Kim Michael Hirschovits-Gerz (born 9 May 1982) 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 ...

former 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 h ...

forward and sports manager of

Kiekko-Espoo Kiekko-Espoo is a Finnish ice hockey club founded in 1984. Kiekko-Espoo men's team plays in the Mestis and the women's team plays in the Naisten Liiga. Kiekko-Espoo's junior teams play at national league levels in U16, U18 and U20 juniors. The ...

in the

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' ...

. During his playing career, he skated in the Finnish

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 lea ...

(called SM-liiga until 2013) with

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK ) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

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 h ...

, the

Espoo Blues The Espoo Blues were an ice hockey team in the SM-liiga. They played in Espoo, Finland, at the Espoo Metro Areena. The club went bankrupt at the end of the 2015–16 Liiga season. History The club was established in February 1984 as Kiekko-Espoo ...

, and

Oulun Kärpät Oulun Kärpät (Finnish for "Oulu Ermines", sometimes referred to as Kärpät Oulu) is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Oulu and playing in the top-tier Finnish Liiga. Kärpät have won the Finnish championship title eight times, ...

; in the Swedish Elitserien with Timrå IK and

Luleå HF Luleå Hockeyförening is an ice hockey club from Luleå, Sweden. The club has been playing in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the top tier of ice hockey in Sweden, since the 1984–85 season. They are the northernmost team in the league and h ...

; and in the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

(KHL) with

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (russian: Торпедо Нижний Новгород) is a professional ice hockey club in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League. The team's home arena is Trad ...

and Dinamo Minsk. Hirschovits was drafted by the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

as their sixth-round pick, 194th overall, in the

2002 NHL Entry Draft __NOTOC__ The 2002 NHL Entry Draft was the 40th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 22 and 23, 2002 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Two hundred and ninety-one players were drafted in total: 35 from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL); ...

. Following his retirement in 2019, Hirschovits stepped into role as sports manager Kiekko-Espoo. He also served as the team's head coach during the 2019–20 season and 2021–22 season.

Playing career

Hirschovits started his professional playing career with HIFK in the 2000–01 SM-liiga season, but his career took off in the 2005–06 season, when he scored 40 points. Hirschovits then created controversy by signing with HIFK's local rival Jokerit, following in the footsteps of coach Doug Shedden. Hirschovits's career included a brief visit to North America in 2002, when he played six games with the

Chicago Steel The Chicago Steel are members of the United States Hockey League, joining the league in 2000. The Steel have played their home games at Fox Valley Ice Arena in Geneva, Illinois, since 2015; previously, the team played at Edge Ice Arena in Bense ...

of the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictl ...

(USHL). In September 2006, he was the SM-liiga Player of the Month. In the 2008–09 season he led the SM-liiga in assists (48) and points ( Veli-Pekka Ketola Trophy; 66) and was the January 2009 SM-liiga Player of the Month. In the 2014–15 season, he was named the Liiga Best Player of the regular season ( Lasse Oksanen Trophy), won the Liiga Golden Helmet, led the Liiga in assists (45) and points (Veli-Pekka Ketola Trophy; 58), and was the February 2015 Liiga Player of the Month.

International play

Hirschovits made his international debut on Team Finland on the

Euro Hockey Tour The Euro Hockey Tour (EHT) is an annual ice hockey tournament open to only the national men's teams of Czechia, Finland, Switzerland and Sweden. Most of the teams use the competition as a preparation for the upcoming World Championships or Olym ...

's Moscow tournament in December 2006.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Records

* Recorded six assists in an

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 ...

game (January 9, 2007), a

club record. The league record, seven assists, dates back to 1982 and is held by

Matti Forss Matti Forss (born May 17, 1957 in Rauma, Finland) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga. Playing career He played for HIFK and Lukko. He was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame The Finnish Hockey ...

References

External links

* * 1982 births Living people Ice hockey people from Helsinki Chicago Steel players HC Dinamo Minsk players Espoo United players Finnish Jews HIFK (ice hockey) players Jewish ice hockey players Jokerit players Luleå HF players New York Rangers draft picks Oulun Kärpät players Timrå IK players Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod players {{finland-icehockey-centre-stub