Helsingin Jääkiekkoklubi () or HJK for short is an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

club located in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. The team was formed in 1928 but it became an independent club in 1972 when the ice hockey departmend of

Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history i ...

was disestablished. After that, the women's club won the Naisten SM-sarja championship two times. Nowadays the club mainly focuses on their junior teams. The men's team had won three championships before that.

History

The hockey team of the

was promoted to the SM-sarja for the 1970–1971 after season being in the Suomensarja for a few years. HJK immediately tried to take part in the championship competition and started recruiting new top players such as

Jorma Vehmanen Jorma "Joppe" Vehmanen (born 18 September 1945 in Rauma, Finland) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga. He played for HJK Helsinki and Lukko. He was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame The Finnish ...

and

Matti Keinonen Matti Keinonen (6 November 1941 – 27 November 2021) was a Finnish professional ice hockey player and coach. During his career he played in the SM-sarja with Lukko Rauma, RU-38, HJK Helsinki, Jokerit, and TPS Turku. He was inducted into the ...

. The competition for players in the metropolitan area was fierce and a considerable amount of money was spent on purchases. Despite the acquisitions, the season did not go according to plan. HJK ranked fifth and the financial losses from hockey were significant for HJK. The championship hurry continued the following season and expenses were increased. This time, HJK finished second, but despite the increased ticket revenue, the club's loss was substantial. At the same time, the state of HJK's football had deteriorated significantly. It was even supposed to fall out of the league and the club's financial resources were no longer enough to strengthen the team. At the end of the 1971–1972 season, HJK had to declare that it was no longer able to run hockey. In the spring, three Helsinki clubs, HJK,

Jokerit Helsingin Jokerit (English: Jokers or Jesters) are a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland. The team won six league championships as a member of the Finnish SM-liiga (1973, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, and 2002). Jokerit plays its ...

and

Karhu-Kissat {{infobox hockey team , team = Karhu-Kissat , colour = background:#FFFFFF; border-top:firebrick 5px solid; border-bottom:green 5px solid; , colour text = black , logo = Karhu-Kissat ice hockey club.png , logosize = 200px , ...

, agreed on a merger that was announced in March 1972. However, the merger collapsed three weeks later after the Jokerit withdrew. Following the failure of the merger, HJK's situation was financially gloomy. Debt had accumulated for almost half a million

FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...

. In order to save the club, HJK decided to cut down hockey, among other things. Merger negotiations resumed, this time only with the Karhu-Kissat. Finally, in May 1972, the clubs established a joint umbrella organization under which hockey activities were combined. HJK's hockey operations were separated into its own association, the Helsingin Jääkiekkoklubi. In the 1972–1973 season, the joint team finished fifth, but after that, HJK started to play independently. The following season, it dropped out of the league.

Honours

SM-sarja

* (3)

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

Naisten SM-sarja

* (2)

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Helsingin Jääkiekkoklubi 1972 establishments in Finland Ice hockey teams in Finland Naisten Liiga (ice hockey) teams Sports clubs in Helsinki Ice hockey clubs established in 1972