Ilves
CityTampere
LeagueLiiga
Founded1931 (1931)
Home arenaTampere Deck Arena
ColoursGreen, yellow, black
     
Owner(s)Ilves-Hockey Oy
General managerRisto Jalo
Head coachAntti Pennanen
CaptainEemeli Suomi
AffiliatesKOOVEE
Ilves Naiset
Farm club(s)Koovee
Websiteilves.com
Championships
Playoff championships1936, 1937, 1938, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1972, 1985

Ilves (pronounced [ˈilʋes]; Finnish for "Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Tampere Deck Arena.

The match between Ilves (yellow and green) and Tappara (blue and orange) on December 3, 2021 at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland

The colors of Ilves, green, yellow, and black, were taken from what was then the coat of arms of the city of Tampere.

History

With sixteen championships, Ilves is the second most successful hockey team in the Finnish championship league, the Liiga, after their local rival Tappara. The club was founded in the spring of 1931, and it played its first game against Tampereen Palloilijat the next winter. In the late 1930s, Ilves won three Finnish championship titles as the first Tampere-based hockey team.[1]

After World War II, Ilves started playing its home games at the then new Koulukatu ice rink. It had another championship spree in 1945–1947 when it stayed undefeated for over four years (albeit playing only 36 games during that period).

In 1954, Ilves was for the first and so far only time relegated to the second highest level of Finnish hockey but managed to return to the top tier only one year later.

The current logo was designed by Rauno Broms in 1963. In 1965, Ilves moved, along with its local rivals Tappara and KooVee, to the new Hakametsä arena, where they played until 2021.

The last Finnish Cup competition in hockey was held in 1971. Ilves won the title and has therefore been the reigning champion since. In 1972, it also won another league championship; its 15th championship in total.

During the late 1970s, Ilves went through lean times. Finally, when Koovee, which was in no better condition, was relegated at the end of the 1979–80 season, the two clubs decided to sign an agreement of cooperation. The best players of Koovee moved to Ilves, the most notable of them being Risto Jalo.

In 1985, Ilves claimed its 16th and most recent championship. Along with Risto Jalo, the key players of that team were Raimo Helminen, Mikko Mäkelä, Ville Siren, and Jukka Tammi. Repeating this success proved difficult, however, when in the following summer four players left the team to play in the NHL.

In the late 1980s, Ilves had another brief stint of moderate success when coached by Sakari Pietilä. It finished first after the regular season in 1988 but was eliminated in the first round of playoffs. The next year it came away with a bronze medal, and finally in 1990 it reached the finals, only to lose to TPS.

For most of the 1990s, the club struggled with financial problems and unclear issues concerning ownership. In sports performance, the low point was in the spring of 1995, when Ilves finished last in the SM-liiga and had to fight the lower league teams SaPKo and SaiPa for their place among the elite for the next year.

Ilves managed to avoid relegation and was promptly reborn as a viable championship candidate, reaching the semifinals in 1997 and the finals a year after that.

The 2000s were a fairly mediocre period in Ilves history. After their bronze medal win in 2001, Ilves lost in the first round of the playoffs in six of the next seven seasons and missing the playoffs altogether in 2003. They managed to avoid relegation in 2010, 2012 and 2013.

Honors

SM-sarja

  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) SM-sarja Aaro Kivilinna memorial award: 1936, 1937, 1938, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1951, 1952
  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) SM-sarja Kanada-malja: 1957, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1972
  • 2nd place, silver medalist(s) SM-sarja Aaro Kivilinna memorial award: 1935, 1948, 1949
  • 2nd place, silver medalist(s) SM-sarja Kanada-malja: 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970
  • 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) SM-sarja Aaro Kivilinna memorial award: 1934, 1939, 1941, 1943
  • 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) SM-sarja Kanada-malja: 1963, 1964, 1967, 1974, 1975

SM-liiga

  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) SM-liiga Kanada-malja: 1985
  • 2nd place, silver medalist(s) SM-liiga Kanada-malja: 1990, 1998
  • 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) SM-liiga Kanada-malja: 1983, 1989, 2001, 2022, 2023

Players

Current roster

Updated 7 January, 2023.[2]

No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
6 Finland Santeri Airola D R 23 2020 Imatra, Finland
21 Finland Samu Bau F L 19 2022 Helsinki, Finland
72 Canada Kevin Czuczman D L 33 2022 London, Ontario, Canada
25 Finland Henrik Haapala LW L 29 2022 Lempäälä, Finland
32 Finland Joona Ikonen (A) RW R 25 2016 Tampere, Finland
27 Finland Petri Kontiola (A) C R 39 2021 Seinäjoki, Finland
17 Finland Joona Korhonen LW L 20 2020 Nokia, Finland
34 Czech Republic Jakub Kos LW L 20 2021 Kuřim, Czech Republic
74 United States Les Lancaster D R 28 2021 Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States
94 Czech Republic Marek Langhamer G L 29 2021 Moravská Třebová, Czech Republic
43 Finland Otto Latvala D R 24 2022 Alajärvi, Finland
9 Sweden Leo Lööf D L 21 2021 Karlstad, Sweden
31 Czech Republic Jakub Malek G L 21 2022 Kroměříž, Czech Republic
12 Finland Matias Mäntykivi C L 22 2021 Lappeenranta, Finland
97 Czech Republic Dominik Masin D L 27 2021 Městec Králové, Czech Republic
63 Finland Panu Mieho C L 28 2018 Helsinki, Finland
33 Finland Jani Nyman RW L 19 2021 Valkeakoski, Finland
28 Finland Eetu Päkkilä LW L 24 2019 Oulu, Finland
57 Finland Jarkko Parikka D L 26 2015 Imatra, Finland
38 Finland Aku Raty RW R 22 2022 Oulu, Finland
29 Finland Miro Ruokonen LW L 27 2022 Forssa, Finland
61 Finland Tuomas Salmela D L 28 2018 Tornio, Finland
10 Finland Eemeli Suomi (C) C L 28 2015 Tampere, Finland
26 Finland Tommi Tikka (A) C L 28 2022 Helsinki, Finland
82 Finland Eetu Tuulola RW R 25 2022 Hämeenlinna, Finland
15 Finland Santeri Virtanen C L 24 2021 Kirkkonummi, Finland
Banners commemorating championships and retired player numbers of Ilves in Tampereen jäähalli.

Honored members

Ilves 1960s jerseys
Ilves jerseys at the club's 90th anniversary exhibition
The first Ilves jersey from 1932
Tampere Ilves in 1938

Source: Ilves-Historia[4]

Number 24 has not been officially retired, but is not in use. It was last worn by Veikko Suominen, who died during the 1978–79 season.

Coaches

Current staff

All-time head coaches

(* = interim coach)

Other sports

In addition to hockey and football, Ilves has a futsal team in Finnish league which has won the Finnish championship five times (2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, and 2011) and the cup competition twice (2006, 2010), a floorball team at second highest level and a ringette team competing in the SM Ringette league. It has numerous boys' and girls' junior teams in ice hockey, soccer, floorball (boys only), and ringette (girls only), making the organization the largest sports club in Finland.

In the past, Ilves has also competed in American football, basketball, bowling, figure skating, handball, and volleyball. It has won a bronze medal in American football and a silver one in handball. Also, Ilves has won the Finnish Cup in handball.

See also

References

  1. 22 great Tampere momentsIIHF
  2. "Joukkue Tampereen Ilves" (in Finnish). www.ilves.com. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
  3. "Marianne Ihalainen to be honoured". IIHF. 2019-03-08. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  4. "Ilves Hockey Legends" (in Finnish). Ilves-Hockey Oy. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
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