Finland national men's ice hockey team

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Association
Finnish Ice Hockey Association
Current Olympic/World Cup coach
Jukka Jalonen (2008-)
Current national team coach
Jukka Jalonen (2008-)
Most Games
Raimo Helminen: 331
Most Points
Raimo Helminen: 207
First Game
Flag of Sweden Sweden 8 - 1 Finland Flag of Finland
(Helsinki, Finland; January 29, 1928)
Largest win
Flag of Finland Finland 19 - 2 Australia Flag of Australia
(Squaw Valley, USA; February 25, 1960)
Largest defeat
Flag of Canada Canada 24 - 0 Finland Flag of Finland
(Oslo, Norway; March 3, 1958)
World Championships
Current record: 1-6-3

The Finnish national ice hockey team or Leijonat ("the lions"), as it is called in Finland, is one of the top rated ice hockey teams in the world. The IIHF currently ranks them 4th. The team is governed by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Finland is considered a member of the "Big Seven", along with Canada, Russia, the USA, Slovakia, Sweden, and the Czech Republic. Finland has a total of 52,597 registered players (1.0 % of its population).

At the 1995 World championships Finland won a gold medal, beating Sweden in the final by a score of 4–1.

In the 2006 Winter Olympics Finland won a silver medal, coming close to winning in the final but succumbing 3–2 to Sweden. Finland's goaltender Antero Niittymäki was named the MVP of the tournament (only 8 goals against in the whole tournament) and Teemu Selänne the best forward of the tournament.

Doug Shedden coached the Finnish national men's ice hockey team in the 2007–08 season. Under Shedden, Finland won bronze. His assistant coach Jukka Jalonen will succeed him as the head coach in 2008.

The national team has retired Jari Kurri's #17 jersey. It currently hangs in Hartwall Areena in Helsinki.

Contents

[edit] 2008 World Championship team

Pos. No. Player Team
GK 31 Karri Rämö Flag of the United States Tampa Bay Lightning
GK 32 Niklas Bäckström Flag of the United States Minnesota Wild
GK 35 Petri Vehanen Flag of Finland Lukko
D 4 Ville Koistinen Flag of the United States Nashville Predators
D 6 Ossi Väänänen Flag of Sweden Djurgårdens IF
D 7 Antti-Jussi Niemi Flag of Sweden Frölunda HC
D 19 Mikko Luoma Flag of Sweden HV71
D 21 Janne Niskala Flag of the United States Milwaukee Admirals
D 27 Mikko Jokela Flag of Finland Jokerit
D 33 Anssi Salmela Flag of Finland Tappara
D 40 Sami Lepistö Flag of the United States Hershey Bears
F 8 Teemu Selänne Flag of the United States Anaheim Ducks
F 9 Mikko Koivu A Flag of the United States Minnesota Wild
F 10 Esa Pirnes Flag of Sweden Färjestads BK
F 11 Saku Koivu Flag of Canada Montreal Canadiens
F 12 Olli Jokinen A Flag of the United States Florida Panthers
F 15 Tuomo Ruutu Flag of the United States Carolina Hurricanes
F 16 Ville Peltonen C Flag of the United States Florida Panthers
F 18 Hannes Hyvönen Flag of Finland Kärpät
F 20 Sean Bergenheim Flag of the United States NY Islanders
F 23 Riku Hahl Flag of Sweden Timrå IK
F 36 Jussi Jokinen Flag of the United States Tampa Bay Lightning
F 37 Mika Pyörälä Flag of Sweden Timrå IK
F 38 Antti Pihlström Flag of the United States Milwaukee Admirals
F 39 Niko Kapanen Flag of the United States Phoenix Coyotes

[edit] Olympic record

Olympic medal record
Olympic Games
Silver 1988 Calgary Ice Hockey
Bronze 1994 Lillehammer Ice Hockey
Bronze 1998 Nagano Ice Hockey
Silver 2006 Torino Ice Hockey
  • 1952 - Finished in 7th place
  • 1956 - did not participate
  • 1960 - Finished in 7th place
  • 1964 - Finished in 6th place
  • 1968 - Finished in 5th place
  • 1972 - Finished in 5th place
  • 1976 - Finished in 4th place
  • 1980 - Finished in 4th place
  • 1984 - Finished in 6th place
  • 1988 - Won silver medal
  • 1992 - Finished in 7th place
  • 1994 - Won bronze medal
  • 1998 - Won bronze medal
  • 2002 - Finished in 6th place
  • 2006 - Won silver medal (roster)

[edit] Canada Cup record

  • 1976 - Finished in 6th place
  • 1981 - Finished in 6th place
  • 1984 - Did not participate
  • 1987 - Finished in 6th place
  • 1991 - Finished in 3rd place

[edit] World Cup record

  • 1996 - Finished in 5th place
  • 2004 - Finished in 2nd place

[edit] World championship record

Year Location Result
1939 Zürich / Basel, Switzerland Finished in 13th place
1949 Stockholm, Sweden Finished in 7th place
1950 London, Great Britain Did not participate
1951 Paris, France Finished in 7th place
1953 Basel / Zurich, Switzerland Did not participate
1954 Stockholm, Sweden Finished in 6th place
1955 Krefeld / Dortmund / Cologne, West Germany Finished in 9th place
1957 Moscow, Soviet Union Finished in 5th place
1958 Oslo, Norway Finished in 6th place
1959 Prague / Bratislava, Czechoslovakia Finished in 6th place
1961 Geneva / Lausanne, Switzerland Finished in 7th place
1962 Colorado Springs / Denver, Colorado Finished in 4th place
1963 Stockholm, Sweden Finished in 5th place
1965 Tampere, Finland Finished in 7th place
1966 Ljubljana, Yugoslavia Finished in 7th place
1967 Vienna, Austria Finished in 6th place
1969 Stockholm, Sweden Finished in 5th place
1970 Stockholm, Sweden Finished in 4th place
1971 Berne / Geneva, Switzerland Finished in 4th place
1972 Prague, Czechoslovakia Finished in 4th place
1973 Moscow, Soviet Union Finished in 4th place
1974 Helsinki, Finland Finished in 4th place
1975 Munich / Dusseldorf, West Germany Finished in 4th place
1976 Katowice, Poland Finished in 5th place
1977 Vienna, Austria Finished in 5th place
1978 Prague, Czechoslovakia Finished in 7th place
1979 Moscow, Soviet Union Finished in 5th place
1981 Gothenburg / Stockholm, Sweden Finished in 6th place
1982 Helsinki / Tampere, Finland Finished in 5th place
1983 Düsseldorf / Dortmund / Munich, West Germany Finished in 7th place
1985 Prague, Czechoslovakia Finished in 5th place
1986 Moscow, Soviet Union Finished in 4th place
1987 Vienna, Austria Finished in 5th place
1989 Stockholm / Södertälje, Sweden Finished in 5th place
1990 Berne / Fribourg, Switzerland Finished in 6th place
1991 Turku / Helsinki / Tampere, Finland Finished in 5th place
1992 Prague / Bratislava, Czechoslovakia Won Image:Med 2.png silver medal
1993 Dortmund / Munich, Germany Finished in 7th place
1994 Bolzano / Canazei / Milano, Italy Won Image:Med 2.png silver medal
1995 Stockholm / Gävle, Sweden Won Image:Med 1.png gold medal ( roster)
1996 Vienna, Austria Finished in 5th place
1997 Helsinki / Turku / Tampere, Finland Finished in 5th place
1998 Zürich / Basel, Switzerland Won Image:Med 2.png silver medal
1999 Oslo / Lillehammer / Hamar, Norway Won Image:Med 2.png silver medal
2000 Saint Petersburg, Russia Won Image:Med 3.png bronze medal
2001 Cologne / Hanover / Nuremberg, Germany Won Image:Med 2.png silver medal
2002 Gothenburg / Karlstad / Jönköping, Sweden Finished in 4th place
2003 Helsinki / Tampere / Turku, Finland Finished in 5th place
2004 Prague / Ostrava, Czech Republic Finished in 6th place
2005 Innsbruck / Vienna, Austria Finished in 7th place
2006 Riga, Latvia Won Image:Med 3.png bronze medal
2007 Moscow / Mytishchi, Russia Won Image:Med 2.png silver medal
2008 Quebec City / Halifax, Canada Won Image:Med 3.png bronze medal

[edit] European championship record

[edit] Notable Players

[edit] List of head coaches