling, figure skating, handball, and volleyball. It has won a bronze medal in American football and a silver one in handball. Also, Ilves has won the Finnish Cup in handball.
References
- ↑ "Liiga Joukkue / Ilves.com" (in Finnish). www.ilves.com. Retrieved 2014-09-21.
External links
- Ilves official web site (Finnish)
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