The Liiga teams: their characteristics, histories and rivalries

Jersey Fan 12

Positive Vibes
Nov 20, 2006
5,854
2,486
Can someone post like a cliff notes version of the characteristics of each Liiga team with their history and rivalries and their successes or how good they are.

Has changed quite a bit in recent years - when I was in Finland both Espoo Blues were still in Liiga and the Mestis clubs - Jukurit, Sport and KooKoo had yet to join the league. KalPa had just been elevated but struggled early on. The league hasn't done elevation/relegation in a while.

Karpat, which is the northernmost team in the league, has been dominant for a while.
 

Jersey Fan 12

Positive Vibes
Nov 20, 2006
5,854
2,486
In terms of rivalries, two of the biggest for obvious reasons are the two Tampere teams - Ilves and Tappara - and the two clubs in southwest Finland - Assat Pori and Lukko Rauma.

Assat-Lukko is especially significant historically in that the two sporting clubs (which extend to other sports beside hockey) represented the opposite sides of the political spectrum that clashed in the Finnish civil war. One was reds and one whites though a native Finn could probably explain in more detail.

The other big rivalry when I was in Finland was obviously Jokerit and HIFK. Both Helsinki clubs tended to have the most resources in the league - Hartwell Areena compares favorably to NHL rinks while some of the clubs in the league play in much smaller facilities.

With Jokerit in the KHL it seems HIFK and Karpat have been pretty spirited when they play.

Someone with more recent knowledge of the league can probably fill you in more on some of the rivalries.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tarheelhockey

Albatros

Registered User
Aug 19, 2017
12,274
7,723
Ostsee
In terms of rivalries, two of the biggest for obvious reasons are the two Tampere teams - Ilves and Tappara - and the two clubs in southwest Finland - Assat Pori and Lukko Rauma.

Assat-Lukko is especially significant historically in that the two sporting clubs (which extend to other sports beside hockey) represented the opposite sides of the political spectrum that clashed in the Finnish civil war. One was reds and one whites though a native Finn could probably explain in more detail.

The other big rivalry when I was in Finland was obviously Jokerit and HIFK. Both Helsinki clubs tended to have the most resources in the league - Hartwell Areena compares favorably to NHL rinks while some of the clubs in the league play in much smaller facilities.

With Jokerit in the KHL it seems HIFK and Karpat have been pretty spirited when they play.

Someone with more recent knowledge of the league can probably fill you in more on some of the rivalries.

You are absolutely correct about that the division between socialist and nationalist clubs is the main traditional division and source of rivalry in Finnish sporting culture. But this doesn't really extend to Liiga as it is the successor of the nationalist Finnish Imperial Athletic Association's ice hockey competition and therefore in principle all clubs originate from the nationalist spectrum. A couple of clubs with socialist traditions like TuTo from Turku or KooVee from Tampere have played in Liiga as well over the years, but ice hockey never was as big on that side of the spectrum and so traditional rivalries between clubs are much more visible in soccer and some other sports. In other words the rivalry between Lukko and Ässät is based on the geographic proximity of their hometowns, but it doesn't go much deeper than that.

Another traditional source of rivalry in Finland is language, with Finnish and Swedish clubs present in major cities. In Liiga IFK Helsingfors still today represents the Swedish tradition without a Finnish counterpart in Helsinki. Jokerit is a relative newcomer with a suburban identity, but it is not a part of the traditional rivalries. In Tampere Tappara used to be a Swedish club, but it has since then left behind that identity and only few traces remain today. Yet that background is a big part of its local rivalry with Ilves.
 

Jersey Fan 12

Positive Vibes
Nov 20, 2006
5,854
2,486
Funny. Have friends on both sides of Tappara-Ilves rivalry. Didn’t know about the Swedish-Finnish aspect.
 

JabbaJabba

Registered User
Dec 22, 2010
7,540
2,765
Finland
Were there any well-know incidents? Between fans, players, coaches...

It was like 9-10 years ago when Jokerit were still a Liiga team when the rivalry between Jokerit and HIFK got nasty.

Jarkko Ruutu who had played for HIFK before his NHL career returned to Liiga in 2011 but was signed by Jokerit, which was a big blow to HIFK. Usually when NHL players return to Finland they go back to their previous team. Ruutu was a part of HIFK's team that won the Finnish championship in 1998. He embodied the tough style of hockey that HIFK played and he is a fan favourite player that you want on your own team rather than on your rival's team. I think Ruutu said in his book that HIFK didn't offer him a contract even though there was talk of him playing in HIFK. It has been a few years since I read the book, so I might be wrong. Anyway, Jarmo Kekäläinen who is Columbus' current GM was the GM for Jokerit at that time and he had previously worked for HIFK and had a connection with Ruutu and offered him a contract.

Ruutu continued his antics that got himself known as a rat in the NHL. For example Ruutu ducked Ilari Melart's hit (0:08, replay 1:04) and then Melart went after Ruutu (0:14) and both got a penalty. Later in the game Melart wanted to fight Ruutu who agreed and appeared to be removing his gloves. Melart dropped his gloves on the ice, but Ruutu kept his on (same video 1:48, replay 2:06). You see that Ruutu went and gave a little push before the incident and then pretended to take his gloves off. Then in the end of that video Ruutu gives an interview where he complains about the referee, which is really a bunch of BS.

Next season Ruutu injured HIFK player with a hit. Two days later the teams played against each other again and Melart tried to fight Ruutu again and Ruutu once again didn't drop his gloves and Melart was thrown out of the game. Then Jokerit player Semir Ben-Amor went after HIFK legend Ville Peltonen when he didn't even have the puck. Ben-Amor who is much bigger guy hit and fought (0:17) Peltonen who got a concussion. You can believe that HIFK didn't like it at all because Peltonen was one of those players you don't go after and get away with it. HIFK and Peltonen felt that there was a plan to take him out and Ruutu was involved in it. Jokerit, Ruutu and Ben-Amor have denied it and Ben-Amor has said that he was just in the moment and made a mistake. You can believe what you want, I am just stating what each side said.

Ben-Amor's attack lead to a lot of fighting in the game, which lead to a bunch of fines and penalties. Ben-Amor got a 18 game ban (which is one of the longest in Liiga history), Ruutu got 4 games, Ossi Väänänen 1 game and Jokerit's head coach and another coach both got 8 game bans. From HIFK Juuso Salmi got 12 games, Melart and Siim Liivik 6 games each and their head coach Pasi Sormunen got 8 games. Jokerit got a 40k fine and HIFK 25k fine. Ben-Amor was charged for an assault and was convicted for 60 days worth of day-fines. Also, Peltonen and Ruutu don't talk to each other anymore as Peltonen believes Ruutu had something to do with the attack.

There were a lot of comments back and forth from the players and team managements in the media regarding the incidents and players from the other teams which weren't always so nice and even when they were, people were sceptical of their sincerity. There were a bunch of other borderline illegal hits and events between the teams for example in the beginning of 2013-2014 season HIFK's Trevor Gillies just knocks out Ruutu after the whistle. Also, it felt like there was an arms race between the two teams, who could get more and the biggest muscles on their team. Nothing came close to that Ben-Amor incident.

In 2014 Jokerit moved to KHL where they still play today so the two teams haven't faced each other in many years. I don't know how things would be today. Hockey has gotten a lot cleaner everywhere and most of the players who played in Jokerit or HIFK 7-9 years ago have retired or play elsewhere. If Jokerit were to return to Liiga, they would be local rivals still, but it would take time to build same kind of rivalry they had previously and I don't think it would even happen. Probably it is for the best that those types of rivalries are very rare today.

There's a little story for you.

edit: Edited the story a bit.
 
Last edited:

Albatros

Registered User
Aug 19, 2017
12,274
7,723
Ostsee
It was like 9-10 years ago when Jokerit were still a Liiga team when the rivalry between Jokerit and HIFK got nasty.

Jarkko Ruutu who had played for HIFK before his NHL career returned to Liiga in 2011 but was signed by Jokerit, which was a big blow to HIFK. Usually when NHL players return to Finland they go back to their previous team. Ruutu was a part of HIFK's team that won the Finnish championship in 1998. He embodied the tough style of hockey that HIFK played and he is a fan favourite player that you want on your own team rather than on your rival's team. I think Ruutu said in his book that HIFK didn't offer him a contract even though there was talk of him playing in HIFK. It has been a few years since I read the book, so I might be wrong. Anyway, Jarmo Kekäläinen who is Columbus' current GM was the GM for Jokerit at that time and he had previously worked for HIFK and had a connection with Ruutu and offered him a contract.

Ruutu continued his antics that got himself known as a rat in the NHL. For example Ruutu ducked Ilari Melart's hit (0:08, replay 1:04) and then Melart went after Ruutu (0:14) and both got a penalty. Later in the game Melart wanted to fight Ruutu who agreed and appeared to be removing his gloves. Melart dropped his gloves on the ice, but Ruutu kept his on (same video 1:48, replay 2:06). You see that Ruutu went and gave a little push before the incident and then pretended to take his gloves off. Then in the end of that video Ruutu gives an interview where he complains about the referee, which is really a bunch of BS.

Next season Ruutu injured HIFK player with a hit. Two days later the teams played against each other again and Melart tried to fight Ruutu again and Ruutu once again didn't drop his gloves and Melart was thrown out of the game. Then Jokerit player Semir Ben-Amor went after HIFK legend Ville Peltonen when he didn't even have the puck. Ben-Amor who is much bigger guy hit and fought (0:17) Peltonen who got a concussion. You can believe that HIFK didn't like it at all because Peltonen was one of those players you don't go after and get away with it. HIFK and Peltonen felt that there was a plan to take him out and Ruutu was involved in it. Jokerit, Ruutu and Ben-Amor have denied it and Ben-Amor has said that he was just in the moment and made a mistake. You can believe what you want, I am just stating what each side said.

Ben-Amor's attack lead to a lot of fighting in the game, which lead to a bunch of fines and penalties. Ben-Amor got a 18 game ban (which is one of the longest in Liiga history), Ruutu got 4 games, Ossi Väänänen 1 game and Jokerit's head coach and another coach both got 8 game bans. From HIFK Juuso Salmi got 12 games, Melart and Siim Liivik 6 games each and their head coach Pasi Sormunen got 8 games. Jokerit got a 40k fine and HIFK 25k fine. Ben-Amor was charged for an assault and was convicted for 60 days worth of day-fines. Also, Peltonen and Ruutu don't talk to each other anymore as Peltonen believes Ruutu had something to do with the attack.

There were a lot of comments back and forth from the players and team managements in the media regarding the incidents and players from the other teams which weren't always so nice and even when they were, people were sceptical of their sincerity. There were a bunch of other borderline illegal hits and events between the teams for example in the beginning of 2013-2014 season HIFK's Trevor Gillies just knocks out Ruutu after the whistle. Also, it felt like there was an arms race between the two teams, who could get more and the biggest muscles on their team. Nothing came close to that Ben-Amor incident.

In 2014 Jokerit moved to KHL where they still play today so the two teams haven't faced each other in many years. I don't know how things would be today. Hockey has gotten a lot cleaner everywhere and most of the players who played in Jokerit or HIFK 7-9 years ago have retired or play elsewhere. If Jokerit were to return to Liiga, they would be local rivals still, but it would take time to build same kind of rivalry they had previously and I don't think it would even happen. Probably it is for the best that those types of rivalries are very rare today.

There's a little story for you.

edit: Edited the story a bit.

Maybe the biggest part initiating this was the fact that the teams no longer shared an arena after 1997, up until that point relations had been quite brotherly as players and staff spent a lot of time together every day. But once the teams no longer shared a building a "them there" kind of mentality started to develop and was quite prominent for some years.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JabbaJabba

JabbaJabba

Registered User
Dec 22, 2010
7,540
2,765
Finland
Maybe the biggest part initiating this was the fact that the teams no longer shared an arena after 1997, up until that point relations had been quite brotherly as players and staff spent a lot of time together every day. But once the teams no longer shared a building a "them there" kind of mentality started to develop and was quite prominent for some years.

I think that is a good point. Once Jokerit had their own brand new arena, they and their fans got the mentality of "this is our building" and probably the same thing happened with HIFK. Sharing the Helsinki arena united them, but having separate arenas divided them in more ways than just location.
 

Qurpiz

Carry me home!
Nov 5, 2006
4,297
838
Assat-Lukko is especially significant historically in that the two sporting clubs (which extend to other sports beside hockey) represented the opposite sides of the political spectrum that clashed in the Finnish civil war. One was reds and one whites though a native Finn could probably explain in more detail.

Pori-native and an Ässät fan (former player of their junior program too) and honestly I don't know what the f*** are you talking about
 

Jersey Fan 12

Positive Vibes
Nov 20, 2006
5,854
2,486
Pori-native and an Ässät fan (former player of their junior program too) and honestly I don't know what the f*** are you talking about
As someone above said, that was more to do with the football club than hockey and was in the early part of the last century. Confused the two in reading articles about that period.
 

Sanf

Registered User
Sep 8, 2012
1,943
902
You are absolutely correct about that the division between socialist and nationalist clubs is the main traditional division and source of rivalry in Finnish sporting culture. But this doesn't really extend to Liiga as it is the successor of the nationalist Finnish Imperial Athletic Association's ice hockey competition and therefore in principle all clubs originate from the nationalist spectrum. A couple of clubs with socialist traditions like TuTo from Turku or KooVee from Tampere have played in Liiga as well over the years, but ice hockey never was as big on that side of the spectrum and so traditional rivalries between clubs are much more visible in soccer and some other sports. In other words the rivalry between Lukko and Ässät is based on the geographic proximity of their hometowns, but it doesn't go much deeper than that.

Another traditional source of rivalry in Finland is language, with Finnish and Swedish clubs present in major cities. In Liiga IFK Helsingfors still today represents the Swedish tradition without a Finnish counterpart in Helsinki. Jokerit is a relative newcomer with a suburban identity, but it is not a part of the traditional rivalries. In Tampere Tappara used to be a Swedish club, but it has since then left behind that identity and only few traces remain today. Yet that background is a big part of its local rivalry with Ilves.

Yep I agree. TUL (Finnish worker´s sport federation) was founded in 1919 and they officially took hockey in program after war in 1945. And in 1930 actually over 150 "communistic" sport clubs were forced out of existence. But as hockey was started in Finland as late as in 1928 and like said played by SVUL teams that did not really affect hockey.

Though I kind of agree with Jokerit it is good to mention that Jokerit was founded on Töölön Vesa which was one of the traditional TUL working class teams. Actually even one of the founding members.

Frans Karjagin played Bandy and Football for Vesa. He was expelled from TUL among others because he took part for 1928 Spartakiads without TUL´s permission. Already in 1929 he played hockey in Finnish championship´s for HIFK and became football legend for the team. And obviosly after that could also play in football National Team.

If we look hockey the biggest clash was in 1959 when several teams left/were kicked from TUL and continued in Finnish Championship series. For some years there was complitely seperate championship for TUL. TUL had also Union team which was gathered from players from TUL teams. Those teams played matches against clubs from USSR, CSSR and DDR.

And as bit of personal trivia as a kid I represented TUL team in late 80´s early 90´s. And even then we got some political remarks from older folks. And especially early we had absolutely no idea what they were talking about :).
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Tony Piscotta

Sanf

Registered User
Sep 8, 2012
1,943
902
Also if we look at history it is nice to mention that even some of the current Liiga teams have roots in Karelia that was lost to USSR in war. Many refugee teams relocated with people.

The greatgranfather of Pelicans is Viipurin Reipas (the first Finnish hockey champions). They relocated themselves to Lahti and later became Lahden Reipas.

KalPas origins are in Sortavala as in Sortavalan Palloseura. Moved to Kuopio and changed name to Kalevan Pallo.

One of the founding clubs of KooKoo was Viipurin Sudet. Sudet first moved to Helsinki and later to Kouvola.
 

sob1

Registered User
Apr 29, 2018
10
9
Northern Finland
A legendary pitcture from the 90'ies in Rauma. Jari Korpisalo of Ässät received a big hit from Pasi Saarela of Lukko.

While carried out on a stretcher, Korpisalo "saluted" the Rauma crowd. "The center"

BTW, Jari's son is Joonas Korpisalo of Columbus Blue Jackets. Pasi Saarela's son is Aleksi Saarela, also played in NHL.
 

Sanf

Registered User
Sep 8, 2012
1,943
902
Actually I need to slightly correct myself. I have recently done research on early Finnish hockey and I did find one team that had "socialist" roots even before WW2. Like I earlier said lots of athletes had been expelled from the Workers Sport Federation because they had taken part to 1928 Spartakiads without Unions permision.

Group of these top football (secondary bandy) players from TUL teams formed a club called Helsingin Pallo-Veikot (HPV) in 1931. They weren´t that keen on joining the " bourgeois clubs". Now in the winter they took part on the Helsinki´s district hockey championship. Originally they were supposed to take part to the Finnish Championships too, but apparently could not found enough money for the possible travel cost´s.

You can see from the newspaper articles that they were downplayed quite a lot. Their TUL background was mentioned. Their understanding of rules was questioned. It was said thay their shooting and skating abililty weren´t that good. And it was said that they did not look like they had been part of such big sport events (referring to Spartakiads and Workers olympics).

On ice the team did decent. They technically had chance to win the district championship in the last game against HJK: The game ended up tie 1-1. But no overtime was played (do not know why). So rematch was ordered. HJK won that depending on source either 4-0 (more likely) or 5-0.

The team was denied a official membership to Finnish Football Association and as the players were mainly football players they scattered to already existing clubs.
 
Last edited:

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->