Finland men's national ice hockey team Information & Finland men's national ice hockey team Links at HealthHaven.com

	Olympic medal record
World Championships

	Olympic medal record
Olympic Games

Finland
Nickname(s)	Leijonat (The Lions)
Association	Finnish Ice Hockey Association
Head coach	Jukka Jalonen
Assistants	Timo Lehkonen; Risto Dufva
Captain	Saku Koivu
Most games	Raimo Helminen (331)
Most points	Raimo Helminen (207)
IIHF ranking	4
Highest IIHF ranking	3 (2007)
Lowest IIHF ranking	7 (2005)
Home colours	Away colours
First international
	Sweden 8 - 1 Finland ; (Helsinki, Finland; January 29, 1928)
Biggest win
	Finland 20 - 1 Norway ; (Hämeenlinna, Finland; March 12, 1947)
Biggest defeat
	Canada 24 - 0 Finland ; (Oslo, Norway; March 3, 1958)
IIHF World Championships
Appearances	51 (first in 1939)
Best result	(1995)
Canada Cup and World Cup
Appearances	6
Best result	Runner-up: 1 - 2004
Olympics
Appearances	14 (first in 1952)
Medals	Silver: 1988, 2006; Bronze: 1994, 1998
International record (W-L-T)
	623-702-158

The Finnish men's national ice hockey team, (Finnish: Leijonat) ("The Lions"), as it is called in Finland is governed by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Finland is considered a member of the "Big Seven", along with Canada, Russia, the USA, Slovakia, Sweden, and the Czech Republic. Finland has a total of 52,597 registered players (1.0 % of its population).

At the 1995 World championships Finland won a gold medal, beating Sweden in the final by a score of 4–1.

In the 2006 Winter Olympics Finland won a silver medal, coming close to winning in the final but succumbing 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 the best forward of the tournament.

Doug Shedden coached the Finnish national men's ice hockey team in the 2007–08 season. Under Shedden, Finland won bronze. His then-assistant coach Jukka Jalonen succeeded him as the head coach after the tournament.

The national team has retired Jari Kurri's #17 jersey. It currently hangs in Hartwall Areena in Helsinki. Jari Kurri is currently the general manager of the team.

See the roster for information about the team.

[edit] Olympic record

1952 - Finished in 7th place
1956 - Did not participate
1960 - Finished in 7th place
1964 - Finished in 6th place
1968 - Finished in 5th place
1972 - Finished in 5th place
1976 - Finished in 4th place
1980 - Finished in 4th place
1984 - Finished in 6th place
1988 - Won silver medal
1992 - Finished in 7th place
1994 - Won bronze medal
1998 - Won bronze medal
2002 - Finished in 6th place
2006 - Won silver medal (roster)

[edit] Canada Cup record

1976 - Finished in 6th place
1981 - Finished in 6th place
1984 - Did not participate
1987 - Finished in 6th place
1991 - Finished in 3rd place

[edit] World Cup record

1996 - Finished in 5th place
2004 - Won silver medal

[edit] World championship record

Year	Location	Result
1939	Zürich / Basel, Switzerland	Finished in 13th place
1949	Stockholm, Sweden	Finished in 7th place
1950	London, Great Britain	Did not participate
1951	Paris, France	Finished in 7th place
1953	Basel / Zurich, Switzerland	Did not participate
1954	Stockholm, Sweden	Finished in 6th place
1955	Krefeld / Dortmund / Cologne, West Germany	Finished in 9th place
1957	Moscow, Soviet Union	Finished in 5th place
1958	Oslo, Norway	Finished in 6th place
1959	Prague / Bratislava, Czechoslovakia	Finished in 6th place
1961	Geneva / Lausanne, Switzerland	Finished in 7th place
1962	Colorado Springs / Denver, Colorado	Finished in 4th place
1963	Stockholm, Sweden	Finished in 5th place
1965	Tampere, Finland	Finished in 7th place
1966	Ljubljana, Yugoslavia	Finished in 7th place
1967	Vienna, Austria	Finished in 6th place
1969	Stockholm, Sweden	Finished in 5th place
1970	Stockholm, Sweden	Finished in 4th place
1971	Berne / Geneva, Switzerland	Finished in 4th place
1972	Prague, Czechoslovakia	Finished in 4th place
1973	Moscow, Soviet Union	Finished in 4th place
1974	Helsinki, Finland	Finished in 4th place
1975	Munich / Düsseldorf, West Germany	Finished in 4th place
1976	Katowice, Poland	Finished in 5th place
1977	Vienna, Austria	Finished in 5th place
1978	Prague, Czechoslovakia	Finished in 7th place
1979	Moscow, Soviet Union	Finished in 5th place
1981	Gothenburg / Stockholm, Sweden	Finished in 6th place
1982	Helsinki / Tampere, Finland	Finished in 5th place
1983	Düsseldorf / Dortmund / Munich, West Germany	Finished in 7th place
1985	Prague, Czechoslovakia	Finished in 5th place
1986	Moscow, Soviet Union	Finished in 4th place
1987	Vienna, Austria	Finished in 5th place
1989	Stockholm / Södertälje, Sweden	Finished in 5th place
1990	Berne / Fribourg, Switzerland	Finished in 6th place
1991	Turku / Helsinki / Tampere, Finland	Finished in 5th place
1992	Prague / Bratislava, Czechoslovakia	Won silver medal
1993	Dortmund / Munich, Germany	Finished in 7th place
1994	Bolzano / Canazei / Milano, Italy	Won silver medal
1995	Stockholm / Gävle, Sweden	Won gold medal ( roster)
1996	Vienna, Austria	Finished in 5th place
1997	Helsinki / Turku / Tampere, Finland	Finished in 5th place
1998	Zürich / Basel, Switzerland	Won silver medal
1999	Oslo / Lillehammer / Hamar, Norway	Won silver medal
2000	Saint Petersburg, Russia	Won bronze medal
2001	Cologne / Hanover / Nuremberg, Germany	Won silver medal
2002	Gothenburg / Karlstad / Jönköping, Sweden	Finished in 4th place
2003	Helsinki / Tampere / Turku, Finland	Finished in 5th place
2004	Prague / Ostrava, Czech Republic	Finished in 6th place
2005	Innsbruck / Vienna, Austria	Finished in 7th place
2006	Riga, Latvia	Won bronze medal
2007	Moscow / Mytishchi, Russia	Won silver medal
2008	Quebec City / Halifax, Canada	Won bronze medal
2009	Berne / Kloten, Switzerland	Finished in 5th place

[edit] European championship record

1929 - Not ranked

[edit] Notable players

Aarne Honkavaara 1943-1953
Keijo Kuusela 1938-1959
Lasse Oksanen 1962-1977
Esa Peltonen 1965-1982
Raimo Kilpiö 1956-1967
Teppo Rastio 1953-1964
Heino Pulli 1957-1965
Juhani Tamminen 1969-1982
Heikki Riihiranta 1967-1983
Urpo Ylönen 1965-1979
Unto Wiitala 1946-1956
Jari Kurri 1979-1998
Janne Ojanen 1986-
Raimo Helminen 1983-2008
Mika Nieminen 1988-2000
Timo Jutila 1983-1997
Saku Koivu 1992-
Ville Peltonen 1993-
Jere Lehtinen 1991-
Ari Sulander 1992-
Jarmo Myllys 1986-2001
Jukka Tammi 1985-1998
Esa Tikkanen 1985-2000
Teemu Selänne 1988-
Miikka Kiprusoff 1994-
Olli Jokinen 1996-
Mikko Koivu 2000-
Petteri Nummelin 1990-

[edit] List of head coaches

Erkki Saarinen 1939–1941
Risto Lindroos 1945–1946
Henry Kvist 1946–1949
Risto Lindroos 1950–1954
Aarne Honkavaara 1954–1959
Joe Wirkkunen 1959–1960
Derek Holmes 1960–1961
Joe Wirkkunen 1961–1966
Gustav Bubnik 1966–1969
Seppo Liitsola 1969–1972
Len Lunde 1972–1973
Kalevi Numminen 1973–1974
Seppo Liitsola 1974–1976
Lasse Heikkilä 1976–1977
Kalevi Numminen 1977–1982
Alpo Suhonen 1982–1986
Rauno Korpi 1986–1987
Pentti Matikainen 1987–1993
Curt Lindström 1993–1997
Hannu Aravirta 1997–2003
Raimo Summanen 2003–2004
Erkka Westerlund 2004–2007
Doug Shedden 2007–2008
Jukka Jalonen 2008–

[edit] References

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