Finland men's national ice hockey team

The Finnish men's national ice hockey team, or Leijonat / Lejonen (The Lions in Finnish and Swedish), as it is called in Finland, is governed by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Finland is considered a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, United States, the Czech Republic, Russia and Sweden.

Finland
Nickname(s)Leijonat / Lejonen
(The Lions)
AssociationFinnish Ice Hockey Association
Head coachJukka Jalonen
AssistantsKari Lehtonen
Mikko Manner
Antti Pennanen
CaptainMarko Anttila
Most gamesRaimo Helminen (331)
Most pointsRaimo Helminen (207)
Team colors   
IIHF codeFIN
Ranking
Current IIHF3 (24 April 2020)[1]
Highest IIHF2 (first in 2011)
Lowest IIHF7 (2005)
First international
Finland  1–8  Sweden
(Helsinki, Finland; 29 January 1928)
Finland  2–1  Estonia
(Helsinki, Finland; 20 February 1937)
Biggest win
Finland  20–1  Norway
(Hämeenlinna, Finland; 12 March 1947)
Biggest defeat
Canada  24–0  Finland
(Oslo, Norway; 3 March 1958)
IIHF World Championships
Appearances65 (first in 1939)
Best result Gold: (1995, 2011, 2019)
World Cup / Canada Cup
Appearances7 (first in 1976)
Best result2nd: (2004)
Olympics
Appearances14 (first in 1952)
Medals Silver (1988, 2006)
Bronze (1994, 1998, 2010, 2014)
Medal record
Olympic Games
1988 CalgaryTeam
2006 TurinTeam
1994 LillehammerTeam
1998 NaganoTeam
2010 VancouverTeam
2014 SochiTeam
World Cup / Canada Cup
2004 Toronto
1991 Hamilton
World Championship
1995 Sweden
2011 Slovakia
2019 Slovakia
1992 Czechoslovakia
1994 Italy
1998 Switzerland
1999 Norway
2001 Germany
2007 Russia
2014 Belarus
2016 Russia
2000 Russia
2006 Latvia
2008 Canada
European Championship
1962 United States
1985 Czechoslovakia
1986 Soviet Union
1987 Austria
1991 Finland
Winter Universiade
1981 Jaca
1997 Muju-Jeonju
1970 Rovaniemi
1985 Belluno
1989 Sofia
1991 Sapporo
2005 Innsbruck

Finland won the world championship title in 2019, which became their third after 1995 and 2011. A pair of silver medals (1988, 2006) remain the country's best Olympic result. At the Canada/World Cup, their best achievement is also a silver medal that they won in 2004.

Recent history

In the 1995 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships, Finland achieved its first ever gold in international ice hockey. Finland reached the final with a 5–0 victory over France in the quarterfinals, and a 3–0 victory over the Czech Republic in the semi-finals. In the finals, the Finns faced off against their hockey rivals and host of the 1995 tournament, Sweden. In the first period of the final, left wing Ville Peltonen scored a natural hat trick, and then assisted on Timo Jutila's first period goal to give Finland a 4–0 lead, on the way to an eventual 4–1 victory.

At the 1998 Olympic men's ice hockey tournament, Team Finland came away with Bronze, after defeating Canadian national team 3–2. Teemu Selänne led the tournament in goals scored (4) and total points achieved (10). The tournament was the first in which professional players from the National Hockey League (NHL) were allowed to participate, allowing national teams to be constructed using the best possible talent from each country. The 1998 Olympic tournament therefore came to be known as the "Tournament of the Century".

At the 2006 IIHF World Championship, Finland achieved 3rd place winning the Bronze medal game against Canada. Petteri Nummelin was named to the Media All-Star team.

In the 2006 Winter Olympics, Finland won a Silver medal, coming close to winning in the final but losing 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 was voted best forward. The format was changed from the 1998 and 2002 tournaments, to a format similar to the 1992 and 1994 tournaments. The number of teams was reduced from 14 to 12. The 12 teams were split into two groups in the preliminary stage, which followed a round robin format. Each team played the other teams in their group once. The top four teams from each group advanced to the quarter-finals.

At the 2007 IIHF World Championship, Finland lost the finals to Canada's national team. The final marked the second time that Finland and Canada met in the final of a World Championship, the first time being in 1994. However, only a year before in 2006 Finland had defeated Canada 5–0 in the Bronze medal game. In 2007, Canada were looking on form, being undefeated coming into the playoff round, while Finland had registered two losses in the run-up to the finals. Rick Nash scored on the powerplay at 6:10 into the first period on a one-timer from the point from a pass by Cory Murphy off of Matthew Lombardi, to put Canada up 1–0. Near the middle of the period, Eric Staal scored in similar fashion also on the powerplay, assisted by Justin Williams, and Mike Cammalleri. 9:11 into the second period, Colby Armstrong scored to give the Canadians a 3–0 lead. This goal ended up as the game winner. Finland had some discipline difficulty in the first two periods, taking 6 minutes apiece in penalties in both periods. Finland started to bring up the pressure in the last ten minutes, and Petri Kontiola scored a nice glove-side goal on Ward at 51:08 assisted by Ville Peltonen, to put the Finns on the board. Only with 3 minutes left Antti Miettinen scored to bring Finland within one, 3–2. However, only one minute later Rick Nash scored on a skillful breakaway to put the game away, 4–2 final for team Canada. The Canadians were outshot 22–18, but the Canadian goaltender, Cam Ward, kept them in the game as he was solid between the pipes. They also were able to capitalize on the powerplay, which ended up being decisive in the Canadian win. Kari Lehtonen was voted Tournament's best goaltender. At the 2008 IIHF World Championship, Finland achieved 3rd place winning the Bronze medal 4–0 against Sweden's national team.

At the 2010 Winter Olympics, Finland came away with 3rd place winning 5–3 against team Slovakia. During the tournament, Teemu Selänne of Finland became the all-time leader for points scored in the Olympics.[2][3] He notched an assist in his second game of the tournament for 37 career points, surpassing Valeri Kharlamov of the Soviet Union, Vlastimil Bubník of Czechoslovakia, and Harry Watson of Canada.[2][3]

At the 2011 IIHF World Championship, Finland won its second World Championship, beating the Swedish national team by a score of 6–1. As two highly ranked neighboring countries, Sweden and Finland have a long-running competitive tradition in ice hockey. Before the game, mainstream media in both countries titled the match "a dream final".[4][5] After a goalless first period, Sweden opened the game with a 1–0 goal by Magnus Pääjärvi in the second period at 27:40. Seven seconds before the period's end, Finland's Jarkko Immonen scored to tie the game 1–1. Finland took the lead early in the third period, scoring two goals at 42:35 and 43:21 by Nokelainen and Kapanen. Sweden took a time-out before the last period's half but did not manage to regroup, and the tournament was decided by a clear 6–1 victory to Finland by Janne Pesonen's, Mika Pyörälä's and Pihlström goals.[6] Team Finland's Jarkko Immonen led the Tournament in both goals and points scored with 9 and 12 respectively.

In recent years, Finland has been consistently ranked among the best teams in international hockey. Currently the team is ranked 3rd (26 May 2019) in the IIHF World Ranking. Finland won their third World Championship title at the 2019 IIHF World Championship in Slovakia.

Tournament record

Olympic Games

GamesGPWLTGFGACoachCaptainFinish
1920 Antwerpwas not involved-
1924 Chamonix
1928 St. Moritz
1932 Lake Placid
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen
1948 St. Moritz
1952 Oslo82602160Risto LindroosAarne Honkavaara7th
1956 Cortina d'AmpezzoDid not compete
1960 Squaw Valley63215523 Joe WirkkunenYrjö Hakala7th
1964 Innsbruck83501833 Joe WirkkunenRaimo Kilpiö6th
1968 Grenoble84312825 Gustav BubníkMatti Reunamäki5th
1972 Sapporo63302725Seppo LiitsolaLasse Oksanen5th
1976 Innsbruck63303020Seppo LiitsolaSeppo Lindström4th
1980 Lake Placid73313125Kalevi NumminenTapio Levo4th
1984 Sarajevo62313126Alpo SuhonenAnssi Melametsä6th
1988 Calgary85213414Pentti MatikainenTimo Blomqvist Silver
1992 Albertville84312911Pentti MatikainenPekka Tuomisto7th
1994 Lillehammer87103810 Curt LindströmTimo Jutila Bronze
1998 Nagano63302019Hannu AravirtaSaku Koivu Bronze
2002 Salt Lake City42201210Hannu AravirtaTeemu Selänne6th
2006 Turin8710298Erkka WesterlundSaku Koivu Silver
2010 Vancouver64201913Jukka JalonenSaku Koivu Bronze
2014 Sochi64112410Erkka WesterlundTeemu Selänne Bronze
2018 Pyeongchang5302169Lauri MarjamäkiLasse Kukkonen6th
2022 BeijingQualified
2026 Milan / CortinaTo be determined
Totals
GamesGoldSilverBronzeTotal
160246

World Championship

YearLocationResult
1939Zürich / Basel,   Switzerland13th place
1949Stockholm,  Sweden7th place
1951Paris,  France7th place
1954Stockholm,  Sweden6th place
1955Krefeld / Dortmund / Cologne, West Germany 9th place
1957Moscow,  Soviet Union4th place
1958Oslo,  Norway6th place
1959Prague / Bratislava,  Czechoslovakia6th place
1961Geneva / Lausanne,   Switzerland7th place
1962Colorado Springs / Denver,  United States4th place
1963Stockholm,  Sweden5th place
1965Tampere,  Finland7th place
1966Ljubljana,  Yugoslavia7th place
1967Vienna,  Austria6th place
1969Stockholm,  Sweden5th place
1970Stockholm,  Sweden4th place
1971Bern / Geneva,   Switzerland4th place
1972Prague,  Czechoslovakia4th place
1973Moscow,  Soviet Union4th place
1974Helsinki,  Finland4th place
1975Munich / Düsseldorf,  West Germany4th place
1976Katowice,  Poland5th place
1977Vienna,  Austria5th place
1978Prague,  Czechoslovakia7th place
1979Moscow,  Soviet Union5th place
1981Gothenburg / Stockholm,  Sweden6th place
1982Helsinki / Tampere,  Finland5th place
1983Düsseldorf / Dortmund / Munich, West Germany 7th place
1985Prague,  Czechoslovakia5th place
1986Moscow,  Soviet Union4th place
1987Vienna,  Austria5th place
1989Stockholm / Södertälje,  Sweden5th place
1990Bern / Fribourg,   Switzerland6th place
1991Turku / Helsinki / Tampere,  Finland5th place
1992Prague / Bratislava,  CzechoslovakiaSilver
1993Dortmund / Munich,  Germany7th place
1994Bolzano / Canazei / Milano,  ItalySilver
1995Stockholm / Gävle,  SwedenGold
1996Vienna,  Austria5th place
1997Helsinki / Turku / Tampere,  Finland5th place
1998Zürich / Basel,   SwitzerlandSilver
1999Oslo / Lillehammer / Hamar,  NorwaySilver
2000Saint Petersburg,  RussiaBronze
2001Cologne / Hanover / Nuremberg,  GermanySilver
2002Gothenburg / Karlstad / Jönköping,  Sweden4th place
2003Helsinki / Tampere / Turku,  Finland5th place
2004Prague / Ostrava,  Czech Republic6th place
2005Innsbruck / Vienna,  Austria7th place
2006Riga,  LatviaBronze
2007Moscow / Mytishchi,  RussiaSilver
2008Quebec City / Halifax,  CanadaBronze
2009Bern / Kloten,   Switzerland5th place
2010Cologne / Mannheim / Gelsenkirchen,  Germany6th place
2011Bratislava / Košice,  SlovakiaGold
2012Helsinki,  Finland / Stockholm,  Sweden4th place
2013Stockholm,  Sweden / Helsinki,  Finland4th place
2014Minsk,  BelarusSilver
2015Prague / Ostrava,  Czech Republic6th place
2016Moscow / Saint Petersburg,  RussiaSilver
2017Cologne,  Germany / Paris,  France4th place
2018Copenhagen / Herning,  Denmark5th place
2019Bratislava / Košice,  SlovakiaGold
2020Zürich / Lausanne,   SwitzerlandCancelled[7]
2021Riga,  Latvia
2022Tampere / Helsinki,  Finland

Canada Cup / World Cup

Year Coach Captain Finish Rank
1976 Lasse Heikkilä Veli-Pekka Ketola Round-robin 6th
1981 Kalevi Numminen Jari Kurri Round-robin 6th
1987 Rauno Korpi Jari Kurri Round-robin 6th
1991 Pentti Matikainen Jari Kurri Semi-final
Year GP W OW T OL L GF GA Coach Captain Finish Rank
1996 4 2 0 2 17 16 Curt Lindström Jari Kurri Quarter-final 5th
2004 6 4 0 1 0 1 17 9 Raimo Summanen Saku Koivu Final
2016 3 0 0 0 3 1 9 Lauri Marjamäki Mikko Koivu Group stage 8th

Euro Hockey Tour

EHT Medal table

Gold Silver Bronze Medals
9 7 6 22

Tournament summary

  • Channel One Cup:
    • Gold medal (2003, 2009)
    • Silver medal (1982, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2018,)
    • Bronze medal (1968, 1971, 1973, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1989, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019)
  • Czech Hockey Games:
    • Gold medal (1996, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2012, 2013 (August) )
    • Silver medal (1997, 1998, 1999, 2006, 2017, 2018, 2019)
    • Bronze medal (2008, 2009 (April), 2009 (September), 2011)

Finland's Euro Hockey Tour (EHT) Cup medal table

As of the 2018 Channel One Cup

Tournament Gold Silver Bronze Medals
Karjala Tournament128121
Channel One Cup2101729
Sweden Hockey Games73616
Czech Hockey Games67417
Total27222674

Euro Hockey Challenge

  • 2011 – Finished in
  • 2012 – Finished in
  • 2013 – Finished in
  • 2014 – Finished in
  • 2015 – Finished in
  • 2016 – Finished in
  • 2017 – Finished in
  • 2018 – Finished in

Other tournaments

Team

Current roster

Roster for the 2019 IIHF World Championship.[8][9]

Head coach: Jukka Jalonen

No. Pos. Name Height Weight Birthdate Current Team
4DMikko LehtonenA1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)89 kg (196 lb) (1994-01-16) 16 January 1994 Toronto Maple Leafs
7DOliwer Kaski1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)85 kg (187 lb) (1995-09-04) 4 September 1995 Avangard Omsk
12FMarko AnttilaC2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)104 kg (229 lb) (1985-05-27) 27 May 1985 Jokerit
15FArttu Ilomäki1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)89 kg (196 lb) (1991-06-12) 12 June 1991 Luleå HF
19FVeli-Matti SavinainenA1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)82 kg (181 lb) (1986-01-05) 5 January 1986 Jokerit
20FNiko Ojamäki1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)84 kg (185 lb) (1995-06-17) 17 June 1995 Tappara
21FJuhani Tyrväinen1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)86 kg (190 lb) (1990-09-11) 11 September 1990 Luleå HF
24FKaapo Kakko1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)82 kg (181 lb) (2001-02-13) 13 February 2001 New York Rangers
25FToni Rajala1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)76 kg (168 lb) (1991-03-29) 29 March 1991 EHC Biel
27FEetu Luostarinen1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)86 kg (190 lb) (1998-09-02) 2 September 1998 KalPa
28DHenri Jokiharju1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)87 kg (192 lb) (1999-06-17) 17 June 1999 Buffalo Sabres
30GKevin Lankinen1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)84 kg (185 lb) (1995-04-28) 28 April 1995 Rockford IceHogs
35GVeini Vehviläinen1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)79 kg (174 lb) (1997-02-13) 13 February 1997 JYP Jyväskylä
40DPetteri Lindbohm1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)95 kg (209 lb) (1993-09-23) 23 September 1993 EHC Biel
41FJoel Kiviranta1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)80 kg (180 lb) (1996-03-23) 23 March 1996 Dallas Stars
45GJussi Olkinuora1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)91 kg (201 lb) (1990-11-04) 4 November 1990 Metallurg Magnitogorsk
50DMiika Koivisto1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)88 kg (194 lb) (1990-07-20) 20 July 1990 Växjö Lakers
55DAtte Ohtamaa1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)96 kg (212 lb) (1987-11-06) 6 November 1987 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
58DJani Hakanpää1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)99 kg (218 lb) (1992-03-31) 31 March 1992 San Diego Gulls
65FSakari Manninen1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)71 kg (157 lb) (1992-02-10) 10 February 1992 Salavat Yulaev Ufa
70DNiko Mikkola1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)84 kg (185 lb) (1996-04-27) 27 April 1996 San Antonio Rampage
71FKristian Kuusela1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)82 kg (181 lb) (1983-02-19) 19 February 1983 Tappara
76FJere Sallinen1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)91 kg (201 lb) (1990-10-26) 26 October 1990 HIFK
82FHarri Pesonen1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)88 kg (194 lb) (1988-08-06) 6 August 1988 Metallurg Magnitogorsk
91FJuho Lammikko1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)91 kg (201 lb) (1996-01-29) 29 January 1996 Springfield Thunderbirds

Former national jerseys

Retired jerseys

Finland men's national retired numbers
No. Player Position Career Year of retirement
5Timo JutilaD1979–19992018
8Teemu SelänneRW1987–20142015
11Saku KoivuC1992–20142015
14Raimo HelminenC1982–20082010
16Ville PeltonenLW1991–20142015
17Jari KurriRW1977–19982007
26Jere LehtinenRW1992–20102015
44Kimmo TimonenD1991–20152018

Notable players

List of head coaches

References

  1. "IIHF Men's World Ranking". IIHF. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  2. "Ice hockey: Selanne sets Olympic scoring record". Vancouver. 19 February 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
  3. "Selanne's 37th point tops Games mark". ESPN. Associated Press. 20 February 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  4. Anrell, Lasse (14 May 2011). "Drömfinal". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  5. "Jääkiekossa unelmafinaali Leijonat–Tre Kronor". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Sanoma. 13 May 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  6. Aykroyd, Lucas (15 May 2011). "It's gold for Finland!". IIHF. Archived from the original on 18 May 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  7. Steiss, Adam. "2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship cancelled". iihf.com. IIHF. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  8. "Miesten MM-kisat käyntiin perjantaina - Suomen MM-joukkue valittu". leijonat.fi. 5 May 2019.
  9. 2019 IIHF World Championship roster
  10. "Jalonen Leijonien seuraava päävalmentaja". mtv3.fi (in Finnish). 7 June 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  11. "IS: Marjamäki on Leijonien uusi päävalmentaja". mtv3.fi (in Finnish). 28 August 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  12. "Jukka Jalonen Palaa Leijonien päävalmentajaksi". iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). 4 October 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
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