Unto Mauri Wiitala (5 July 1925 – 16 January 2019) was 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 ...

player who played in 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 ...

. Born in

Kuolemajärvi Pionerskoye (russian: Пионе́рское; fi, Kuolemajärvi) is a rural locality on Karelian Isthmus, in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. Until the Winter War and Continuation War, it had been the administrative center of th ...

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 ...

, he played for

Hämeenlinnan Tarmo Hämeenlinnan Tarmo is a sports club founded in Hämeenlinna, Finland, in 1903. It currently has about 1500 members. The club participates in sport of athletics, athletics, cycle sport, cycling, strength sports, bowling, orienteering, and volleyb ...

before working as a referee and hockey executive. He competed at the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 6. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 6. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, was a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 195 ...

with Team Finland and five

Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annua ...

. Wiitala was inducted into the

Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame The Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame is housed in and administered by the ('Finnish Ice Hockey Museum'), a part of the Vapriikki Museum Centre, in Tampere, Finland. The was founded in 1979 with the mission to record, document, and exhibit objects, ...

in 1985 and became the first Finnish referee ever inducted into the

IIHF Hall of Fame The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the Interna ...

. The Finnish Liiga honored him by naming their best referee during the regular season award in his name.

Career

Wiitala began his professional career playing for Karhu-Kissat in 1946. In 1952, he was selected to represent Finland at the

where they placed fifth. His career ended with him being awarded the best goalkeeper award three times by 1956. After retirement, Wiitala became a referee for 15 consecutive seasons which included two

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...

and three

. He was subsequently named referee-in-chief for the Liiga. He also served as chairperson of the

from 1996 to 2001. Wiitala was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985 and later became the first Finnish referee ever inducted into the

. In 1995, in honor of his accomplishments, the Finnish Liiga named their best referee during the regular season award in his name.

References

External links

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Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiitala, Unto 1925 births 2019 deaths Ice hockey players at the 1952 Winter Olympics IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Olympic ice hockey players of Finland People from Vyborg District