HIFK Hockey

History

IFK Helsingfors was founded in 1897 and started participating in ice hockey in 1928. Since then, HIFK has won the Finnish national championship seven times, of which three (1969, 1970, 1974) were in SM-sarja and four (1980, 1983, 1998, 2011) were in the SM-liiga. HIFK has the highest number of audience in the SM-liiga and is one of the wealthiest sports clubs in Finland.

One of the major influences to HIFK was the NHL veteran and Stanley Cup winner Carl Brewer. Hired in 1968 as a playing coach, he advocated a North American style of play which has persisted in HIFK since. Brewer's influence on the way ice hockey is played in Finland led to his posthumous induction to the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003.

The championship team from 1998 is widely recognized as one of the best ever to have skated together in the top flight of Finnish ice hockey. Players on the 1998 championship team included a number of future (and former) NHL players – including Tim Thomas, Jan Čaloun, Johan Davidsson, Bob Halkidis, Olli Jokinen, Jere Karalahti, Jarno Kultanen, Brian Rafalski, Christian Ruuttu, Jarkko Ruutu, Kimmo Timonen and Marko Tuomainen.

HIFK's general manager starting from May 1, 2008, is Jukka Valtanen. He is the successor of Pentti Matikainen, who coached Team Finland to its first hockey Olympic medal (silver) in Calgary 1988.

Team identity

Logos and jerseys

HIFK uses a shield for their logo, with a four pointed star and text I.F.K. and year of formation 1897 on it. They wear red, white and blue colored jerseys, and have worn those colors since their beginnings. For the 1993-94 season, HIFK changed their logo to a five pointed star with text saying HIFK Hockey on it. Unpopular with fans, and HIFK wanting to modernize their brand, changed their logo again in 1996 to a red big cat on a blue circle. Commonly referred to as "petologo" (English: "beast logo") among fans. When the beast logo became HIFK's primary logo for the 1996-97 season, they reintroduced the original shield logo to become their jersey's new shoulder patches. For the 2008-09 season, HIFK made their original shield logo the primary logo once again. It would swap places with the beast logo on the jerseys, making the beast logo their new shoulder patches until the 2017-18 season, when the beast logo was eliminated from the jerseys entirely. File:HIFK-Jalkapallo.svg|HIFK's multi-sport association shield logo has also previously served as the primary logo. File:HIFK-Jääkiekko.svg|HIFK's shield logo, used as their primary logo in 1928-1993, 2008-present; as well as their secondary Beast logo in 1996-2008. File:HIFK 90-luvun tähti.png|HIFK's star logo, used as their primary logo in 1993-1996. File:IFK-Stjärna.svg|The four-pointed star is the earliest emblem of IFK clubs (Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna).

Home arena

HIFK play their home games at Helsinki Ice Hall. The stadium opened in 1966, and seats up to 8 200 spectators. The arena was also used and shared by rival team Jokerit until 1997, when they moved to the Hartwall Arena. During season 2024-2025, Jokerit returned to Helsinki Ice Hall for their home games due to not having access to the Hartwall Arena nor a viable replacement available. HIFK is well known for playing classic hard rock music during games in Helsinki Ice Hall.

• Goal song: "Flamethrower" by The J. Geils Band.
• Opening songs: "Hail To The King" by Avenged Sevenfold, "Ghost Riders" by Steve Hunter, and "Whatever You Want" by Status Quo.
• Penalty songs: "Who Are You" by The Who when the visiting team takes a penalty. "Bad To The Bone" by George Thorogood when the home team takes a penalty.
• Other noteworthy songs: "Let's Play Hockey" by Bill Misener, "Red White & Blue" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Go IFK" by Jake & Co.

Rivalries

HIFK are rivals with Jokerit; games were often sold out and were in the later years among the fiercest in Nordic ice hockey, but are no longer played following Jokerit's withdrawal from Liiga after the 2013–14 season to join the Russian-based Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Following a history of even series of games, HIFK won the game total with 106–105 after a 2–1 victory in a classical outdoor game in March 2014, claiming the title of Helsinki's dominion.

Honors

SM-sarja

• SM-sarja Kanada-malja: 1969, 1970, 1974
• SM-sarja Kanada-malja: 1973, 1975
• SM-sarja Kanada-malja: 1955, 1959, 1971, 1972

SM-liiga

• SM-liiga Kanada-malja: 1980, 1983, 1998, 2011
• SM-liiga Kanada-malja: 1986, 1999, 2016
• SM-liiga Kanada-malja: 1982, 1987, 1988, 1992, 2004, 2018, 2021

International

• Ahearne Cup (1): 1970
• Tampere Cup (2): 1994, 2015
• IIHF European Cup (1): 1980–81
• Nordic Trophy (1): 2008

Other awards for the club:

• Harry Lindblad trophy (SM-Liiga regular season winner, since 1975): 2016

Players

Current roster

Updated 22 September 2024

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Honored members

• 1 Stig Wetzell, 1972–83
• 5 Heikki Riihiranta, 1967–83
• 7 Simo Saarinen, 1980–96
• 9 Kimmo Kuhta, 1996–2013
• 17 Matti Murto, 1964–83
• 20 Matti Hagman, 1972–92
• 22 Mika Kortelainen, 1987–2002
• 23 Pertti Lehtonen, 1976–98
• 35 Sakari Lindfors, 1985–2002

NHL alumni

• FIN Peter Ahola
• USA Tom Askey
• CAN Keith Aulie
• FRA Yohann Auvitu
• CAN Jamie Baker
• USA Shawn Bates
• CZE Jaroslav Bednar
• SWE Emil Bemström
• CZE Ladislav Benýšek
• FIN Sean Bergenheim
• USA Tim Bergland
• USA Tom Bissett
• FIN Henrik Borgström
• CAN Luciano Borsato
• CAN Darren Boyko
• CAN Kip Brennan
• CAN Carl Brewer
• USA Alex Broadhurst
• FIN Niklas Bäckström
• CZE Jan Čaloun
• CAN Sébastien Centomo
• CAN Dale Clarke
• SWE Johan Davidsson
• CAN Tom Draper
• USA Parris Duffus
• USA Corey Elkins
• FIN Miika Elomo
• CAN Rico Fata
• USA Joe Finley
• CAN Trevor Gillies
• CAN Raymond Giroux
• RUS Nikolai Goldobin
• FIN Markus Granlund
• FIN Mikael Granlund
• CAN Steve Guolla
• FIN Matti Hagman
• FIN Niklas Hagman
• CAN Bob Halkidis
• USA Jeff Hamilton
• USA Brett Harkins
• FIN Ilkka Heikkinen
• FIN Miro Heiskanen
• FIN Roope Hintz
• CZE Jan Hrdina
• FIN Ville Husso
• FIN Hannes Hyvönen
• FIN Kari Jalonen
• FIN Mikko Jokela
• FIN Olli Jokinen
• FIN Martti Järventie
• FIN Iiro Järvi
• FIN Jari Kaarela
• FIN Sami Kapanen
• FIN Jere Karalahti
• FIN Michael Keränen
• FIN Otto Koivula
• FIN Jarno Kultanen
• FIN Teemu Laakso
• FIN Kevin Lankinen
• CAN Lucas Lessio
• FIN Joona Luoto
• CAN Ross Lupaschuk
• FIN Toni Lydman
• CAN John Madden
• SVK Ivan Majesky
• FIN Anssi Melametsä
• CAN Sandy Moger
• SWE Johan Motin
• USA Cory Murphy
• CAN Raymond Murray
• CAN Todd Nelson
• FIN Mika Noronen
• USA Patrick O'Sullivan
• FIN Joni Ortio
• FIN Iiro Pakarinen
• FIN Ville Peltonen
• CAN Joël Perrault
• CAN Mathieu Perreault
• FIN Janne Pesonen
• FIN Lennart Petrell
• FIN Ilkka Pikkarainen
• FIN Lasse Pirjetä
• SVK Andrej Podkonicky
• FIN Timo Pärssinen
• CAN Kyle Quincey
• USA Brian Rafalski
• FIN Joonas Rask
• FIN Pekka Rautakallio
• FIN Christian Ruuttu
• FIN Tuomo Ruutu
• FIN Jarkko Ruutu
• FIN Simo Saarinen
• FIN Tony Salmelainen
• FIN Tommi Santala
• ITA CAN Ryan Savoia
• CZE Robert Schnabel
• CZE Roman Simicek
• FIN Ilkka Sinisalo
• FIN Ville Sirén
• CZE Martin Spanhel
• FIN Antti Suomela
• USA Ryan Thang
• USA Tim Thomas
• USA Billy Tibbetts
• FIN Esa Tikkanen
• FIN Kimmo Timonen
• CAN Brad Thiessen
• FIN Marko Tuomainen
• USA Ryan Vesce
• CZE Tomáš Vokoun
• CZE Roman Vopat
• CAN Peter White
• FIN Petteri Wirtanen
• CZE Marek Židlický

Other notable alumni

• CAN Dave Siciliano, player-coach during the 1971–72 season

References

References

1. (17 April 2024). "Jokerien pomo paljasti merkittävän tiedon ensi kauden kotiotteluista (in Finnish)". MTV Uutiset.
2. (1 March 2014). "HIFK vei ikuisen Stadin herruuden (in Finnish)". Ilta-Sanomat.
3. https://hifk.fi/pelaajat/
4. (1995). "Dave Siciliano".
5. Turchansky, Ray. (September 20, 1996). "From bantam to junior in single bound". [[Edmonton Journal]].