Ilves
| Ilves | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Tampere |
| League | Liiga |
| Founded | 1931 |
| Home arena | Hakametsä |
| Colours | Green, yellow, black |
| Owner(s) | Ilves-Hockey Oy |
| General manager | Risto Jalo |
| Head coach | |
| Captain | Eemeli Suomi |
| Affiliate(s) | KOOVEE Ilves Naiset |
| Farm club(s) | Koovee |
| Championships | 1936, 1937, 1938, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1972, 1985 |
| Website | www |
| Active departments of Ilves | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Floorball | Football (Men's) |
Football (Women's) |
|
|
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| Futsal (Men's) |
Futsal (Women's) |
Ice hockey (Women's) |
|
| |
| Ringette | Ice hockey (Men's) | |
Ilves (pronounced [ˈilʋes]; Finnish for "Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Hakametsä.
The colors of Ilves, green, yellow, and black, were taken from what was then the coat of arms of the city of Tampere.
History[]
With sixteen championships, Ilves is the second most successful hockey team in the Finnish championship league, the Liiga, after their local rival Tappara. The club was founded in the spring of 1931, and it played its first game against Tampereen Palloilijat the next winter. In the late 1930s, Ilves won three Finnish championship titles.
After World War II, Ilves started playing its home games at the then new Koulukatu ice rink. It had another championship spree in 1945–47 when it stayed undefeated for over four years (albeit playing only 36 games during that period).
In 1954, Ilves was for the first and so far only time relegated to the second highest level of Finnish hockey but managed to return to the top tier only one year later.
The current logo was designed by Rauno Broms in 1963. In 1965, Ilves moved, along with its local rivals Tappara and KooVee, to the new Hakametsä arena, where they still play.
The last Finnish Cup competition in hockey was held in 1971. Ilves won the title and has therefore been the reigning champion since. In 1972, it also won another league championship; its 15th championship in total.
During the late 1970s, Ilves went through lean times. Finally, when Koovee, which was in no better condition, was relegated at the end of the 1979–80 season, the two clubs decided to sign an agreement of cooperation. The best players of Koovee moved to Ilves, the most notable of them being Risto Jalo.
In 1985, Ilves claimed its 16th and most recent championship. Along with Risto Jalo, the key players of that team were Raimo Helminen, Mikko Mäkelä, Ville Siren, and Jukka Tammi. Repeating this success proved difficult, however, when in the following summer four players left the team to play in the NHL.
In the late 1980s, Ilves had another brief stint of moderate success when coached by Sakari Pietilä. It finished first after the regular season in 1988 but was eliminated in the first round of playoffs. The next year it came away with a bronze medal, and finally in 1990 it reached the finals, only to lose to TPS.[citation needed]
For most of the 1990s, the club struggled with financial problems and unclear issues concerning ownership. In sports performance, the low point was in the spring of 1995, when Ilves finished last in the SM-liiga and had to fight the lower league teams SaPKo and SaiPa for their place among the elite for the next year.
Ilves managed to avoid relegation and was promptly reborn as a viable championship candidate, reaching the semifinals in 1997 and the finals a year after that.[citation needed]
The 2000s were a fairly mediocre period in Ilves history. After their bronze medal win in 2001, Ilves lost in the first round of the playoffs in six of the next seven seasons and missing the playoffs altogether in 2003. They managed to avoid relegation in 2010, 2012 and 2013.[citation needed]
Honors[]
SM-sarja[]
SM-sarja : 1936, 1937, 1938, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1951, 1952- SM-sarja Kanada-malja: 1957, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1972
SM-sarja Aaro Kivilinna memorial award: 1935, 1948, 1949- SM-sarja Kanada-malja: 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970
SM-sarja Aaro Kivilinna memorial award: 1934, 1939, 1941, 1943- SM-sarja Kanada-malja: 1963, 1964, 1967, 1974, 1975
SM-liiga[]
- SM-liiga Kanada-malja: 1985
- SM-liiga Kanada-malja: 1990, 1998
- SM-liiga Kanada-malja: 1983, 1989, 2001
Players[]
Current roster[]
Updated November 1, 2020.[1]
Honored members[]
- 2 Jarmo Wasama
- 7 Aarne Honkavaara
- 13 Risto Jalo
- 14 Lasse Oksanen
- 16 Jorma Peltonen, Marianne Ihalainen[2]
- 30 Jukka Tammi
- 41 Raimo Helminen
Source: Ilves-Historia[3]
Number 24 has not been officially retired, but is not in use. It was last worn by Veikko Suominen, who died during the 1978–79 season.
Coaches[]
Current staff[]
- Head Coach:
Karri Kivi - Assistant Coach:
- Assistant Coach:
- Goaltending Coach: Markus Korhonen
- Team Manager:
All-time head coaches[]
- Niilo Tammisalo 1931–37
- 1937–46, 1949–53
- Aarne Honkavaara 1952–61, 1967–68
- 1946–49
- 1961–64
- Rauli Virtanen 1964–65
- Erkki Koiso 1965–66
- 1968–71, 1972–75
- 1971–72, 1976–80
- Len Lunde 1972–73
- Matti Reunamäki 1974–75
- 1974–76
- 1980–82
- 1982–87, 1990–91
- 1986–87, 1990–91, 1999*
- Sakari Pietilä 1987–90, 2006–2009
- 1991–93
- Jukka Jalonen 1992–95
- 1994–95
- 1995–99
- 1999–2001, 2009–10*
- Ari-Pekka Selin 2001–03
- 2002–03
- 2003–05
- Curt Lindström 2004–05
- Kari Eloranta 2005–06
- 2006*
- Sakari Pietilä 2006–09
- Juha Pajuoja 2010–12*
- 2011–12
- Raimo Helminen 2012–2013
- Tuomas Tuokkola 2013–2016 January
- Kari Heikkilä 2016 January–March
(* = interim coach)
Other sports[]
In addition to hockey and football, Ilves has a futsal team in Finnish league which has won the Finnish championship five times (2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, and 2011) and the cup competition twice (2006, 2010), a floorball team at second highest level and a women's ringette team. It has numerous boys' and girls' junior teams in ice hockey, soccer, floorball (boys only), and ringette (girls only), making the organization the largest sports club in Finland.
In the past, Ilves has also competed in American football, basketball, bowling, figure skating, handball, and volleyball. It has won a bronze medal in American football and a silver one in handball. Also, Ilves has won the Finnish Cup in handball.
See also[]
- Tappara
- KOOVEE
References[]
- ^ "Joukkue Tampereen Ilves" (in Finnish). www.ilves.com. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
- ^ "Marianne Ihalainen to be honoured". IIHF. 2019-03-08. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
- ^ "Ilves Hockey Legends" (in Finnish). Ilves-Hockey Oy. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
External links[]
- Official website (in Finnish)
- Sport in Tampere
- Liiga teams
- Ice hockey clubs established in 1931
- 1931 establishments in Finland