Raimo Ilmari Helminen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. He is often called "Raipe" or "Maestro" by his fans. He is the world record holder for most international games played by a hockey player, as well as for tied for being the hockey player in the most Olympic Games, and his 26 seasons as a professional is one of the longest careers in professional hockey history. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2012.
The SM-liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It was created in 1975 to replace the SM-sarja, which was fundamentally an amateur league. The SM-liiga is not directly overseen by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, but the league and association have an agreement of cooperation. SM is a common abbreviation for Suomen mestaruus, "Finnish championship".
Oulun Kärpät is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Oulu and playing in the top-tier Finnish Liiga. Kärpät have won the Finnish championship title eight times, and is the most successful Finnish ice hockey team in the 21st century.
TPS or Turun Palloseura is an ice hockey team and 10-time champion of SM-liiga and 1-time champion of SM-sarja. They play in Turku, Finland, at Gatorade Center. In terms of championships, TPS is the second all-time most successful team in SM-Liiga, right behind Tappara.
Reijo Ruotsalainen is a Finnish former ice hockey defenceman. He was twice named Finland's top defenceman, and won two Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers, in 1987 and 1990.
Marko Kristian Kiprusoff is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman. He is currently an assistant junior coach in Finnish hockey club TPS.
Fredrik Jan Elis Norrena is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 100 games in the National Hockey League with the Columbus Blue Jackets between 2006 and 2008. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1992 to 2014, was mainly spent in Europe, where he mainly played in the Finnish SM-liiga and Swedish Elitserien. Internationally Norrena played for the Finnish national team at five World Championships, winning one silver and one bronze medal, and the 2006 Winter Olympics, winning a silver medal.
Jani Petteri Hurme is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 76 games in the National Hockey League with the Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers between 2000 and 2003. He also played several seasons in the Finnish SM-liiga during his career, which lasted from 1993 to 2011. He was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the third round of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft with the 58th overall pick. Internationally Hurme played for the Finnish national team at the 2002 Winter Olympics and the 2003 World Championship.
Kari Jalonen is a Finnish professional ice hockey coach and former player. Currently he is the head coach of Czech national team. He is not related to Finnish ice hockey coach Jukka Jalonen.
Hannu Markus Virta is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman. He was named the best defenceman in the Finnish Elite League (SM-liiga) four times, and was a five-time all-star. He also won the Jarmo Wasama memorial trophy as rookie of the year in 1981–82.
Kai Ilmari Nurminen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward, who last played with Herlev Hornets in the Danish Oddset Ligaen.
Jorma Juhani Valtonen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the SM-liiga. He played on the Finland men's national ice hockey team at the 1980 Winter Olympics, and was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989, and into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1999. He later coached the Finland women's national ice hockey team, and was a goaltending coach in the Kontinental Hockey League.
Markus Jari Ketterer is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga and also the Swedish Elitserien as a goalkeeper. He played for Jokerit, TPS as Färjestads BK, the latter with which won the Swedish national championship during the season of 1996–1997. He was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005.
Manu Juhani Tamminen is a Finnish retired professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga and World Hockey Association. He played for TPS, HJK, HIFK, Cleveland Crusaders, and Phoenix Roadrunners. He represented Finland at the 1976 Canada Cup. He was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991.
Juhani Jorma Kalevi Wahlsten was a Finnish professional ice hockey player and ice hockey coach who worked as an exercise and gymnastics teacher in Finland. He was also known by the nickname "Juuso". He also established and helped guide the early development of ringette in Finland, the first European country to do so.
Joni Ortio is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently playing for HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He has previously played for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was a sixth round selection of the Flames, 171st overall, at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Prior to the NHL he played for TPS and HIFK Helsinki in the Sm-liiga. Internationally, Ortio has represented Finland on four occasions. He was a member of the bronze medal-winning team at the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships and played in the 2013 World Championship
The Lahti Pelicans are a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the Liiga, Finland. Founded in 1996, they play in the city of Lahti at Isku Arena. The team is co-owned by former National Hockey League (NHL) goaltender Pasi Nurminen and Formula One racecar driver Valtteri Bottas.
Pekka Tirkkonen is a Finnish ice hockey coach and former professional ice hockey player. He most recently served as head coach of EHC Kloten of the National League (NL). Tirkkonen was selected by the Boston Bruins in the 2nd round of the 1986 NHL Entry Draft.
Naisten Liiga, also called the Naisten SM-liiga (NSML) and Jääkiekon naisten SM-liiga, is the elite league for women's ice hockey in Finland. Founded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association as the Naisten SM-sarja in 1982, it was so known until being rebranded as the Naisten Liiga in 2017. The league comprises approximately 250 players across ten teams.
Kai Ortio is a Finnish retired ice hockey player and the current head coach of Turun Palloseura (TPS) Akatemia U16, a junior ice hockey team in the U16 Mestis. During his playing career, he played two seasons in the SM-liiga, appearing with HC TPS in 45 games during the 1987–88 and 1988–89 seasons and registering three points and 22 penalty minutes.
Finland 