Ilves (; Finnish for "

Lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

") is a Finnish professional

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 in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

. They play in the

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 ...

at the

Tampere Deck Arena Nokia Arena (originally Tampere Deck Arena, fi, Tampereen Kannen areena) is an indoor arena in Tampere, Finland. It hosts ice hockey games, including the 2022 Men's World Championship, and large cultural events. It is also the home arena of I ...

The colors of Ilves, green, yellow, and black, were taken from what was then the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

of the city of Tampere.

History

With sixteen championships, Ilves is the second most successful hockey team in the Finnish championship league, the

, after their local rival

Tappara Tappara (; Finnish for "Battle axe") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the Liiga. They play at ''Tampere Deck Arena'' in Tampere, Finland. The team has won 18 Finnish league championships (1959, 1961, 1964, 1975, 1977, 1979, ...

. 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 as the first Tampere-based hockey team. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, 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

and KooVee, to the new Hakametsä arena, where they played until 2021. 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 championship 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 Raimo Ilmari Helminen (born 11 March 1964 in Tampere, Finland) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. He is often called "Raipe" or "Maestro" by his fans. He is the world record holder for most international games played by a hockey p ...

, Mikko Mäkelä,

Ville Siren ''Ville'' or "town", but its meaning in the Middle Ages was "farm" (from Gallo-Romance VILLA < Latin ''

villa rustica

'') and ...

, and

Jukka Tammi Jukka () is a common Finnish given name for males. History Jukka is an old variant of the name Johannes, a biblical name spread over to Finland through Sweden with the introduction of Christianity. Jukka remained a nickname for people registered ...

. Repeating this success proved difficult, however, when in the following summer four players left the team to play in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. In the late 1980s, Ilves had another brief stint of moderate success when coached by

Sakari Pietilä Sakari Pietilä (born 21 June 1954) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. Pietilä was a SM-liiga head coach with HPK for the 1995–96 SM-liiga season and Jokerit for the 1997–98 SM-liiga season. He was the head coach of the Es ...

. 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 Savonlinnan Pallokerho (SaPKo) was an ice hockey team from Savonlinna, Finland, they formerly play in the Mestis league. It plays its home matches at the Talvisalo ice rink. The sports club Savonlinnan Pallokerho was founded in 1929. First it ...

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. 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, 2012 and 2013.

Honors

SM-sarja

* SM-sarja

Aaro Kivilinna memorial award Aaro may refer to: * Aaro (Shadow of the Eagle), a character portrayed by Mikko Leppilampi in the 2005 Finnish film ''Kaksipäisen kotkan varjossa'' * All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office of the US Department of Defense People with the given nam ...

: 1936, 1937, 1938, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1951, 1952 * SM-sarja

Kanada-malja The Kanada-malja is an ice hockey club championship trophy, awarded annually to the winner of the Finnish Liiga playoffs. Kanada-malja is Finnish for "Canada Bowl"; the trophy is so named because it was donated by Canada's Finnish community in 195 ...

: 1957, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1972 * SM-sarja Aaro Kivilinna memorial award: 1935, 1948, 1949 * SM-sarja Kanada-malja: 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970 * SM-sarja Aaro Kivilinna memorial award: 1934, 1939, 1941, 1943 * SM-sarja Kanada-malja: 1963, 1964, 1967, 1974, 1975

SM-liiga

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 ...

: 1985 * SM-liiga Kanada-malja: 1990, 1998 * SM-liiga Kanada-malja: 1983, 1989, 2001, 2022

Players

2020/2021 season roster

Honored members

Jarmo Wasama Jarmo Sakari Wasama (December 2, 1943 in Elimäki, Finland – February 2, 1966 in Tampere, Finland) was an ice hockey player who played in the SM-sarja. He played for Ilves. He was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985. Wa ...

Aarne Honkavaara Aarne Väinö Edvard Honkavaara (June 7, 1924 – March 22, 2016) was a Finnish ice hockey player and coach. He was born in Tampere, Finland. Playing career Honkavaara played his first game of ice hockey when he was 12 years old. The team whic ...

*13 Risto Jalo *14

Lasse Oksanen Lasse Kalevi Oksanen (born December 7, 1942) is a retired professional ice hockey player who mostly played in the SM-liiga. He played for Ilves. Oksanen played 23 years as a professional ice hockey player and ended his career in 1983, with the F ...

*16

Jorma Peltonen Jorma Kalevi Peltonen (January 11, 1944 – April 30, 2010) was a Finland, Finnish professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga. Born in Messukylä, Finland, he played for Ilves, Jokerit, and Lukko. He was inducted into the Finnish ...

Marianne Ihalainen Marianne Ihalainen (born 22 February 1967) is a retired Finnish ice hockey forward. She won a bronze medal as captain of the Finnish national team at the 1998 Winter Olympics and also won six IIHF World Women's Championship bronze medals, fou ...

*30

*41

Source: Ilves-Historia Number 24 has not been officially retired, but is not in use. It was last worn by

Veikko Suominen Veikko Suominen (May 5, 1948 – December 21, 1978) was an ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga for Upon Pallo, Kiekko-67 and Ilves from 1967 to 1978. Death Suominen committed suicide on December 21, 1978, while a member of the Tampere- ...

, who died during the 1978–79 season.

Coaches

Current staff

* Head Coach:

Antti Pennanen Antti Pennanen (born 5 February 1979) is a Finnish former ice hockey player and current head coach for Ilves of the Finnish Liiga and Finland men's national junior ice hockey team. He previously served as the head coach for Jukurit and HPK in the ...

* Assistant Coach:

Pasi Saarinen Pasi may refer to: * Pasi (caste), a Hindu caste of northern India * ''Pasi'' (film), a 1979 Tamil film * Pasi (given name) * Pasi (surname), a surname of the Pasi community * Pasi, Papua New Guinea, a settlement near the coast of Sandaun Provinc ...

* Assistant Coach:

Jarkko Näppilä Jarkko Näppilä (born July 6, 1988) is a Finnish ice hockey defenceman. He is currently playing with Ilves in the Finnish Liiga. Nappila made his SM-liiga debut playing with Ilves Ilves (; Finnish for "Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice ...

* Goaltending Coach:

Markus Korhonen Markus Korhonen (born 29 April 1975) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender and the current goaltending coach of Ilves. Korhonen's son Rasmus Korhonen is a goaltender for Porin Ässät. Playing career Korhonen began his career ...

* Team Manager:

Timo Peltomaa Timo Peltomaa (born 26 July 1968) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in ...

All-time head coaches

* Niilo Tammisalo 1931–37 *

Risto Lindroos Risto ( sr, Ристо) is a masculine given name, found in Finnish, Estonian and South Slavic. In South Slavic, it is a hypocorism derived from '' Hristofor'' or ''Hristivoje''. It may refer to: Estonia * Risto Järv (born 1971), folklorist * ...

1937–46, 1949–53 *

1952–61, 1967–68 *

Henry Kvist Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

1946–49 *

Seppo Helle Seppo is a masculine given name of Finnish origin. It has two distinct origins; Seppo is a character in the Kalevala, whose name is derived from the Finnish word ''seppä'', meaning smith, and the name is also a diminutive for Sebastian in Finlan ...

1961–64 *

Rauli Virtanen Rauli Virtanen (born 28 June 1948) is a Finnish writer, freelance journalist, lecturer and television producer. He has covered wars and conflicts since the days of Vietnam and has travelled in 194 countries. He has been a foreign correspondent base ...

1964–65 * Erkki Koiso 1965–66 *

Raimo Vasama Raimo is a masculine given name. People named Raimo include: *Raimo Aas (born 1953), Estonian humorist *Raimo Grönberg (born 1953), Finnish actor *Raimo Hämäläinen (born 1948), Finnish professor of Applied Mathematics and Operations Resea ...

1968–71, 1972–75 *

Juhani Ruusunen Juhani is a common Finnish male given name and Arabic surname. Given name * Juhani Aaltonen (born 1935), Finnish jazz saxophonist and flautist * Juhani Aho * Juhani Kaskeala * Juhani Komulainen * Juhani Kumpulainen * Juhani Lahtinen * Juhani "Jui ...

1971–72, 1976–80 *

Len Lunde Leonard Melvin Lunde (November 13, 1936 – November 22, 2010) was a professional ice hockey player who played 321 games in the National Hockey League and 72 games in the World Hockey Association. He played for the Chicago Black Hawks, Minnesota ...

1972–73 *

Matti Reunamäki Matti Johannes Reunamäki (born July 25, 1940 in Tampere, Finland) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga. He played for KooVee. He was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame The Finnish Hockey Hall o ...

1974–75 * Esko Mäkinen 1974–76 * Raimo Määttänen 1980–82 * Seppo Hiitelä 1982–87, 1990–91 *

Matti Kaario Matti may refer to: * Matti (given name) Matti is a given name, originated from the Hebrew Mattityahu, meaning "gift of God". It is a popular Finnish version of Matthew or Matthias. Matti (מתי) is also a short for the Yiddish Mattisyahu. It may ...

1986–87, 1990–91, 1999* *

1987–90, 2006–2009 * Anatoli Bogdanov 1991–93 *

Jukka Jalonen Jukka Pertti Juhani Jalonen (born November 2, 1962 in Riihimäki, Finland) is a Finland, Finnish professional ice hockey coach (sport), coach and former player. In 2011 IIHF World Championship, 2011, 2019 IIHF World Champion ...

1992–95 * Heikki Vesala 1994–95 *

Vladimir Jursinov Jr. Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

1995–99 *

Heikki Mälkiä Heikki is a Finnish and Estonian male given name. It derives from a medieval vernacular form of the name Henrik. Notable people with the name include: * Heikki Aho (footballer) (born 1983), Finnish footballer * Heikki A. Alikoski (1912–1997), ...

1999–2001, 2009–10* *

Ari-Pekka Selin Ari-Pekka Selin (born May 17, 1963) is a former professional ice hockey player and coach. During the 2013–2014 season, he coached both Barys Astana of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and the Kazakhstan men's national ice hockey team. He ...

2001–03 * Teijo Räsänen 2002–03 * Vaclav Sykora 2003–05 *

Curt Lindström Curt "Curre" Lindström (born 26 November 1940) is a Swedish ice hockey coach. Career on international level He coached Team Finland from 1993 to 1997, winning Finland's first Ice Hockey World Championships gold medal in 1995, and a silver world ...

2004–05 *

Kari Eloranta Kari Pekka Eloranta (born February 29, 1956) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player who played over 20 years in numerous leagues throughout Europe and North America. Among top-level leagues, he played with Reipas Lahti in the Finnish ...

2005–06 * Petteri Hirvonen 2006* *

2006–09 *

Juha Pajuoja Juha-Pekka Pajuoja (born 31 March 1967, in Tampere) is a Finnish former ice hockey player and current coach. Pajuoja was the coach of the HC TPS in Liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially c ...

2010–12* * Seppo Hiitelä 2011–12 *

2012–2013 *

Tuomas Tuokkola Tuomas Tuokkola (born January 20, 1970) is a Finnish former ice hockey defenceman. He is currently the head coach of KooKoo in the Finnish Liiga. Tuokkola took over the head coaching duties for Ilves on January 21, 2013, as a mid-season replacem ...

2013–2016 January *

Kari Heikkilä Kari Heikkilä (born 10 January 1960) is a Finnish former ice hockey player and coach. He played majority of his career in Ilves, but had also stints in Sweden (HC Vita Hästen and Luleå HF) and in Italy, where he ended his career in 1994. Af ...

2016 January–March *

Kari Kivi Kari or KARI may refer to: Places *Kari, Jhunjhunu, a village in Rajasthan, India * , a village in Mouhoun Province, Burkina Faso *Kari, Tikamgarh, a town in Madhya Pradesh, India *Kari, Iran, a village in Bushehr Province, Iran *Kari-ye Bozorg ("G ...

2017–2020 September * Jouko Myrrä 2020 October–2022 October *

2022 October–present (* = interim coach)

Other sports

In addition to hockey and football, Ilves has a

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...

team in Finnish league which has won the Finnish championship five times (2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, and 2011) and the cup competition twice (2006, 2010), a

floorball Floorball is a type of floor hockey with five players and a goalkeeper in each team. Men and women play indoors with sticks and a plastic ball with holes. Matches are played in three twenty-minute periods. The sport of bandy also played a role ...

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 American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...