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".
Ilves is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Tampere Deck Arena.
Oulun Kärpät is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Oulu and playing in the top-tier Finnish Liiga. Kärpät have won the Finnish championship title eight times, and is the most successful Finnish ice hockey team in the 21st century.
Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) is a professional ice hockey team which competes in the Finnish Liiga. They play in Kuopio, Finland at the Olvi Areena.
Kiekko-Espoo Naiset are an ice hockey team in the Naisten Liiga. They play in the Tapiola district of Espoo, Finland at the harjoitusareena of the Tapiolan urheilupuisto. The team was founded as Espoon Kiekkoseura or 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 was won under each of the four names.
Jarkko Samuli Ruutu ; born August 23, 1975) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Vancouver Canucks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ottawa Senators and Anaheim Ducks. He is currently serving as a European development coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
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).
Jani Markus Rita is a Finnish former professional ice hockey winger who last played with Jokerit of the Russian KHL, for whom he played most of his career.
Fredrik Jan Elis Norrena is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 100 games in the National Hockey League with the Columbus Blue Jackets between 2006 and 2008. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1992 to 2014, was mainly spent in Europe, where he mainly played in the Finnish SM-liiga and Swedish Elitserien. Internationally Norrena played for the Finnish national team at five World Championships, winning one silver and one bronze medal, and the 2006 Winter Olympics, winning a silver medal.
Hannu Aravirta is a Finnish ice hockey player and an ice hockey coach for the Finnish national men's team, SM-liiga and Elitserien.
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
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.
Kari Jalonen is a Finnish professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is a former head coach of Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team(2022/2023). He is not related to Finnish ice hockey coach Jukka Jalonen.
Hannu Juhani Kamppuri is a former professional ice hockey goaltender. Kamppuri was an accomplished SM-liiga goaltender, where he played from 1975 to 1990, and was one of the first Finnish goaltenders to compete in the National Hockey League, where he played 13 games for the New Jersey Devils during the 1984–85 season. He also appeared in net for the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association for 2 games during the 1978–79 season.
Sari Kristiina Marjamäkinée Fisk is a Finnish retired ice hockey forward. She played 217 matches as a member of the Finnish national team and represented Finland at sixteen top-level international competitions: three Olympic women's ice hockey tournaments, eight World Championships, and five European Championships. She won an Olympic bronze medal in the inaugural women's ice hockey tournament at the 1998 Winter Olympics, six World Championship bronze medals, four European Championship gold medals, and one European Championship bronze medal.
Janne Tapani Pesonen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey winger who played for Oulun Kärpät of the Finnish Liiga.
Maija Johanna Hassinen-Sullanmaanée Hassinen is a Finnish retired ice hockey goaltender and the current goaltending coach and team manager of HPK Kiekkonaiset in the Naisten Liiga. As a member of the Finnish national team, she participated in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and in the IIHF Women's World Championships in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2011, winning bronze medals at the tournaments in 2008, 2009, and 2011.
Satu Kiipeli is a Finnish retired ice hockey defenseman and the head coach of Oulun Kärpät in the Naisten Liiga (NSML). 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.
Finland 