#kärpät

[annunen]

Was watching old Liiga Läpimurto content last night. Justus Annunen 2019/20 photodump <333

As extra: some funny lines from him in the videos i watched.

“My helmet is custom made because my head is so big.”

“Wanna buy my pads? 2k. 5k and you'll get my glove too - no, 4k. You can sell them forward for 10k if you sign them. Get Pekka Rinne's autograph on them. Yeah, not every goalie has scored a goal.”

Justus, lying on his back in the crease: “Pläääääh.”

Who has the worst jokes in the locker room?

Justus "Jupe" Annunen: “Jasse”

Jasper "Jasse" Patrikainen: “Jupe”

Who's your favorite Leijona*?

Jasper: “Jupe”

Justus: “Not Jasse”

Is Petopodi** your favorite podcast?

“I'm gonna say no so i don't have to do more interviews with them.”

*Team Finland is called "Leijonat", Lions.

**Petopodi is the Kärpät podcast.

[liigainenglish]

Team Finland at World Championships in Czechia 2024

GOALTENDERS

Harri Säteri, 34, Biel-Bienne

Emil Larmi, 27, Växjö Lakers

Lassi Lehtinen, 25, MoDo

DEFENCE

Olli Määttä, 29, Detroit Red Wings

Mikko Lehtonen, 30, ZSC Lions

Rasmus Rissanen, 32, Örebro

Oliwer Kaski, 28, HV71

Juuso Riikola, 30, SCL Tigers

Vili Saarijärvi, 26, SCL Tigers

Veli-Matti Vittasmäki, 33, Tappara

Jesper Mattila, 26, Kalpa

FORWARDS

Juha Jääskä, 26, HIFK

Mikael Granlund, 32, San Jose Sharks

Valtteri Puustinen, 24, Pittsburgh Penguins

Jere Innala, 26, Frölunda

Oliver Kapanen, 20, KalPa

Jesse Puljujärvi, 26, Pittsburgh Penguins

Patrik Puistola, 23, Jukurit

Arttu Hyry, 23, Kärpät

Pekka Jormakka, 33, Jukurit

Saku Mäenalanen, 29, SCL Tigers

Hannes Björninen, 28, Örebro

Iiro Pakarinen, 32, HIFK

Konsta Helenius, 17, Jukurit

Ahti Oksanen, 31, IK Oskarshamn

[liigapolls]

Before the next one gets fired - who is the hottest head coach in the Finnish Liiga?

This one's purely about looks, not the teams or coaching skills, though you can always try to boost your chosen candidate with some hot competence propaganda. Who doesn't love a capable team dad right?

How the tournament works: The coaches have been divided into four groups. The winner from each group will advance into semifinals, and the final will be between the top 2 candidates in the semifinals. Each poll will run for a week, so plenty of time to convince everyone of the worthiness of your fave dude!

No idea what these people look like? Not to worry; to save you from googling, there's two pictures of each coach under the cut, one official photo (this or previous Liiga season) and one recent-ish unofficial photo.

Ville Mäntymaa

Johan Pennerborn

Marko Tuomainen

Petri Karjalainen

[badhockeymom]

How it was to play against the small teenager Sebastian Aho before his NHL years, told by Jonne Virtanen from TPS, (b 1988, 197 cm/6'6, 118 kg/260) in the Kalju Corner podcast:

One player that I remember was Sebastian Aho, his first full Liiga season - he had scored the winning goal in the previous spring, but the first full season. We targeted him, of course, a young boy, let's see how he takes it. Damn, he was hit and chirped all the way, Stone found some 2000's dictionary and let him hear every word. But he didn't even bat an eye, he kept doing his thing completely unfazed, making game-winning moves. -- It was that series, our coaches said to us, try to come up with something, and we'd say, we're trying but he's so damn good, we're dealt unfair cards here!

(TPS fell totally apart to Kärpät in their 2016 playoff series, old-school-goonish Virtanen being one of the top PIM hotheads)

[innudoggy]

(Scroll down for English)

Sain joululomalla ”hienon” idean tehdä Suomen jääkeikkoliigan joukkueista Dungeons and Dragons -hahmoja. Inspiraation lähteenä käytin sekä nykyisiä että vanhoja joukkuelogoja sekä itse kaupunkeja, joista ne ovat. Alla ovat jo valmiiksi saadut hahmot.

In English:

I had a “great” idea of drawing the teams of the Finnish hockey league as Dungeons and Dragons characters. I used both recent and older logos of the teams as well as the cities themselves a source of inspiration. The already finished characters can be found below.

[fuvkrutherford]

Why do some International Hockey Coaches look like that??? Good golly....

It's giving People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive 2015 David Beckham

And we have a lot of this in North America:

[blur-from-the-north]

March 4, 2023. Oulu, Finland. Ricoh GR III. Stylistic processing.

One last look at the previous Liiga hockey season. If we ain't winning, at least we've still got the sausages, right? Right.

[auroraliiga]

HIFK's Sanni Vanhanen dangles like a beast to score against Kärpät goaltender Kati Asikainen on the penalty shot • Naisten Liiga Playoffs 2023 - Round 1, Game 3

[grantmentis]

Women's Hockey Roundup: October

Woof, I fell off of these for a while. Blame baseball and college! Anyway, I'm going to just do what happened in women's hockey in October (and maybe the last few days of September) for all leagues. This is only confirmed news and games, so rumors are not included

If you're new, i recap the top stories from around club play women's hockey (so not collegiate) and try to give more detail on european women's hockey, since that's less reported on in north america :-) Feel free to add if i miss anything!

PWHL (USA/Canada)

The PWHL schedule has been released! We have a few TBD's in venues, most likely for playing select games in bigger venues or neutral sites. we do not currently have streaming/television info, so stay tuned for that. There will be a preseason, but not open to the public.

Training Camp Begins November 12, with preseason/mini camps The 19-22. New York's training camp roster is here. Boston's is here. Minnesota's is here. Montreal is here. Ottawa's is here. Toronto's is here.

Nov. 27: Deadline to finalize rosters of 23 players and 3 reserves

Abigail Boreen signed a three year deal with the Montréal Victoire. She played with the Minnesota Frost last year, including in the playoffs, as a reserve player.

Ronja Savolainen signed a three year deal with the Ottawa Charge. She played with Luleä most recently and is a star of the Finnish national team.

Sarah Lefort, most recently with Montréal Victoire, has announced her retirement

The PWHL has begun the process of expansion for 2025-2026, targeting two new cities

SDHL (Sweden)

Fanni Garát-Gasparics signs with Brynäs IF, though is still rehabbing the injury she sustained last year with the Ottawa Charge

Dutch national team legend Savine Wielenga signs with Leksands IF

Rookie Reece Hunt of Luleä is out for the season with a torn knee ligament

Frölunda general manager Kim Martin Hassons is extended to 2028, and head coach Erika Holst is extended to 2026. Frölunda has been massively successful thus far this year, currently in second place in the standings and coming off a big win against firs place Lulëa

While Luleä and Frölunda are at the top of the table, MoDo is making noise in third place, having won six of their last eight.

A couple key story lines: -> Finish National Team forward, Elisa Holopainen (Frölunda) is lighting the league on fire in her first year in the SDHL. She has 9 goals and ten assists in 13 games -> We have a few wonderful comeback stories this year. Hanna Olsson (Frölunda) is back to her old self after missing most of last year with injury, with 16 points in 13 games, good for fourth in the league. Erica Reider, (Luleä) who did not play for two seasons, looks like she never left, currently leading all defenders i the league in points. And Kassidy Sauvé (SDE), who missed almost two full season's with a hip injury, currently leads all goaltenders in save percentage. -> MoDo Hockey is being powered almost entirely by a youth movement: top producers Ebba Hedqvist, Adéla Šapovalivová, Mira Hallin, and Lovisa Engström are all 18 or younger and playing prominent roles on the 3rd place team

Auroraliiga (Finland)

Canadian Emma Hall joins KalPa after playing in the NDHL (Sweden's second division) last year

Kärpät will retire the number 20 in honor of long time legend Saija Tarkki. After 21 seasons with Kärpät as well as the Finnish national team, Tarkki retired in 2019. She will be honored Novembe 23rd.

A Couple key storylines: -> 18 year old Czech forward Barbora Juříčková i having a breakout year with HPK, already surpassing her point total from last season with 22. She joins Emma Ekoluoma (Ilves), who was a star on the U18 Finnish team last year, as one of the young players to keep an eye on in this league -> Kiekko-Espoo sits at the top of the table, with Ilves right behind. Last year's champions HIFK are feeling the loss of several star players and sit in fourth place. -> Sister's Jennika , Joanna and Jatta Ojala all played for the same team together for the first time at the top level for Team Kuortane

SWHL A / Postfinance Women League (Switzerland)

Not technically league play, but since they play in this league too ill put it here: EV Zug won the EWHL Euro Cup, which is played at the beginning of the season including select club teams across europe! They bear the German league's Memmingen to do so. Noemi Neubauerova, who is set to play with the Toronto Sceptres when the PWHL game begins, scored the game winning goal

Sponsor PostFinance announces that in 2025/2026, they will only financially support men's club teams that have a women's counterpart

Nadine Hofstetter of EV Zug is out three weeks with a broken finger. She is one of the team's veteran defenders who also plays for the Swiss national team. Vanessa Ryhner, Nina Harju, and Julia Näf are also out with injury for EV Zug, though Rhyner should be back any day now.

ZSC Lions Fraun is hit with injuries: Slovakian forward Tereza Lahova is out for the year with injury, and Aurela Thalmann and Alena Polenská (aka Alena Mills) are also injured. They are calling up Univ. of Saskatchewan alumni Sophie Lalor

A few storylines: -> Elizabeth Lang (HC Davos Ladies) is leading the league in points in her rookie year and scoring at a goal per game pace. She graduated from University of Calgary last year -> Lara Stalder (EVZ Women's team) continues to do Lara Stalder things and is tied with Lang in goals, but newcomers Michaela Pejzlová (HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls) and Clara Rozier (SC Bern Fraun) who were stars in last year's finnish league are close behind. The top scorer race for this league will be exciting, and that's not to mention old friends like Rahel Enzler and Estelle Duvin, among others. -> HC Davos Ladies is currently at the top of the standings, but EV Zug and SC Bern Frauen are very close behing them -> 18 year old Ivana Wey (EVZ Women's Team) has been off to a blistering hot start, a lot of hype surrounding her after a strong performance at both u18 and senior worlds. Another interesting young player is Lucie Tenenbaum, an American set to play at Minnesota State next year but is spending this year in Switzerland. The 18 year old has 5 goals and two assists with HC Davos Ladies so far

EWHL (Central/East Europe)

EV Bozen Eagles are currently dominating the league, with the help of players such as import Kristin Della Rovere, who has 16 points in 9 games. The Bozen eagles are part of a larger plan to help get italy's women's national team ready for the 2026 olympics

HK PSRZ Bratislava are undefeated thus far this season, after winning last year's title.

Canadian USport alumni are thriving in this league; Cassidy Maplethorpe, Hannah Tait, and Lauren Nicholson among top goal scorers

Slovak Ema Tothova continues to be the young player to watch, after her breakout seeason last year the 17 year old forward has 10 goals in five games. She is also competing in a boy's league in Slovakia while playing in the EWHL

OTHERS

watch this space for Czech forward Adéla Mynaříková to mak the u18 team this year. She's 15 and just steamrolling people in the Czech top league, with 15 goals and 5 assists in 8 games playing against a lot of grown adults

Norweigan forward Une Bjelland Strandborg, who was arguably one of the best NCAA DIII players of all time and graduated last year, is killing it in Germany's league with newly added Austrian team HK Budapest. She has 7 points in 6 games

[annunen]

One year ago today: Pekka Rinne takes part in Tappara morning skate, chats with Christian Heljanko and coach Grönborg.

[liigainenglish]

are they better at pickeball than hockey?

[goalhofer]

2024 IIHF Worlds Finland Roster

Wingers

#12 Jere Innala (Frölunda Hockeyklubb/Hämeenlinna)

#13 Jesse Puljujärvi (Pittsburgh Penguins/Tornio)

#21 Patrik Puistola (Mikkelin Jukurit/Tampere)

#24 Hannes Björninen (Örebro H.K./Lahti)

#25 Pekka Jormakka (Mikkelin Jukurit/Jyväskylä)

#48 Valtteri Puustinen (Pittsburgh Penguins/Kuopio)

#57 Arttu Hyry (Oulun Kärpät/Oulu)

#71 Ahti Oksanen (I.K. Oskarshamn/Kirkkonummi)

#80 Saku Mäenalanen (S.C. Langnau Tiger/Tornio)

#81 Iiro Pakarinen (H.I.F.K./Suonenjoki)

Centers

#15 Juha Jääskä (H.I.F.K./Helsinki)

#19 Konsta Helenius (Mikkelin Jukurit/Ylöjärvi)

#27 Oliver Kapanen (Kalevan Pallo/Kuopio)

#64 Mikael Granlund (San José Sharks/Oulu)

Defensemen

#2 Rasmus Rissanen (Örebro H.K./Kuopio)

#3 Olli Määttä (Detroit Red Wings/Jyväskylä)

#4 Mikko Lehtonen (Zürcher S.C./Turku)

#7 Oliwer Kaski (HV71/Pori)

#18 Vili Saarijärvi (S.C. Langnau Tiger/Rovaniemi)

#38 Veli-Matti Vittasmäki (Tampeeren Tappara/Turku)

#50 Juuso Riikola (S.C. Langnau Tiger/Joensuu)

#62 Jesper Mattila (Kalevan Pallo/Tampere)

Goalies

#29 Harri Säteri (E.H.C. Biel-Bienne/Toijala)

#30 Lassi Lehtinen (Modo Hockey/Lahti)

#33 Emil Larmi (Växjö Sjöers Hockeyklubb/Lahti)

[bisonaari]

You being a kärppä truther is spot on since the ice hockey team in Oulu is called Oulun Kärpät

ONLY THE BEST COMES FROM OULU IT SEEMS

[juhollamago]

I AM HOWLING. KÄRPÄT FIRED NICK RITCHIE. JUST YESTERDAY THEY SAID THEY HAVE PATIENCE WITH HIM 😂😂😂

[blur-from-the-north]

January 21, 2023. Oulu, Finland. Nikon Z fc, Nikkor Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR.

[badhockeymom]

I'm so impressed with Markus Nutivaara: he must be the most grounded, humble, down-to-earth and level-headed person in hockey.

I listened to his long interview on the Oulun Kärpät podcast Petopodi yesterday. He said a lot of the same things as in the article linked in this post, but a lot of other things too, such as reminiscing his Kärpät days and talking about his hometown buddies and thw support he has from his family.

The total opposite of entitlement: he appreciates his journey, but he's happy to be where he is now.