Kajaanin Hokki is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

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 ...

team based at

Kajaani Kajaani (; sv, Kajana) is the most populous town and the capital of the Kainuu Region of Finland. It is located southeast of Lake Oulu (Oulujärvi), which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulu River (Oulujoki). As of , it had a pop ...

. The team was founded in 1968.

The club

Hokki was promoted from Suomi-sarja to Mestis in the end of season 2001–02 after beating

Diskos A paten or diskos is a small plate, used during the Mass. It is generally used during the liturgy itself, while the reserved sacrament are stored in the tabernacle in a ciborium. Western usage In many Western liturgical denominations, the p ...

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...

in qualifications. Hokki's home venue is located in Vimpelinlaakso and has the capacity of 1,591.

Cooperation

Among key factors to the team's success have been the co-operation contract with Kärpät and the army unit of

Kainuu Brigade Kainuu brigade (Finnish Kainuun prikaati) is a Finnish Army unit situated in Kajaani. The brigade is one of the biggest army units, training approximately 4000 conscripts annually. The Kainuu Brigade is one of the three readiness brigades in the ...

. Co-operation with Kärpät consists mostly of player exchange between

SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

and

Mestis Mestis (from fi, Mestaruussarja, meaning 'Championship series') is the second-highest men's ice hockey league in Finland. The league was established by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 2000 to replace the I-divisioona ('First Division'). ...

, which enhances player development as younger players from Kärpät gain experience playing amongst men in Hokki. The players in Hokki in turn get the opportunity to train and play with Kärpät enhancing their chances of playing hockey in Finland's highest tier. Examples of players switching between these teams include

Janne Pesonen Janne Tapani Pesonen (born 11 May 1982) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey winger who played for Oulun Kärpät of the Finnish Liiga. Playing career Pesonen began his career with Hokki in 1998, playing in the second-highest division ...

Tommi Paakkolanvaara Tommi Paakkolanvaara is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward who currently plays for Pelicans of the SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in Eng ...

Tuomas Tarkki Tuomas Tarkki (born February 28, 1980) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender, currently serving as director of goaltending coaching for the under-18 (U18) team of Vaasan Sport in the U18 SM-sarja and as an assistant coach to the ...

Antti Ylönen Antti Ylönen (born September 15, 1983) is a Finnish ice hockey defenceman currently playing for Lahti Pelicans of the SM-liiga. He has won three SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquia ...

, and

Jyri Junnila Jyri Junnila (born April 7, 1984) is a Finnish professional ice hockey Right Wing who is currently playing for KalPa in the Finnish Liiga. He previously played for Kärpät in the Finnish Liiga. On 30 January 2019, Junnila joined KalPa Kaleva ...

. Hokki and Kainuu Brigade have made it possible to young players to do their

mandatory military service Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

while training and playing competitive ice hockey.

Current team

Updated December 14, 2013

Team officials

Updated December 14, 2013

References

Mestis teams Ice hockey clubs established in 1968 Kajaani 1968 establishments in Finland {{Europe-icehockey-team-stub