Colours Red, white, dark blue League Liiga Location Helsinki, Finland Founded 1945 | General manager Jukka Valtanen Captain Arttu Luttinen Head coach Antti Törmänen | |
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Home arena Helsingin jäähalli (capacity 8,200) Owner(s) HIFK Ligaföreningen rf. Parent club(s) Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors - HIFK Farm club(s) Kiekko-Vantaa (de facto) Arena Helsinki Ice Hall (capacity 8,200) CEO Jukka Valtanen (1 May 2008–) Profiles | ||
HIFK (a traditional abbreviation of Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors, English: "Sporting Society Comrades, Helsinki") is an ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland that plays in the Liiga, the sport's top-level league in 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, and 2011). The team won the regular season title in 2016.
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The derbies against local rivals Jokerit were often sold out and were among the fiercest in Nordic hockey, but are no longer played following Jokerit's withdrawal from the Liiga following the 2013–14 season to join the Russian-based KHL.
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.
HIFK won the Finnish championship title in the season of 2010-2011 against Espoo Blues.
The championship team from 1998 is widely recognized as one of the best ever to have skated together in the top flight of Finnish ice hockey.
Players on the 1998 championship team included a number of future (and former) NHL players – including Tim Thomas (Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers), Jan Čaloun (Columbus Blue Jackets), Johan Davidsson (Anaheim Ducks), Bob Halkidis (Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings), *Olli Jokinen (Los Angeles Kings, New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, Phoenix Coyotes, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets), *Jere Karalahti (Los Angeles Kings), Jarno Kultanen (Boston Bruins), *Brian Rafalski (New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings), Christian Ruuttu (Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks), *Jarkko Ruutu (Vancouver Canucks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ottawa Senators, Anaheim Ducks), Kimmo Timonen (Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks) 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 on the way hockey is played in Finland led to his posthumous induction to the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003.
Current roster
(Updated 22. June 2016)