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KooKoo 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 playing in the first level of Finnish ice hockey league
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 ...
. KooKoo plays in the
Lumon arena Lumon arena is an ice hockey arena located in Kouvola, Finland. The arena has a seating capacity of about 5,950.http://kookoo.fi/uutiset/kouvolan-j%C3%A4%C3%A4hallista-lumon-areena The arena's official public record is from the 1985, I-Divisioon ...
(capacity 5,950), in
Kouvola Kouvola () is a cities of Finland, city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located along the Kymijoki, Kymijoki River in the Regions of Finland, region of Kymenlaakso, kilometers east of Lahti, west of Lapp ...
. The team was established in
1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...
and the previous name of the club is ''Kouvolan Kiekko-65''.


Franchise history

KooKoo was established by the Kouvolan Pallonlyöjät and Sudet in
Kouvola Kouvola () is a cities of Finland, city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located along the Kymijoki, Kymijoki River in the Regions of Finland, region of Kymenlaakso, kilometers east of Lahti, west of Lapp ...
on 3 November 1965. The first official match was played on November 17, 1965 when KooKoo won the Kuusankoski Puhti goals 4–2. A new club for ice hockey skills got plenty from
Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; sv, Villmanstrand) is a city and municipality in the region of South Karelia, about from the Russian border and from the town of Vyborg (''Viipuri''). It is situated on the shore of the Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland, and ...
, where many of its first-year players and coaches came from.


Early years

KooKoo started its career in the official series of the Association in the 1966–1967 season, when it participated in the Southern Finland division of Maakuntasarja. During the 1967–1968 season, KooKoo played in the Greater Savo division of Maakuntasarja, where it ranked fourth. In the 1969–1970 season, KooKoo ranked second in the Kymenlaakso division and reached the Suomensarja qualifier but wasn't promoted.


Time in the I Division

KooKoo rise to the second highest level in the series, the Suomensarja for the season 1971–1972. It was also included in the 1974 newly created series, the I Division. In 1982, an ice rink was built in Kouvola, which greatly improved the operating conditions. The first match in November 1982 between KooKoo and
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 ...
ended in KooKoo's 7–4 victory in front of over 4,000 spectators. KooKoo was able to attempt qualifying to SM-liiga for the first time in the 1984–1985 season, after ranking third in the season. However, KooKoo didn't make it. During the 1985–1986 season, KooKoo was coached by Reino Ruotsalainen, and was ranked third in the regular season. In the four-team league qualifying, Kookoo also ranked third and was forced to continue in the I Division. In the 1986–1987 season, the club celebrated its first league victory after winning the division's regular season before
TuTo Hockey TUTO Hockey (Turun Toverit) is a Finnish ice hockey team based at the Kupittaan jäähalli (capacity 2,875, inauguration in November 2006). Established in 1929, TUTO plays in Turku, Finland, and is one of two clubs in that city (the other being ...
.


Time in SM-Liiga

KooKoo's first season in the SM-Liiga was difficult. In the spring of 1988, KooKoo played a very tight five-game relegation series with Lahden Kiekkoreipas. The fourth game extended to the overtime until Lasse Tasala settled the match to KooKoo. After that, KooKoo easily retained its place in the crucial fifth match played at home. In their second season, KooKoo played in the 1988–1989 season with
Urpo Ylönen Urpo Yrjö Juhani Ylönen (born 25 May 1943 in Käkisalmi, Finland) is a goaltending coach and a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga. He played for TuTo and TPS. He was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame i ...
. The team reached its best results as ninth of the league. The team's last season in the league was very weak and it was relegated back to the first division after losing to the qualifying round for Hockey Reipas.


Back to Division and Fall in Division II

KooKoo started the 1990s in the first division. KooKoo was relegated in 1997 when the first division team was downsized by four. The unambiguous aim of the club was to get back to the first division. The team survived until qualifying, but
Hyvinkää Ahmat Hyvinkää (; sv, Hyvinge, ) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Uusimaa region, approximately north of the capital Helsinki. The city was chartered in 1960. The population of Hyvinkää is (). Its neighboring municipal ...
was better off with 3–2.


Back to Division and Mestis

In the 1998–1999 season, KooKoo came out again in qualifying. It succeeded in winning the Uudenkaupungin Jää-Kotkat in the matches 3-2 and was promoted to the first division after the two-year absence. In 2000, the team moved to the newly established
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'). ...
. In the spring of 2005, the club announced that it would close down the representation team, but the team with new organization. In 2009–2010 season, KooKoo won the Mestis Regular Series for the first time in 23 years. At the end of the season KooKoo reached bronze medals by winning LeKi 4–2. In the season 2013–2014, KooKoo won
Jukurit Mikkelin Jukurit is a professional ice hockey team in Liiga, the top tier Finnish ice hockey league. They play in Mikkeli, Finland, at the Kalevankankaan jäähalli (known since 2016 as Ikioma Areena). The team has won 7 Mestis (2nd highest lev ...
in finals.


Return to the SM-Liiga

In October 2014, information about KooKoo return to the SM-Liiga for the 2015-2016 season was published. At the 2017–2018 season, KooKoo made history in the SM-Liiga by leading the series for the first time. At the time, there were 15 teams who had reached the top spot in the regular season. KooKoo made the 2019–2020 season Kouvola's hockey history for the first time making to the league playoffs. However, the playoffs were not played during the season due to the
Coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
. In 2020–2021 season KooKoo reached playoffs Wild-card round against
Ilves Ilves (; Finnish for " Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Tampere Deck Arena. The colors of Ilves, green, yellow, and black, were taken from what was then the coat of arms of the city ...
. KooKoo's season ended in 9th place and Ilves advanced to the quarterfinals. At the 2021–2022 season, KooKoo advanced for the third time to the playoffs, in Wild-card round ended up against a familiar local opponent
Lahti Pelicans The Lahti Pelicans are a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the Liiga. Founded in 1996, they play in the city of Lahti at Isku Arena. The team is co-owned by (among others) former National Hockey League (NHL) goaltender Pasi Nurminen ...
. KooKoo's season continued after defeating Pelicans with a total score of 2-1 after two games and KooKoo advanced to the quarterfinals against old Mestis rival
Jukurit Mikkelin Jukurit is a professional ice hockey team in Liiga, the top tier Finnish ice hockey league. They play in Mikkeli, Finland, at the Kalevankankaan jäähalli (known since 2016 as Ikioma Areena). The team has won 7 Mestis (2nd highest lev ...
.


Current roster


Captains


Honours


Champions

*
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'). ...
''(1)'': 2013-14 *
I-Divisioona I-Divisioona was the second tier of ice hockey in Finland from 1974 to 2000. In the year 2000 I-Divisioona was replaced by Mestis. Participating teams External linksFinnish Ice Hockey Federation {{DEFAULTSORT:1-Divisioona Ice hockey leagu ...
''(1)'': 1986-87 * Maakuntasarja (II-Divisioona) ''(1)'': 1972


Runners-up

*
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'). ...
''(3)'': 2001-02, 2012-13, 2014-15 *
I-Divisioona I-Divisioona was the second tier of ice hockey in Finland from 1974 to 2000. In the year 2000 I-Divisioona was replaced by Mestis. Participating teams External linksFinnish Ice Hockey Federation {{DEFAULTSORT:1-Divisioona Ice hockey leagu ...
(Fazer-liiga) ''(1)'': 1994–95 * Mestis ''(3)'': 2002-03, 2009-10, 2011-12 * I-Divisioona ''(5)'': 1982–83, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1991–92, 1992–93 ''Other awards for the club:'' *Imatra Bauer Tournament winner ''(1)'': 2016 *Vaasa Cup winner ''(1)'': 2013 *
Tampere Cup Tampere Cup is an annual ice hockey tournament held in Tampere, Finland. It is hosted by two local teams, Tappara and Ilves. The most successful team is one of the hosts, Tappara with four titles. Metallurg Magnitogorsk has won the tournament th ...
winner ''(1)'': 2021


Ranking in the SM-Liiga

* 1987–88 – 10. * 1988–89 – 9. * 1989–90 – 11. * 2015–16 – 11. * 2016-17 – 13. * 2017–18 – 14. * 2018–19 - 13. * 2019–20 - 5. *
2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
- 9. * 2021–22 - 4. *
2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
-


NHL alumni

*
Mika Alatalo Mika Antero Alatalo (born June 11, 1971 in Oulu, Finland) is a former professional ice hockey forward. Playing career He played 152 games in the National Hockey League for the Phoenix Coyotes. He has most recently played for Herlev Hornets a ...
*
Hannu Kamppuri Hannu Juhani Kamppuri (born 1 July 1957 in Helsinki, Finland) is a former professional ice hockey goaltender. Kamppuri was an accomplished SM-liiga goaltender, where he played from 1975 to 1990, and was one of the first Finnish goaltenders ...
* Marko Kiprusoff *
Jarno Kultanen Jarno Kultanen (born January 8, 1973) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player who played between 1994 and 2010. He played in the SM-liiga for KalPa and HIFK, and in the National Hockey League for Boston Bruins. In Sweden played for Söd ...
*
Anssi Melametsä Anssi Ilari Melametsä (born June 21, 1961) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League and SM-liiga. He played for Jokerit, HIFK, and the Winnipeg Jets. Internationally he represented Finland at ...
*
Jarmo Myllys Jarmo Pentti Kalevi Myllys (born 29 May 1965) is a Finnish people, Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender. He was drafted by the Minnesota North Stars as their ninth-round pick, #172 overall, in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft. He is currently ...
* Joni Ortio *
Petri Varis Petri Johannes Varis (born May 13, 1969) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward. He was drafted by the San Jose Sharks as their 7th-round pick in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. Playing career Starting his pro career with Karhu-Kissat in t ...
* Brett Carson * Josh Green *
Leland Irving Leland Bruce Irving (born April 11, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender, currently playing for the HC Bolzano in the Austrian Hockey League (EBEL). He was a first round selection of the Calgary Flames, 26th overall at the 20 ...
* Christian Thomas * Gary Yaremchuk * Jim Leavins * Steve Peters * Matt Watkins * Tommy Wingels *
Niklas Treutle Niklas Treutle (born 29 April 1991) is a German professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Nürnberg Ice Tigers in the German top-flight DEL. In the 2015–16 season, he played within the Arizona Coyotes organization of the Na ...
* Libor Šulák


Other former notable players

* /
Viktor Tyumenev Viktor Nikolaevich Tyumenev (russian: Виктор Николаевич Тюменев; June 1, 1957 — August 2, 2018) was a Russian ice hockey player who played in the Soviet Championship League, Soviet Hockey League. He played for HC Spartak ...
* / Siim Liivik * /
Frederic Cloutier Frédéric Cloutier (born May 14, 1981) is a Canadian-born Italian professional ice hockey goaltender who plays for HC Merano of the Alps Hockey League. Undrafted by a National Hockey League (NHL) team, Cloutier played for the Bridgeport Sound T ...
*
Reino Soijärvi Reino Soijärvi (born October 30, 1975) is a Finnish former ice hockey forward. Soijärvi played in the Finnish lower leagues for Warkis, SaPKo and IPK before joining KooKoo of Mestis Mestis (from fi, Mestaruussarja, meaning 'Championshi ...
* Malte Strömwall *
Timo Susi Timo Antero Susi (born January 25, 1959 in Kouvola, Finland) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga. He played for Tappara. He was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame The Finnish Hockey Ha ...
* Ari Vallin *
Juha-Pekka Haataja Juha-Pekka Haataja (born October 31, 1982) is a Finnish professional ice hockey winger. He currently plays for KooKoo of the Finnish Liiga. Playing career In the 2012–13 season, he had the most points in the SM-Liiga at 59 while playing for Oul ...


Retired numbers


References


External links


Official Website (Finnish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kouvolan Edustuskiekko) Mestis teams Kouvola 1965 establishments in Finland Liiga Liiga teams