Helsinki Seagulls

Helsinki Seagulls
Nickname	Gulls
Leagues	Korisliiga
Founded	2013;12 years ago (2013)
History	Helsinki Seagulls (2013–present)
Arena	Töölö Sports Hall
Capacity	1,600
Location	Helsinki, Finland
Team colors	Navy, Gold, Black
Head coach	Vesa Vertio
Team captain	René Rougeau
Ownership	Janne Kulvik Sinikka Kulvik Sami Hedberg
Website	www.helsinkiseagulls.com
Home Away

The Helsinki Seagulls are a professional basketball team, based in Helsinki, Finland. The club plays in the Korisliiga, the highest tier of basketball in Finland.

The Seagulls were founded in 2013 and made its debut in the Korisliiga in 2014, after promoting in its first season. The team has won the Finnish Cup three times. Seagulls won their first Korisliiga championship to date during the 2022–23 season.

History

The team was established in 2013 and it acquired its place on the second level of Finnish basketball in Division I A after the dissolution of the Torpan Pojat men's team. The license of Torpan Pojat was then transferred to the Gulls, along with the remaining players. ^{[1] [2]}

The Seagulls opened their 2013–2014 season in the Division I A with winning 10 matches in a row. The team won a total of 25 of their 28 regular season games placing first in their division with Josh Gonner leading their offense with an impressive 20.5 points per game. Seagulls earned the promotion to Korisliiga after dismissing first Tampereen Pyrintö II and then BC Nokia in the division playoffs. ^[3]

The first ever team picture of Helsinki Seagulls in September 2013.

Seagulls started the 2022–23 season with the strongest team to date, with Americans Rene Rougeau and Jeffrey Carroll Jr. adding to an already strong team. Seagulls finished the 2022–23 regular season with a record of 25–7, and in second place behind Kauhajoki. After dominant quarter and semifinal performances against BC Nokia and Kataja Basket respectively, they advanced to the final against the defending champions Kauhajoki Karhubasket, where the Seagulls claimed their first title; defeating Karhubasket 4–2.

Honours

Korisliiga

• Winners (2): 2023, 2025
• Runners-up (1): 2024
• Third place (4): 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022

Finnish Cup

• Winners (4): 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024
• Runners-up (1): 2023

Season by season

Season	Tier	League	Pos.	Finnish Cup
2013–14	2	First Division A	1st
2014–15	1	Korisliiga	8th
2015–16	1		4th
2016–17	1		3rd
2017–18	1		3rd
2018–19	1		7th
2019–20	1		2nd
2020–21	1		3rd
2021–22	1		3rd

Arena

The Töölö Sports Hall

The Seagulls play their home games in the Töölö Sports Hall.

Players

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Helsinki Seagulls roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age G 00 Chukwuma, Chrysostom 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 29 – (1996-06-12)12 June 1996 F 0 Mennander, Henri 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 21 – (2003-10-07)7 October 2003 F 1 Hopkins, Shawn 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 30 – (1995-05-09)9 May 1995 F 3 Hollis, Curtis 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 27 – (1998-04-25)25 April 1998 PF 4 Rougeau, Rene 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 39 – (1986-03-25)25 March 1986 F 5 Leskinen, Elias 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) 23 – (2002-01-01)1 January 2002 F 8 Heinonen, Timo 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 43 – (1981-11-26)26 November 1981 SG 10 Kantonen, Henri 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 28 – (1997-08-20)20 August 1997 F 11 Härsilä, Tuukka 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 21 – (2004-02-21)21 February 2004 PG 13 Nikkarinen, Lassi 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 28 – (1997-03-11)11 March 1997 F 22 Boone, Kalib 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 24 – (2000-11-30)30 November 2000 G 25 Hervola, Lenni 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) 22 – (2003-02-01)1 February 2003 F 47 Waxlax, Ricky 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 26 – (1999-02-12)12 February 1999 SG Keeling, Christian 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 27 – (1998-06-01)1 June 1998	Head coach Vesa Vertio Assistant coach(es) Kimmo Kujansivu Timo Saukkola Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: October 10, 2024

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	Kalib Boone	Timo Heinonen
PF	Rene Rougeau	Henri Mennander	Elias Leskinen
SF	Shawn Hopkins	Ricky Waxlax	Henri Kantonen
SG		Erik Sajantila	Tuukka Härsilä
PG	Lassi Nikkarinen	Curtis Hollis	Lenni Hervola

colours: Finnish players; foreign players

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Criteria
To appear in this section a player must have either: Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

• Shawn Huff
• Henri Kantonen
• Petteri Koponen
• Tuukka Kotti
• Carl Lindbom
• Antti Kanervo
• Gerald Lee Jr.
• Lassi Nikkarinen
• Jason Conley
• Raymond Cowels III
• Shawn Hopkins

References

1. "ToPo jäi ilman liigalisenssiä" Iltasanomat, Retrieved 2014-9-24 (in Finnish)
2. "Nostaako tämä seura Helsingin takaisin Korisliigaan?" Iltasanomat, Retrieved 2014-9-24 (in Finnish)
3. "Seagulls otti ratkaisevan voiton Nokialla - helsinkiläiset palaavat Korisliigaan" YLE, Retrieved 2014-9-24 (in Finnish)

External links

• Official website (in Finnish)
• 2018-19 Korisliiga team page (in Finnish)