KalPa

Last updated
KalPa
KalPa logo.svg
City Kuopio
League Liiga
Founded1929 (1929)
Home arena Olvi Areena
(capacity: 5,300)
ColoursBlack, gold
  
Head coach Petri Karjalainen
Captain Tuomas Kiiskinen
Affiliate IPK
Website kalpa.fi
KalPa peliasut 2024-25.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

As of 9 February 2025. [1]

No. Nat Player Pos S/G AgeAcquiredBirthplace
71 Flag of the United States.svg Patrick Curry C L29 2024 Schaumburg, Illinois, United States
23 Flag of Finland.svg Aleksi Elorinne D L35 2023 Joensuu, Finland
32 Flag of Finland.svg Juha Jatkola G L22 2020 Kuopio, Finland
93 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Matyáš Kantner LW L26 2022 Plzeň, Czech Republic
97 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Lukáš Kaňák D L28 2024 Klatovy, Czech Republic
42 Flag of Finland.svg Konsta Kapanen LW L21 2023 Kuopio, Finland
25 Flag of Finland.svg Jere Karjalainen RW R32 2024 Helsinki, Finland
19 Flag of Finland.svg Tuomas Kiiskinen  ( C ) LW L22 2021 Kuopio, Finland
20 Flag of Finland.svg Aleksi Klemetti LW L26 2018 Kuhmo, Finland
86 Flag of Estonia.svg Kristjan Kombe C L24 2024 Kuressaare, Estonia
17 Flag of Finland.svg Benjamin Korhonen RW L23 2020 Ylivieska, Finland
14 Flag of Finland.svg Jaakko Lantta C R28 2022 Valkeala, Finland
55 Flag of Finland.svg Lasse Lappalainen  ( A ) D L35 2018 Kuopio, Finland
40 Flag of the United States.svg Stefanos Lekkas G L29 2023 Elburn, Illinois, United States
26 Flag of Finland.svg Jesper Mattila  ( A ) D L27 2020 Tampere, Finland
9 Flag of Finland.svg Juuso Mäenpää C L22 2020 Helsinki, Finland
16 Flag of Finland.svg Andreas Okany C L23 2022 Kuopio, Finland
28 Flag of Finland.svg Jaakko Rissanen  ( A ) C L35 2021 Kuopio, Finland
8 Flag of Finland.svg Ville Ruotsalainen D D21 2023 Oulunsalo, Finland
72 Flag of Finland.svg Iivari Räsänen D L23 2024 Tampere, Finland
12 Flag of Finland.svg Joona Saarelainen C L18 2024 Mikkeli, Finland
61 Flag of Finland.svg Tuomas Salmela D L29 2024 Tornio, Finland
11 Flag of Finland.svg Kasper Simontaival RW R23 2021 Orivesi, Finland
6 Flag of Sweden.svg Filip Westerlund D R25 2023 Härnösand, Sweden

Honored members

NHL alumni

Sami Kapanen Kapanen Sami KalPa 2009 1.jpg
Sami Kapanen

References

  1. "Team Roster / KalPa". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2025-02-09.