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Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna i Helsingfors
HIFK
HIFK hockey
City: Helsinki
League: SM-liiga
Founded: 1897 (1897) (1928 first official match, 1945 ice-hockey section)
Home Arena: Helsingin jäähalli (capacity 8,200)
Colors:               
Head Coach: Kari Jalonen
General Manager: Jukka Valtanen
Parent club(s): Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna i Helsingfors - HIFK
Farm club(s): Kiekko-Vantaa (de facto)


HIFK (IFK Helsingfors) is an ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland. The team plays at Helsinki Ice Hall. It was founded in 1897. Since then, HIFK has won the Finnish National Championship title seven times (1969, 1970, 1974, 1980, 1983, 1998, 2011).

The derbys against local rivals Jokerit are often sold out and are one of the fiercest in Nordic hockey.

HIFK's general manager starting from May 1 2008 is Jukka Valtanen. He is the successor of Pentti Matikainen, who coached Team Finland to its first hockey Olympic medal (silver) in Calgary 1988.

The Finnish championship title from 1998, came with a team that was widely recognized as one of the best ever to have skated together in the top flight of Finnish ice hockey.

Players who featured 1998 championship team included a number of future (and former) NHL stars – including Tim Thomas (Boston Bruins), Jan Čaloun (Columbus Blue Jackets), Johan Davidsson (Anaheim Ducks), Miika Elomo (Washington Capitals), Bob Halkidis (Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings), *Olli Jokinen (Los Angeles Kings, Florida Panthers, Phoenix Coyotes), *Jere Karalahti (Los Angeles Kings), Jarno Kultanen (Boston Bruins), *Brian Rafalski (Detroit Red Wings), Christian Ruuttu (Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks), *Jarkko Ruutu (Vancouver Canucks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ottawa Senators), Kimmo Timonen (Philadelphia Flyers) and Marko Tuomainen (Los Angeles Kings).

History[]

One of the major influences to HIFK was the NHL veteran and Stanley Cup winner Carl Brewer. Hired in 1968 as a playing coach, he advocated a North American style of play which has persisted in HIFK since. Brewer's influence to the way hockey is played in Finland led to his posthumous induction to the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003.

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Goaltenders
Number Player Catches Contract Length Place of Birth
34 Flag of Finland Juuso Riksman L 2012 Helsinki, Finland
60 Flag of Finland Jan Lundell L 2011 Helsinki, Finland
Defencemen
Number Player Shoots Contract Length Place of Birth
8 Flag of Finland Mikko Kousa R 2011 (2012) Lahti, Finland
12 Flag of Finland Markus Kankaanperä L 2012 Skellefteå, Sweden
15 Flag of Finland Mikko Kurvinen L 2011 Anjalankoski, Finland
26 Flag of Finland Toni Söderholm L 2012 Helsinki, Finland
55 + Roni Ahonen L 2011 Porvoo, Finland
41 Flag of Finland Ilari Melart L 2019 Helsinki, Finland
77 Flag of Finland Martti Järventie L 2011 Tampere, Finland

Notable players[]

Rinkelinmäki HPK-HIFK lämmittely

HIFK (in white) warm-up prior to a game vs. HPK.

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