Jaromír Jágr is a Czech professional ice hockey right winger for and the owner of Rytíři Kladno of the Czech Extraliga (ELH). He previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, Florida Panthers and Calgary Flames, serving as captain of the Penguins and the Rangers, between 1990 and 2018. After leaving the Rangers in 2008, he played three seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with Avangard Omsk. He returned to the NHL in 2011 with the Flyers and remained in the league for seven more years before being assigned by the Flames in 2018 to HC Kladno. Having played in 35 professional seasons and over 2,000 professional games, Jágr has had one of the longest careers in professional ice hockey history. He is the most productive European player who has ever played in the NHL and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
Jari Pekka Kurri is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. Beginning in 1980, he played right wing for five National Hockey League (NHL) teams: the Edmonton Oilers, the Los Angeles Kings, the New York Rangers, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, and the Colorado Avalanche. Kurri played 17 seasons in the NHL and was the first Finnish player to be enshrined into the Hockey Hall of Fame, in 2001. He was a member of a Stanley Cup–winning team five times, all with the Oilers. He is perhaps best remembered as Wayne Gretzky's foil. In 2017, Kurri was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
The SM-liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It was created in 1975 to replace the SM-sarja, which was fundamentally an amateur league. The SM-liiga is not directly overseen by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, but the league and association have an agreement of cooperation. SM is a common abbreviation for Suomen mestaruus, "Finnish championship".
Helsingin Jokerit are a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland, that plays in Mestis. Jokerit plays its home games at Keravan jäähalli in Kerava. The team won six league championships as a member of the Finnish SM-liiga. The team was a part of the Bobrov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) Western Conference starting in the 2014–15 season, making Finland the first Nordic country to have a team in the league.
Ilves is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Tampere Deck Arena.
JYP is an ice hockey team playing in the Finnish top division Liiga. They play in Jyväskylä, Finland, at the LähiTapiola Areena.
Jere Kalervo Lehtinen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward. A right winger, he was drafted in the third round, 88th overall, in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota North Stars. Lehtinen played his entire 15-year National Hockey League (NHL) career with the North Stars/Dallas Stars organization. A two-way forward, Lehtinen is perhaps best known for his defensive responsibilities, for which he won the Frank J. Selke Trophy three times as the NHL's top defensive forward. After his retirement, he has served as the general manager of the Finnish national ice hockey team.
Esa Tikkanen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, New Jersey Devils, Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers, and the Washington Capitals, and won the Stanley Cup five times in his career, including in 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990 with the Oilers, and 1994 with the Rangers.
Ossi Reijo Juhani Väänänen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman. He was the captain of Jokerit of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), with whom he has previously won two silver medals as runner-up for the Kanada-malja in 2000 and 2005 in the Finnish Liiga. He was originally drafted by the Phoenix Coyotes and has additionally played for the Colorado Avalanche, Philadelphia Flyers and Vancouver Canucks in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Ross Lupaschuk is a Canadian former ice hockey defenceman. He played 3 games in the National Hockey League with the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2002–03 season. The rest of his career, which lasted from 2001 to 2013, was mainly spent in European leagues.
Reijo Ruotsalainen is a Finnish former ice hockey defenceman. He was twice named Finland's top defenceman, and won two Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers, in 1987 and 1990.
Ville Sakari Peltonen is a Finnish ice hockey coach and a former professional ice hockey forward.
Hockey Club Avangard, also known as Avangard Omsk, is a Russian professional ice hockey team from Omsk. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Eastern Conference of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).
Pekka Olavi "Rocky" Rautakallio is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman and coach. He played 14 seasons of elite hockey in the SM-sarja and SM-liiga between 1968 and 1987 for Ässät and HIFK Helsinki, during which he was a five-time Finnish All-Star. Rautakallio was a member of Ässät's championship team that won the Kanada-malja in 1978. He was named the best defenceman of the SM-liiga in 1978, 1979 and 1986; the league later named the award the Pekka Rautakallio trophy in his honour. Internationally, Rautakallio played with the Finnish national team in seven World Championships and two Canada Cup tournaments.
Jukka Pertti Juhani Jalonen is a Finnish professional ice hockey coach and former player. In 2011, 2019 and 2022, he led the Finnish national team to the gold medal in the IIHF World Championship, and at the 2022 Winter Olympics, he coached the team that won Finland's first ever Olympic gold in ice hockey. He was the head coach of Jokerit in the Kontinental Hockey League during 2016–2018 before returning to coach the Finnish national team.
Karri Rämö is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He began his professional career in the SM-Liiga, initially with the Lahti Pelicans and then HPK, where he was a member of the Kanada-malja championship team in 2005–06. The Tampa Bay Lightning, having selected Rämö in the sixth round, 191st overall, at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, gave him a contract, and he played 48 games with the team over three seasons between 2006 and 2009, before returning to play in Europe.
Kari Jalonen is a Finnish professional ice hockey coach and former player. Currently he is the head coach of Czech national team. He is not related to Finnish ice hockey coach Jukka Jalonen.
The Kanada-malja is an ice hockey club championship trophy, awarded annually to the winner of the Finnish Liiga playoffs. Kanada-malja is Finnish for "Canada Bowl"; the trophy is so named because it was donated by Canada's Finnish community in 1951.
HIFK is a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland that plays in the Liiga, the sport's top-level league in Finland. The team plays at Helsinki Ice Hall.
Roman Červenka is a Czech professional ice hockey player currently playing for the SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers of the National League (NL). He formerly played with Slavia Praha of the Czech Extraliga, Avangard Omsk and Lev Praha both of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He was the leading goal scorer in the KHL in 2010–11 and was named to the All-Star team in 2011–12 before moving to North America after signing a contract with the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Calgary Flames. He played 39 games in the NHL during the 2012–13 season before returning to Europe.
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