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).
| Vaasan Sport | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Vaasa |
| League | Liiga |
| Founded | 1939 1962 (the ice hockey team) |
| Home arena | Vaasa Arena |
| Colors | Red, black, white |
| Owner(s) | HT Vaasan Sport Oy |
| General manager | Ari-Pekka Pajuluoma |
| Head coach | Juuso Hahl |
| Captain | Sebastian Stålberg |
| Website | vaasansport |
 | |
History
editVaasan 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
editThe official fan club is called Red Army.[2] The fan club Ultras 06 function as non-official supporters.[3]
Players
editCurrent roster
editUpdated 30 December 2023.[4]
Retired numbers
edit- # 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
editNotable coaches
editReferences
edit- ^ "Roster". Archived from the original on 23 January 2003.
- ^ "RedArmy.fi | Vaasan Sportin kannattajat ry".
- ^ "Ultras 06". Archived from the original on 3 May 2008.
- ^ "EliteProspects - Vaasan Sport". www.eliteprospects.com.
External links
edit- Official website (in Finnish)