KalPa

Last updated
KalPa
KalPa logo.svg
City Kuopio
League Liiga
Founded1929 (1929)
Home arena Olvi Areena
ColoursBlack, gold
  
Head coach Tommi Miettinen
Captain Tuomas Kiiskinen
Affiliate IPK
Website kalpa.fi
KalPa peliasut.png

Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) is a professional ice hockey team which competes in the Finnish Liiga. They play in Kuopio, Finland at the Olvi Areena.

Contents

Team history

Established in 1929 as Sortavalan Palloseura in Sortavala, the club relocated to Kuopio in 1945 after its original hometown had been annexed by the Soviet Union. During its Sortavala years, the club was not active in ice hockey, but competed in association football, bandy, and pesäpallo instead. Ice hockey was introduced in 1947, and in 1956 KalPa officially replaced the more traditional Kuopio club KuPS in that sport thus specializing in hockey – minor league football was still continued until 1974 as a farm team of sorts for KuPS.

The full name of the company that runs the representative team today is KalPa Hockey Oy. The majority of the company is owned by former NHL players Sami Kapanen and Kimmo Timonen. Kapanen is the majority owner, controlling 50.5% of the franchise. Timonen owns 8%, while Timonen's former teammate Scott Hartnell owns 5%. Hartnell purchased a minority share of the team after getting financial advice from Kimmo Timonen during a road trip to Boston.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Timonen, Kapanen, and fellow NHL player Adam Hall were playing for KalPa. After winning the Mestis championship, KalPa returned to SM-liiga for the 2005–06 season, after being relegated six years earlier in 1999.

KalPa has won three medals: silvers in the 1990–91 and 2016–17 seasons and a bronze in the 2008–09 season. KalPa has also won the Spengler Cup, in year 2018.

Honors

SM-liiga

Mestis

Finnish Liiga A-juniors (U20)

Spengler Cup

Players

Current roster

Source: eliteprospects.com [1] As of July 28, 2021.

No. Nat Player Pos S/G AgeAcquiredBirthplace
10 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Gabe Bast D R27 2021-22 Red Deer, Canada
18 Flag of France.svg Hugo Gallet D L25 2021-22 Amiens, France
32 Flag of Finland.svg Juha Jatkola G L21 2020-21 Kuopio, Finland
45 Flag of Sweden.svg Eric Hjorth D R22 2021-22 Göteborg, Sweden
34 Flag of Finland.svg Severi Immonen F L23 2020-21 Tuusniemi, Finland
71 Flag of Finland.svg Matti Järvinen C L34 2021-22 London, United Kingdom
91 Flag of Finland.svg Oliver Kapanen C R20 2021-22 Timrå, Sweden
37 Flag of Finland.svg Eero Kilpeläinen G L38 2019-20 Juva, Finland
19 Flag of Finland.svg Tuomas Kiiskinen LW L21 2021-22 Kuopio, Finland
20 Flag of Finland.svg Aleksi Klemetti LW L24 2018-19 Kuhmo, Finland
29 Flag of Finland.svg Henri Knuutinen LW L25 2018-19 Kiuruvesi, Finland
17 Flag of Finland.svg Benjamin Korhonen RW L22 2020-21 Ylivieska, Finland
41 Flag of Finland.svg Juuso Könönen LW L25 2019-20 Kuopio, Finland
52 Flag of Finland.svg Roope Laavainen D R25 2020-21 Helsinki, Finland
55 Flag of Finland.svg Lasse Lappalainen D L34 2018-19 Kuopio, Finland
26 Flag of Finland.svg Jesper Mattila D L26 2020-21 Tampere, Finland
9 Flag of Finland.svg Juuso Mäenpää C L21 2020-21 Helsinki, Finland
67 Flag of Finland.svg Kasper Puutio D L21 2021-22 Vaasa, Finland
6 Flag of Finland.svg Joona Riekkinen D L24 2019-20 Kuopio, Finland
22 Flag of Finland.svg Aapeli Räsänen D R25 2020-21 Tampere, Finland
Flag of Finland.svg Erkka Seppälä C L24 2021-22 Hämeenlinna, Finland
12 Flag of Finland.svg Kasper Simontaival RW R21 2021-22 Orivesi, Finland
74 Flag of Finland.svg Sami Tavernier RW R26 2020-21 Annemasse, France
13 Flag of Finland.svg Tuomas Vartiainen RW L27 2019-20 Oulu, Finland

Honored members

NHL alumni

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References

  1. "Team Roster / KalPa". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2020-02-12.