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Vaasan Sport

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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 coachJuuso Hahl
CaptainSebastian Stålberg
Websitevaasansport.fi

Sport, known by its full name as Hockey Team Vaasan Sport OY or simply Vaasan Sport, is a Finnish ice hockey team playing in Liiga, and is based at Vaasa Arena (capacity 5000) in Vaasa. The team was established in 1939 as IF Sport (Idrottsföreningen Sport).

History

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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.

Supporters

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Vaasan Sport fans in an away game against Porin Ässät in 2023

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

Players

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Current roster

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Updated 30 December 2023.[4]

No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
60 Finland Rasmus Reijola G L 31 2020 Vantaa, Finland
95 Czech Republic Miroslav Svoboda G L 29 2023 Vsetin, Czechia
53 Finland Aatu Aarnio D/F L 24 2022 Naantali, Finland
65 Canada Zack Hayes D L 25 2023 Calgary, Alberta, Canada
52 Finland Valtteri Hietanen (A) D L 31 2022 Virrat, Finland
16 Sweden Theodor Johnsson D R 21 2023 Helsingborg, Sweden
37 Finland Atro Leppänen D L 25 2023 Mänttä, Finland
96 Slovenia Bine Masic D L 21 Kranj, Slovenia
24 Canada Reece Scarlett D R 31 2023 Edmonton, Canada
4 Finland Teemu Suhonen D L 35 2023 Kuopio, Finland
36 Finland Juho Tommila D R 31 2018 Lapland, Finland
63 Finland Lari Heikkinen LW L 24 2019 Oulu, Finland
11 Sweden Simon Hjalmarsson (A) LW L 35 2022 Värnamo, Sweden
25 Sweden Axel Holmström C L 28 2021 Arvidsjaur, Sweden
55 Finland Oskari Hult LW L 20 2023 Vantaa, Finland
10 Sweden Jens Lööke RW R 27 2022 Gävle, Sweden
40 Sweden Carl Mattson C/LW L 25 2023 Gammelstad, Sverige
80 Sweden Kalle Miketinac C L 25 2023 Kallinge, Sweden
21 Finland Miro Nalli LW L 25 2023 Sahalahti, Finland
71 Finland Viljami Nieminen LW L 22 2022 Denver, Colorado, USA
86 Finland Jesse Rantanen C L 21 2023 Lappi, Finland
13 Finland Erik Riska (A) C/LW L 35 2008 Pietarsaari, Finland
12 Finland Anton Stråka C L 26 2023 Uusikaarlepyy, Finland
17 Sweden Sebastian Stålberg (C) RW R 34 2020 Lerum, Sweden
28 Sweden Johan Sundström C R 32 2023 Göteborg, Sweden
91 Sweden Sebastian Wännström RW R 33 2023 Gävle, Sweden
Jarno Laitinen representing Sport in 2012.

Retired numbers

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

Notable alumni

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Notable coaches

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References

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  1. ^ "Roster". Archived from the original on 23 January 2003.
  2. ^ "RedArmy.fi | Vaasan Sportin kannattajat ry".
  3. ^ "Ultras 06". Archived from the original on 3 May 2008.
  4. ^ "EliteProspects - Vaasan Sport". www.eliteprospects.com.
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