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".
Raimo Olavi Summanen is a former professional ice hockey forward and the current head coach of HIFK of the Finnish Elite League. He is also a former coach of the Finnish national team. He was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the sixth round of the 1982 NHL Entry Draft, 125th overall, and spent his NHL career with Edmonton and the Vancouver Canucks.
Ville Sakari Peltonen is a Finnish ice hockey coach and a former professional ice hockey forward. Peltonen was drafted by the San Jose Sharks as their third round pick, 58th overall, in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. During his professional career, he has played 382 NHL games for Sharks, Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers. Internationally, he represented the Finland men's national ice hockey team, and was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2016.
Toni Petteri Lydman is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman. He first played competitively in his native Finland with Tappara, and HIFK of the SM-liiga before enjoying a lengthy career in the National Hockey League with the Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres and the Anaheim Ducks.
Tom Koivisto is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman who last played for Jokerit in the SM-liiga. He was drafted by the St. Louis Blues as their eighth-round pick, 253rd overall, in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. He played parts of ten seasons in the SM-liiga before coming to North America in 2002. Koivisto spent most of two seasons in the American Hockey League but appeared in 22 National Hockey League games with the Blues in 2002–03. He returned to Europe in 2004, spending two seasons with Frölunda HC in the Swedish Elitserien and then two more with the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers of the Swiss National League A before returning to Finland and Jokerit in 2008.
Mika Juhani Strömberg is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman. He was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques as their eleventh-round pick, #211 overall, in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft.
Marko Kristian Kiprusoff is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman. He is currently an assistant junior coach in Finnish hockey club TPS.
Pekka Olavi "Rocky" Rautakallio is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman and coach. He played 14 seasons in Finland's SM-sarja and SM-liiga between 1968 and 1987 for Ässät and HIFK Helsinki, during which he was a five-time Finnish All-Star. Rautakallio was a member of Ässät's championship team that won the Kanada-malja in 1978. He was named the best defenceman of the SM-liiga in 1978, 1979 and 1986; the league later named the award the Pekka Rautakallio trophy in his honour. Internationally, Rautakallio played with the Finnish national team in seven World Championships and two Canada Cup tournaments.
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.
Pekka "Juha" Rantasila is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga. He played for Porin Karhut and HIFK. Rantasila was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989. Currently, he works a lawyer.
Erkki Juhani Laine was a Finnish professional ice hockey forward. A two time Olympian, he won a silver medal with the Finnish national team at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. He is the Lahti Pelicans franchise top all-time career point earner and goal scorer.
Ylönen is a Finnish surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Juuso Hietanen is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman for HPK of the Liiga.
Juha Leimu is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman.
Mikko Lehtonen is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman for the ZSC Lions of the National League (NL). He has previously played with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets in the National Hockey League (NHL).
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.
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.
Tampereen Ilves Naiset are an ice hockey team in the Naisten Liiga. They are the representative women's team of the multi-sport club Ilves, based in Tampere, and their home arena is the Tesoman jäähalli in Tampere's Tesoma district.
Vaasan Sport Naiset were a women's ice hockey team in Finland. They played in Vaasa, on the west coast of Finland, at the Vaasan Sähkö Areena. Founded in 1983, the team most recently played in the Naisten Liiga from the 2018–19 season until being relegated at the conclusion of the 2021–22 season. The team was dissolved following relegation.
Finland 