Mikkelin Jukurit

Mikkelin Jukurit is a professional ice hockey team in Liiga, the top tier Finnish ice hockey league. They play in Mikkeli, Finland, at the Kalevankankaan jäähalli (also known as Let's Go Areena for sponsorship reasons). The team has won seven Mestis (second highest level) championships (2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2013, 2015, and 2016).

History

Mikkelin Jukurit was founded in 1970. During the 1970s Jukurit played in the second highest level but the 1980s and 1990s were spent in lower levels. The 1998–99 season was a turning point for the team, when Matti Turunen became the executive director and Risto Dufva from Jyväskylä became head coach. In the 1999–2000 season they won their first championship in the newly established Suomi-sarja league, and returned to the Mestis after a 20-year break. Jukurit won the Mestis championship in their first three seasons and made the semifinals consecutively on their first eight seasons. After Jukurit won a fourth championship in early 2006, Risto Dufva left the team. He was replaced by Finnish hockey legend Reijo Ruotsalainen as head coach but Ruotsalainen's tenure was short-lived and was replaced mid-season by a long-time assistant coach Pekka Lipiäinen. 2008–09 was the only Mestis season Jukurit did not make the playoffs. In 2009 an incorporation Jukurit HC Oy was founded. Until this the team had operated as an association.

After hiring Jarno Pikkarainen as head coach for the 2010–11 season, Jukurit returned to the finals but lost to Sport. Under Pikkarainen, Jukurit won another championship in 2012–13 and two more in 2015 and 2016 with Antti Pennanen as head coach. After the team's seventh Mestis championship, Jukurit was granted a permission to purchase a license to Liiga, the top league in Finnish ice hockey. During the team's 16 seasons in Mestis, they achieved seven gold medals, four silver medals, and one bronze medal.

Since the season 2016–17 Jukurit has played in Liiga. During the first four seasons, the team did not make the playoffs, finishing 11th, 13th, 14th, and 13th in the regular season. Coached by former NHL player Olli Jokinen, Jukurit finished second in the regular season of 2021–22, earning their first ever playoff spot.

Personnel

Current roster

Updated 15 September 2024

Team officials

Updated 8 January 2022

Retired numbers

* # 12 Antti Laakso
* # 22 Martti Salminen
* # 24 Lasse Kanerva
* # 31 Petri Lehtonen
Number 21 is not in circulation, it belonged to Sami Lehmusmetsä who died in a traffic accident.

Captains

Head coaches

Notable players

*G Tero Leinonen
*G Mikko Strömberg
*D Kalle Kaijomaa
*D Marko Kauppinen
*D Tommi Kovanen
*D Jukka-Pekka Laamanen
*D Mikko Mäenpää
*D Simo Mälkiä
*D Joni Tuominen
*D Ilkka Vaarasuo
*F Mikko Hakkarainen
*F Iivo Hokkanen
*F Juha-Pekka Hytönen
*F Petri Koskinen
*F Niko Laakkonen
*F Pentti Nöyränen
*F Olli Sipiläinen
*F Erkka Westerlund
*F,C Pentti Matikainen
*C Sergei Krivokrasov
*HC Risto Dufva
*HC Olli Jokinen
*HC Reijo Ruotsalainen

Notes:
G = Goaltender, D = Defenceman, F = Forward, HC = Head coach, C = Coach

References

External links

*

{{Liiga

Mestis teams
Mikkeli
Liiga teams
1970 establishments in Finland
Ice hockey clubs established in 1970
Sport in South Savo