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. In the 2022-2023 season he is serving as the assistant coach of Ilves.
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".
Kiekko-Espoo Naiset are an ice hockey team in the Naisten Liiga. They play in the Tapiola district of Espoo, Finland at the harjoitusareena ('training arena') of the Tapiolan urheilupuisto. The team was founded as Espoon Kiekkoseura (EKS) in 1989 and has also been known as Espoo Blues Naiset and Espoo United Naiset during its tenure in the Naisten Liiga. Kiekko-Espoo have won the Aurora Borealis Cup as the Finnish Champions in women's ice hockey sixteen times, six more wins than any other team in league history; at least one Finnish Championship medal (gold, silver, or bronze) was won under each of the four names.
Ville Juhani Nieminen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward who played over 400 games in the National Hockey League.
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.
Erik Vesa Hämäläinen is a left-handed retired Finnish ice hockey defenceman. Hämäläinen currently is an Ice hockey coach, employed by SM-liiga team Lukko
Mikko Jokela is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman. Jokela played one game in the National Hockey League for the Vancouver Canucks in 2003.
Kim Michael Hirschovits-Gerz is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward and current sports manager of Kiekko-Espoo in the Mestis. During his playing career, he skated in the Finnish Liiga with HIFK, Jokerit, the Espoo Blues, and Oulun Kärpät; in the Swedish Elitserien with Timrå IK and Luleå HF; and in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod and Dinamo Minsk. Hirschovits was drafted by the New York Rangers as their sixth-round pick, 194th overall, in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.
Jukka Pertti Juhani Jalonen is a Finnish professional ice hockey coach and former player. In 2011, 2019 and 2022, he led the Finnish national team to the gold medal in the IIHF World Championship, and at the 2022 Winter Olympics, he coached the team that won Finland's first ever Olympic gold in ice hockey. He was the head coach of Jokerit in the Kontinental Hockey League during 2016–2018 before returning to coach the Finnish national team.
Tuomas Tarkki is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender, currently serving as director of goaltending coaching for the under-18 (U18) team of Vaasan Sport in the U18 SM-sarja and as an assistant coach to the Finnish women's national U18 team. He played college ice hockey in the NCAA and professionally in the Finnish Liiga, the American Hockey League (AHL), the Swedish Elitserien, the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), the Czech Extraliga, and the Danish Metal Ligaen.
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.
Mikkelin Jukurit is a professional ice hockey team in Liiga, the top tier Finnish ice hockey league. They play in Mikkeli, Finland, at the Kalevankankaan jäähalli. The team has won 7 Mestis championships.
Alexander Bonsaksen is a Norwegian professional ice hockey defenceman. He is currently playing with KooKoo in the Finnish Liiga.
Juuso Hietanen is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman for HPK of the Liiga.
The U20 SM-sarja is the premier junior men’s ice hockey league in Finland. It was previously known as the A-nuorten SM-sarja during 1945 to 1991 and the Nuorten SM-liiga during 1991 to 2020. The league was founded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 1945 and a Finnish Champion in men’s under-20 ice hockey has been named annually since the league’s inaugural season – with the exception of the 2019–20 season, in which the playoffs were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eighteen to twenty teams compete in the U20 SM-sarja regular season, which is played in a preliminary ranking stage followed by a divisional or group stage.
Ella Viitasuo is a Finnish ice hockey player and member of the Finnish national team, currently signed with HV71 Dam of the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) for the 2022–23 season.
Satu Kiipeli is a Finnish ice hockey defenceman and coach, currently serving as assistant coach to Oulun Kärpät Akatemia in the Naisten Mestis. During her career with the Finnish national team, she represented Finland in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and at the IIHF Women's World Championships in 2001 and 2005.
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.
Turun Palloseura Naiset or TPS Naiset are an ice hockey team in the Finnish Naisten Liiga. They are the representative women's ice hockey team of Turun Palloseura (TPS), a multi-sport club based in Turku, Southwest Finland and they play at the Kupittaan jäähalli and the Impivaara Ice Rink. The team has played in the Naisten Liiga, Finland’s premier women's ice hockey league, since gaining promotion in the 2018–19 season.
Oulun Kärpät Naiset are an ice hockey team in the Naisten Liiga. They play in Oulu, a city on the northeastern coast of the Bothnian Bay in the Finnish north-central region of North Ostrobothnia, at the Raksilan harjoitusjäähalli, also called Raksila 2, of the Oulun Energia Areena. Ilves have won the Aurora Borealis Cup three times, in 2012, 2017, and 2018.
