Savonlinnan Pallokerho (SaPKo) was 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 h ...

team from

Savonlinna Savonlinna (, , ; sv, Nyslott, lit=New Castle) is a town and a municipality of inhabitants in the southeast of Finland, in the heart of the Saimaa lake region, which is why the city is also nicknamed the "Capital of Saimaa". Together with Mikke ...

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 ...

, they formerly play 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' ...

league. It plays its home matches at the

Talvisalo ice rink Talvisalo ice rink is an indoor arena and ice rink in Savonlinna, Finland. The arena was built in 1978 and has a capacity of 2,833 spectators. It is the home of SaPKo, in the Mestis ice hockey league (the second league in Finland, behind Liiga ...

. The sports club Savonlinnan Pallokerho was founded in 1929. First it consisted football and bandy sections, but since the 1960s ice hockey has been the main sport. In 1960s SaPKo played four seasons in the highest tier of Finnish ice hockey ''SM-sarja'' but was relegated to Suomi-sarja in 1971. In 1974 the new First Division was formed and SaPKo was one of the teams participating. SaPKo soon established itself as the team of I-divisioona expect few visits to Second Division. In 1968 SaPKo worked its way to the final of Finnish Cup, but lost the final to KooVee 10–2. Later bigger success came in the season 1994/1995 when SaPKo had very good regular season with players like Team Canada captain

Brian Tutt Brian Carter Tutt (born June 9, 1962 in Swalwell, Alberta) is a former Canadian ice hockey player who played briefly for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League, playing seven games for the team during the 1989-90 NHL seaso ...

and was close to promotion to the

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 ...

. It played tight promotion playoffs 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 cit ...

but failed to promote. After the success started downtrend which culminated to relegation to ''Suomi-sarja''. At the end of the 2005/2006 season SaPKo finally gained promotion back to the second tier,

. On 22 June 2022 SaPKo filed for bankruptcy due to Financial difficulties

Honours

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)'': 2017 * ''(1)'': 2018

Suomi-sarja

* ''(1)'': 2003 * ''(1)'': 2006

Finnish cup The Finnish Cup ( fi, Suomen cup; sv, Finlands cup) is Finland's main national cup competition in football. This yearly competition is open for all member clubs of the FA of Finland and has been played since 1955. The winner qualifies for the ...

* ''(3)'': 1967, 1968, 2017

Notable players

Arto Heiskanen Arto Heiskanen (November 23, 1963 – February 8, 2023) was a Finnish professional ice hockey left winger. Heiskanen played a total of 487 games in the SM-liiga for Ässät and Lukko. He played in the French Élite Ligue for Brest Albatros Hock ...

Jarkko Immonen Jarkko Immonen (born April 19, 1982) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward currently playing for Mikkelin Jukurit of the Liiga. Playing career Immonen made his debut in Finland's second-tier league Mestis with TuTo Hockey during the 20 ...

* *

Niko Laakkonen Niko Laakkonen (born June 15, 1988) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey winger. Laakkonen began his career with KalPa's Jr. teams between 2003 and 2009. Unable to make it to KalPa's main roster, he signed for SaPKo in Mestis. After four ...

Jukka-Pekka Laamanen Jukka Laamanen (born October 4, 1976) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player who currently plays for HPK in the SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite Lea ...

Ville Leino Ville Leino (born 6 October 1983) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward. He has played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers and Buffalo Sabres. Playing career Finland At age 17, Lei ...

* Steve MacDonald * Randy Maxwell *

Jarmo Myllys Jarmo Pentti Kalevi Myllys (born 29 May 1965) is a 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 the goalkeeping ...

Tuukka Rask Tuukka Mikael Rask (born 10 March 1987) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender. Rask was drafted 21st overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs before being traded to the Boston Bruins in 2006, where he played ...

Seppo Repo Seppo Hannu Antero Repo (born September 21, 1947 in Joensuu, Finland) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga. He played for Jokerit, SaPKo, and TPS. He was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990. ...

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 ...

* Antti Tirkkonen *

Pekka Tirkkonen Pekka Tirkkonen (born July 17, 1968) is a Finnish ice hockey coach and former professional ice hockey player. He most recently served as head coach of EHC Kloten of the National League (NL). Tirkkonen was selected by the Boston Bruins in the 2nd ...

* Paavo Tirkkonen * Tommi Turunen * Seppo Aksila *

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 ...

* Jan-Mikael Järvinen

Retired numbers

* 2 Paavo Tirkkonen * 3

Jyrki Turunen Jyrki is a Finnish masculine given name and may refer to: People *Jyrki 69 (born 1968), the lead vocalist for Finnish rock band ''The 69 Eyes'' * Jyrki Blom (born 1962), retired Finnish javelin thrower * Jyrki Hämäläinen (1942–2008), Finnish ...

* 5 Ahti Ruohoaho * 10 Raimo Turkulainen

External links

Official website
Mestis teams Savonlinna Association football clubs established in 1929 Bandy clubs established in 1929 Ice hockey clubs established in 1929 {{Finland-sport-stub