Vaasan Sport

Vaasan Sport
City Vaasa, Finland
League Liiga
Founded 1939
1962 (the ice hockey team)
Home arena Vaasa Arena
Colors               
Owner(s) HT Vaasan Sport Oy
General manager Ari-Pekka Pajuluoma
Head coach ´Finland Tomek Valtonen
Captain Antti Uitto

Sport, known by its full name as Hockey Team Vaasan Sport OY, is a Finnish ice hockey team playing in Liiga, and is based at Vaasa Arena (capacity 4448) in Vaasa. The team was established in 1939 as IF Sport (Idrottsföreningen Sport).

History

Vaasan Sport was founded in 1939 as IF Sport. The team was involved in the founding of the Finnish top division Liiga, formerly known as SM-Liiga, in 1975, but was relegated only one year later after the 1975-1976 season (roster for their first and only SM-Liiga season).

After the relegation Sport played in the Finnish 1st Division (since then renamed to Mestis), until they were relegated in 1991-1992 to the Finnish Second Division. Climbing back up to the 1st division proved to be a tough task and wasn't accomplished until spring 1997, with the game-winning goal of the deciding game against Kiekko-67 being scored by Kari Teräväinen in overtime.

The 2008-09 season was a success as Sport won the Mestis championship. However, in the league qualification series the team lost the last game to Ässät in a best-of-7 format, thus remaining in Mestis. The overall qualification series were close as Sport at one point was a single goal away from beating Ässät in overtime and being promoted to Liiga, but was unable to score.

Sport struggled with bad economy during the 2000s, which almost led the club to bankruptcy. The club board made improvements to secure the future of the club, cutting down on the budget for the whole new season, as well as installing new head coach and former world ice hockey champion Antti Törmänen, who started to build a new young team from scratch. Eventually the club surfaced from its financial struggles and went ahead to consistently fight for the championship victory again.

In 2014, during the 2013-2014 Mestis season, it was confirmed that Sport would be promoted to Liiga for the 2014-2015 season, regardless of the outcome of the ongoing championship. This was due to former Liiga team Jokerit transferring to KHL, leaving an open slot in the Finnish top division.

Fans

The official fan club is called Red army. The fan club Ultras 06 function as non-official supporters.

Current roster

Updated March 13, 2015.[1]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
3 France Bertrand, CharlesCharles Bertrand LW R 24 2014 Paris, France
4 United States Brennan, MikeMike Brennan (A) D R 29 2014 Smithtown, New York, United States
81 Finland Gröndahl, AriAri Gröndahl D R 26 2011 Helsinki, Finland
87 Finland Hattunen, JarkkoJarkko Hattunen LW L 28 2013 Kajaani, Finland
16 Finland Henritius, TeemuTeemu Henritius LW L 22 2014 Helsinki, Finland
35 Finland Hostikka, VilleVille Hostikka G L 30 2014 Lappeenranta, Finland
23 Finland Immonen, JarkkoJarkko Immonen (A) C L 31 2014 Kouvola, Finland
51 Finland Kangasniemi, AnttiAntti Kangasniemi C L 30 2013 Tampere, Finland
Finland Karvinen, OttoOtto Karvinen RW L 25 2015 Vantaa, Finland
28 Finland Kivimäki, SamuliSamuli Kivimäki RW R 27 2013 Vaasa, Finland
25 Finland Kiviranta, JoelJoel Kiviranta LW L 19 2014 Vantaa, Finland
82 Finland Koivisto, HenrikHenrik Koivisto C L 25 2015 Kerava, Finland
36 Finland Kokkala, LassiLassi Kokkala C L 26 2013 Turku, Finland
21 Finland Körkkö, TomiTomi Körkkö RW L 24 2014 Oulu, Finland
Slovakia Krištof, MichalMichal Krištof C L 22 2014 Nitra, Slovakia
34 Finland Laakso, AleksiAleksi Laakso D L 25 2014 Seinäjoki, Finland
89 Finland Lammassaari, PetriPetri Lammassaari RW R 30 2014 Oulu, Finland
57 Finland Leinonen, ToniToni Leinonen LW L 24 2015 Helsinki, Finland
12 Finland Leskinen, VilleVille Leskinen RW R 21 2014 Eurajoki, Finland
24 Finland Malkamäki, MikoMiko Malkamäki (C) D L 27 2014 Kokkola, Finland
41 Finland Manninen, OskariOskari Manninen D L 24 2014 Vantaa, Finland
79 United States Newton, JakeJake Newton D L 27 2015 San Jacinto, California, United States
39 Finland Pesonen, JussiJussi Pesonen RW L 36 2014 Muurame, Finland
48 Finland Pukka, MikkoMikko Pukka D L 33 2014 Suodenniemi, Finland
31 Finland Rantamäki, JesseJesse Rantamäki F R 19 2013 Seinäjoki, Finland
18 Finland Rekonen, AleksiAleksi Rekonen C L 22 2014 Helsinki, Finland
13 Finland Riska, ErikErik Riska (A) RW L 26 2014 Jakobstad, Finland
32 Finland Salo, RobinRobin Salo D L 17 2011 Espoo, Finland
38 Finland Tallberg, TeemuTeemu Tallberg LW L 24 2014 Helsinki, Finland
43 Finland Tarkkanen, JuhaJuha Tarkkanen D L 22 2015 Helsinki, Finland
Finland Tikka, TommiTommi Tikka F L 20 2013 Helsinki, Finland
33 Finland Toivonen, HannuHannu Toivonen G L 31 2014 Kalvola, Finland
10 Finland Uitto, AnttiAntti Uitto D L 32 2008 Seinäjoki, Finland
8 Finland Valkonen, JoonasJoonas Valkonen D L 22 2014 Vantaa, Finland
27 Finland Väkelä, JesseJesse Väkelä D R 20 2014 Vaasa, Finland
Finland Vänttinen, TuomasTuomas Vänttinen C R 32 2015 Savonlinna, Finland

Retired numbers

Former notable players

Former notable coaches

Website

References

  1. ↑ "Joukkue / Vaasan Sport" (in Finnish). www.sport.fi. Retrieved 2012-12-09.
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