Vaasan Sport

Sport, known by its full name as Hockey Team Vaasan Sport OY, is a Finnish ice hockey team playing in Liiga, and is based at Vaasa Arena (capacity 4448) in Vaasa. The team was established in 1939 as IF Sport (Idrottsföreningen Sport).

This article is about the men's ice hockey team. For the women's team competing in the Naisten Liiga, see Vaasan Sport Naiset.
Vaasan Sport
CityVaasa
LeagueLiiga
Founded1939
1962 (the ice hockey team)
Home arenaVaasa Arena
ColorsRed, black, white
              
Owner(s)HT Vaasan Sport Oy
General managerAri-Pekka Pajuluoma
Head coachRisto Dufva
CaptainErik Riska
Websitewww.vaasansport.fi

History

Vaasan Sport was founded in 1939 as IF Sport. The team was involved in the founding of the Finnish top division Liiga, formerly known as SM-Liiga, in 1975, but was relegated only one year later after the 1975-1976 season.[1]

After the relegation, Sport played in the Finnish First Division (since then renamed to Mestis), until they were relegated in 1991-1992 to the Finnish Second Division. Climbing back up to the First division proved to be a tough task and wasn't accomplished until spring 1997, with the game-winning goal of the deciding game against Kiekko-67 being scored by Kari Teräväinen in overtime.

The 2008-09 season was a success as Sport won the Mestis championship. However, in the league qualification series the team lost the last game to Ässät in a best-of-7 format, thus remaining in Mestis. The overall qualification series were close as Sport at one point was a single goal away from beating Ässät in overtime and being promoted to Liiga, but was unable to score.

Sport struggled with bad economy during the 2000s, which almost led the club to bankruptcy. The club board made improvements to secure the future of the club, cutting down on the budget for the whole new season, as well as installing new head coach and former world ice hockey champion Antti Törmänen, who started to build a new young team from scratch. Eventually, the club surfaced from its financial struggles and went ahead to consistently fight for the championship victory again.

In 2014, during the 2013-2014 Mestis season, it was confirmed that Sport would be promoted to Liiga for the 2014-2015 season, regardless of the outcome of the ongoing championship. This was due to former Liiga team Jokerit transferring to KHL, leaving an open slot in the Finnish top division.

Vaasan Sport player in 2012

Fans

The official fan club is called Red army.[2] The fan club Ultras 06 function as non-official supporters.[3]

Current roster

Updated April 22, 2018.[4]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
44 Aleksi Ainali C L 25 2016 Vihti, Finland
34 Jonathan Iilahti G L 28 2017 Vaasa, Finland
60 Mika Järvinen G L 31 2015 Hattula, Finland
25 Joel Kiviranta LW L 24 2014 Vantaa, Finland
51 Antti Kalapudas C L 24 2017 Oulainen, Finland
30 Joonas Komulainen C L 30 2015 Kuhmo, Finland
21 Tomi Körkkö LW L 29 2014 Oulu, Finland
33 Mikko Laine RW R 30 2017 Piikkiö, Finland
42 Juho-Erik Laitamäki D L 24 2013 Seinäjoki, Finland
55 Miro Lehtimäki LW R 23 2016 Kiukainen, Finland
41 Oskari Manninen D L 29 2017 Vantaa, Finland
57 Niklas Nevalainen D L 27 2017 Nakkila, Finland
16 Jesse Paukku LW L 26 2016 Joensuu, Finland
15 Jesse Rantamäki RW R 24 2013 Seinäjoki, Finland
13 Erik Riska C L 31 2014 Jakobstad, Finland
4 Robin Salo D L 21 Espoo, Finland
6 Ville Saukko D R 26 2016 Vaasa, Finland
7 Tony Sund D L 25 2015 Pedersöre, Finland
26 Tommi Tikka C L 24 2013 Helsinki, Finland
22 Tomi Tuomisto C L 30 2018 Nurmijärvi, Finland
63 Joni Tuulola D L 24 2017 Hämeenlinna, Finland
23 Olavi Vauhkonen RW R 31 2016 Helsinki, Finland

Retired numbers
  • # 29 Håkan Hjerpe
  • # 27 Tomi Väkelä
  • # 14 Sami Laaksoharju (not officially retired, but number has been off rotation after the death of Laaksoharju)

Notable personnel

Former notable players

Former notable coaches

References
  1. http://www.eurohockey.net/players/show_roster.cgi?team=122&league=4&season=76
  2. http://www.redarmy.fi
  3. http://www.ultras06.com/etusivu
  4. "Joukkue / Vaasan Sport" (in Finnish). www.sport.fi. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
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