KalPa | |
---|---|
![]() | |
City | Kuopio |
League | Liiga |
Founded | 1929 |
Home arena | Olvi Areena |
Colours | Black, gold |
Head coach | Petri Karjalainen |
Captain | Tuomas Kiiskinen |
Affiliate | IPK |
Website | kalpa |
![]() |
Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) is a professional ice hockey team which competes in the Finnish Liiga. They play in Kuopio, Finland at the Olvi Areena.
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.
Source: eliteprospects.com [1] As of July 28, 2021.
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".
JYP is an ice hockey team playing in the Finnish top division Liiga. They play in Jyväskylä, Finland, at the LähiTapiola Areena.
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.
Joensuun Kiekko-Pojat is a Finnish semi-professional ice hockey team that plays in the Mestis. The club has spent three seasons in the top flight of Finnish hockey, season 1971–72 in SM-sarja and seasons 1989-90 and 1991–92 in SM-liiga.
Kimmo Samuel Timonen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, and Chicago Blackhawks. Timonen had played in over 1,100 NHL games before retiring. During his career, Timonen had also featured in three IIHF World Junior Championships, seven IIHF World Championships, two World Cups and five Olympic tournaments. He won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015 in his final career game.
Ossi Reijo Juhani Väänänen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman. He was the captain of Jokerit of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), with whom he has previously won two silver medals as runner-up for the Kanada-malja in 2000 and 2005 in the Finnish Liiga. He was originally drafted by the Phoenix Coyotes and has additionally played for the Colorado Avalanche, Philadelphia Flyers and Vancouver Canucks in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Sami Hannu Antero Kapanen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey coach and former player. He played 12 NHL seasons for the Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers. He is the majority owner of KalPa in the Finnish league. Kapanen's son, Kasperi Kapanen, is a member of the St. Louis Blues.
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.
Jussi Timonen is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for the Schwenninger Wild Wings of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). He is the younger brother former NHL'er Kimmo Timonen.
Kimmo Kapanen is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender. He is currently working as a sporting director of Timrå IK.
Kai Petri Suikkanen is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey left wing. Currently, he works as the head coach of Augsburger Panther of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).
Jari Viuhkola is a Finnish former professional ice hockey centre. He represented Kärpät in the Finnish SM-liiga. Viuhkola's career ended with season 2014–2015, after suffering from knee injuries. His last playing sessions he met with Mestis-team Kajaanin Hokki.
SM-Sarja was the top level of ice hockey in Finland from 1928 to 1975. SM-sarja is a common abbreviation for Suomen mestaruussarja, "Finnish Championship Series".
HIFK is a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland that plays in the SM-liiga, the sport's top-level league in Finland. The team plays at Helsinki Ice Hall.
Eero Kilpeläinen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender who last played for KalPa in the SM-liiga. He was selected by the Dallas Stars in the 5th round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.
Mikko Nuutinen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player.
Samu Kasperi Kapanen is a Finnish professional ice hockey right wing for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He made his Liiga debut playing with KalPa during the 2012–13 SM-liiga season. Kapanen was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round, 22nd overall, of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.
The Aurora Borealis Cup is the trophy awarded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the victorious team of the Naisten Liiga playoffs, the Finnish Champion in women's ice hockey.
Oliver Kapanen is a Finnish professional ice hockey centre for Timrå IK of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He was selected in the second round, 64th overall, by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.
Kiekko-Espoo is a Finnish professional ice hockey club founded in 2018 as a continuation of the Kiekko-Espoo team originally founded in 1984. Kiekko-Espoo men's team plays in the Liiga, where they were promoted for the 2024–25 season, and the women's team plays in the Naisten Liiga, where they are the winningest team in league history.