HIFK Hockey
| Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors HIFK | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Helsinki |
| League | Liiga |
| Founded | 1897 (1928 first official match, 1945 ice-hockey section) |
| Home arena | Helsingin jäähalli (capacity 8,200) |
| Colours | |
| Owner(s) | HIFK Ligaföreningen rf. |
| General manager |  Jukka Valtanen |
| Head coach | Antti Törmänen |
| Captain | Arttu Luttinen |
| Parent club(s) | Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors - HIFK |
| Farm club(s) | Kiekko-Vantaa (de facto) |
| Website | www.hifk.fi |
HIFK (a traditional abbreviation of Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors, English: "Sports Club 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 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.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
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) 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.
Players
Current roster
Honored members
- 1 Stig Wetzell, 1972–83
- 5 Heikki Riihiranta, 1967–83
- 7 Simo Saarinen, 1980–96
- 17 Matti Murto, 1964–83
- 20 Matti Hagman, 1972–92
- 22 Mika Kortelainen, 1987–2002
- 23 Pertti Lehtonen, 1976–98
- 35 Sakari Lindfors, 1985–2002
NHL alumni
Niklas Bäckström
Darren Boyko- Carl Brewer
Jan Čaloun
Johan Davidsson- Mikael Granlund
- Steve Guolla
- Matti Hagman
Brett Harkins- Olli Jokinen
- Sami Kapanen
- Jere Karalahti
- Toni Lydman
- Cory Murphy
- Raymond Murray
- Timo Pärssinen
- Ville Peltonen
- Lennart Petrell
- Lasse Pirjetä
- Brian Rafalski
- Christian Ruuttu
- Tuomo Ruutu
- Jarkko Ruutu
- Tony Salmelainen
- Tim Thomas
- Esa Tikkanen
- Kimmo Timonen
- Tomáš Vokoun
- Roman Vopat
- Marek Židlický
