Tappara (; Finnish for "

Battle axe A battle axe (also battle-axe, battle ax, or battle-ax) is an axe specifically designed for combat. Battle axes were designed differently to utility axes, with blades more akin to cleavers than to wood axes. Many were suitable for use in one ha ...

") is a Finnish professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team playing in the

SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

. They play at '' Nokia Arena'' in

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. The team has won 20 Finnish league championships, which makes them the most successful club in Finland. The team continued the traditions of the Tammerfors Bollklub.

History

Early days and the transition from TBK to Tappara

The predecessor of Tappara TBK (Tammerfors Bollklubb) was established in 1932 by the Tampere Swedish School (Tampereen Ruotsalainen Yhteiskoulu) as its own sports club. After winning the Finnish championship in 1953, 1954 and 1955. In 1955, the TBK Ice-hockey department founded Tappara as its new club to make it more accessible to non-Swedish locals and give it opportunity to grow as a club, at the same time the Ice-Hockey division of TBK stopped as an ice hockey club at the highest competitive level. Most of the players transferred from TBK to Tappara. Tappara used TBK's colors and got their place in the top league. Tappara played its first official game in the same year, 1955. The transition was led by team president

Harry Lindblad Harry Gustaf Lindblad (30 July 1912 – 2 February 1984) was a Finnish ice hockey administrator, coach and player. He served as the Finnish Ice Hockey Association president for 18 years, after five years as its vice-president. During this time, ...

First period of success as Tappara (1956–1964)

Tappara went on to win three championships (1959, 1961, and 1964), three second places (1958, 1960, and 1963), and three third places (1956, 1957, and 1962) in just nine years. Their winning streak was followed by a more silent period, with Tappara even playing one season (1965–1966) at the second highest level, gaining immediate promotion back to the top flight. In 1965, an indoor arena Tampereen jäähalli was built in Hakametsä to be the home arena of Tappara and their local rivals,

Ilves Tampereen Ilves, commonly known as Ilves, (; Finnish language, Finnish for "Eurasian lynx, Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Nokia Arena (Tampere), Nokia Arena. The colors of Ilves, ...

and Koo-Vee. 1965 World Ice Hockey Championships were also held there in the same year.

Second period of success (1975–1988)

Tappara fans waited until the mid-seventies until Tappara started to be successful again, thanks to some legendary players such as the goalkeeper Antti Leppänen and the defender Pekka Marjamäki. The bronze medals in 1973 and silver medals in 1974 were followed by Finnish championship in 1975. This successful period was even longer than the first period of glory in the 1950s and early sixties. Tappara also won the Finnish championships in 1977, 1979, 1982, 1984, and the long streak ended by winning three consecutive championships in 1986–1988. Many fans regard the Tappara team of the late 1980s – coached by Rauno Korpi – as their strongest of all time. Behind the senior players such as

Timo Susi Timo Antero Susi (born January 25, 1959, in Kouvola, Finland) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga. He played for Tappara. He was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame The Finnish Hockey H ...

and Erkki Lehtonen, the likes of

Teppo Numminen Teppo Kalevi Numminen (born July 3, 1968) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for Tappara and TuTo of the SM-liiga and the Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, Dallas Stars ...

(a long-term defender in NHL) and Janne Ojanen (Tappara icon) led the way as new talented youngsters. In 1988, the Finland national team gained its first success by winning the Olympic silver medal in Calgary, and Tappara players formed a substantial part of the Finnish team. Tappara players, Erkki Lehtonen and Janne Ojanen, were the goal scorers for Finland in the decisive win against the Soviet Union.

Recent days and success in mid-2010s

During the 1990s, Tappara did not gain any notable success besides finishing third in the league in spring 1990. In 1992, the once so mighty team even had to fight for its place at the top level in relegation playoffs against

Oulun Kärpät Oulun Kärpät (Finnish language, Finnish for "Oulu Stoat, Ermines", sometimes referred to as Kärpät Oulu) is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Oulu and playing in the top-tier Finnish Liiga. Kärpät have won the Finnish champion ...

. A glimpse of glory was, however, achieved on the international level, as Tappara player Timo Jutila captained the Finnish national team to win the ice hockey world championship in 1995. In the early 2000s, Tappara played some good seasons, winning silver medals in both 2001 and 2002. In 2003 – to the surprise of many – Tappara won the Finnish championship, coached by Jukka Rautakorpi. After that, Tappara reached third place in the top league in 2008 but that achievement was followed by some difficult seasons. Tappara qualified only once to the playoffs between 2009 and 2012. All changed in the 2012–13 season when Tappara made it to the finals for the first time since the 2003 championship, but lost to Ässät. In 2014 and 2015 Tappara came even closer to the title. Both final series were decided in a decisive seventh game and both of the games Kärpät won in

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

. In 2016, Tappara finally won the championship after beating

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

in the finals. In 2017, Tappara won the regular season for the first time since 2002, advanced to the finals for the fifth time in a row and won another championship against

KalPa Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) is a professional ice hockey team which competes in the Finnish Liiga. They play in Kuopio, Finland at the Niiralan monttu, Olvi Areena. Team history Established in 1929 as ''Sortavalan Palloseura'' in Sortavala, the club r ...

. In 2018, Tappara reached the finals for a record-breaking sixth year in a row, but lost to Kärpät in 6 games. The great streak of final appearances came to an end in 2019 when HPK defeated Tappara in the semi-finals in six games. The medal streak continued however, as Tappara won the bronze medal game against HIFK.

Home arena

Tappara used to play their home games in Tampereen jäähalli since it was built in 1965. The local rival

used the same arena. The arena was the first indoor arena in Finland and it is located in the neighborhood of Hakametsä. Originally the capacity was 10,200 spectators, but it has declined in various renovations over the years. In its current form, the arena accommodates 7,300 spectators. The old rink continues as a venue for indoor sports. The ice-hockey club KooVee and the junior teams of Tappara and Ilves will use this location for official games. Currently, Tappara's home arena is Nokia Arena. This new arena was built in the city center of

on a covered

rail yard A rail yard, railway yard, railroad yard (US) or simply yard, is a series of Track (rail transport), tracks in a rail network for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading rail vehicles and locomotives. Yards have many tracks in parallel for k ...

and opened in December 2021. The arena has a capacity of 13,455 in hockey games. The arena was the main stage of

Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), first officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the I ...

in both 2022 and 2023. Like the old arena, the new arena is also shared with local rivals

. The arena is also a major venue for concerts.

Current roster

Updated 6 August 2024.

Notable players

Seppo Ahokainen Seppo Johannes Ahokainen (19 January 1952 – 6 March 2024) was a Finnish professional ice hockey player. who played in the SM-liiga for Ilves and Tappara Tappara (; Finnish language, Finnish for "Battle axe") is a Finnish professional ice hock ...

* Teemu Aalto * Nick Angell * Niklas Bäckström * Aleksander Barkov * Aleksander Barkov Jr. * André Benoit * Luciano Borsato * Justin Braun * Alain Côté * Dale Clarke * Thomas Draper * Jonas Enlund *

Theoren Fleury Theoren Wallace "Theo" Fleury (born June 29, 1968) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, author and motivational speaker. Fleury played for the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers, and Chicago Blackhawks of the ...

* Kurtis Foster * Josh Green * Jari Grönstrand * Janne Grönvall * Steve Guolla *

Hannu Haapalainen Hannu Wilhelm Haapalainen (February 28, 1951 – November 5, 2011) was a Finnish professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga. He played for Tappara and KooVee and won five league championships. He was inducted into the Finnish Hock ...

Jannik Hansen Jannik Hansen (born 15 March 1986) is a Danish former professional ice hockey right winger. Hansen began playing professionally at the age of 16 with both the Rødovre Mighty Bulls of the Danish league and the Malmö Redhawks of the Swedish ...

* Greg Hawgood * Martti Jarkko * Timo Jutila * Hannu Kamppuri * Pertti Koivulahti * Petri Kontiola * Lasse Korhonen * Jiří Kučera * Patrik Laine * Pekka Laksola * Jori Lehterä * Tero Lehterä * Mika Lehto * Antero Lehtonen * Erkki Lehtonen * Mikko Leinonen * Antti Leppänen * Lasse Litma * Mikko Luoma *

Toni Lydman Toni Petteri Lydman (born 25 September 1977) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman. He first played competitively in his native Finland with Tappara, and HIFK of the SM-liiga before enjoying a lengthy career in the National Ho ...

* Pekka Marjamäki * Jussi Markkanen * Jiří Marusak * Markus Mattsson * Derek Mayer * Roman Meluzín *

Reijo Mikkolainen Reijo Kalevi Mikkolainen (born May 14, 1964 in Pirkkala, Finland) is a retired professional ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice ...

* Tuukka Mäntylä * Jason Muzzatti * Esko Niemi *

Ville Nieminen Ville Juhani Nieminen (born April 6, 1977) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward who played over 400 games in the National Hockey League. Playing career Stanley Cup Champion Ville Nieminen started his professional hockey career w ...

* Mika Noronen * Kalevi Numminen *

* Stefan Öhman * Janne Ojanen * Mike O'Neill *

Olli Palola Olli Palola (born 8 April 1988) is a Finnish professional ice hockey Forward (ice hockey), forward who plays professionally for Timrå IK of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Playing career Palola saw his first action in the Finnish top-flight ...

* Jukka Peltola *

Pasi Petriläinen Pasi Petriläinen (born 5 May 1978) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman. Playing career A New Jersey Devils draft pick (225th overall in 1996), Petriläinen spent six seasons with Tappara between 1994 and 2000 before moving t ...

Lasse Pirjetä Lasse Pirjetä (born April 4, 1974) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward. He represented several teams in the Finnish SM-liiga, Frölunda HC in the Swedish Elitserien and the Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins in the ...

Esa Pirnes Esa Pirnes (born April 1, 1977) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey centre (ice hockey), centre. He played most of his career, which lasted from 1995 to 2016, in the Finnish Liiga. He also played 57 games in the National Hockey League wit ...

* Jukka Porvari * Pasi Puistola * Andrew Raycroft * Matti Rintakoski * Anssi Salmela * Pekka Saravo *

Bedřich Ščerban Bedřich Ščerban (born 31 May 1964) is a Czech former professional ice hockey defenceman. He competed at three Winter Olympics. Career Ščerban began his career with HC Dukla Jihlava of the Czech Extraliga in 1986. In 1991, he moved to Fi ...

* Jaromír Šindel * Mike Stapleton *

* Pertti Valkeapää * Ari Vallin * Jarkko Varvio * Vesa Viitakoski * Samu Vilkman2010-11 Scoring for Tappara Tampere (SM-liiga)
/ref>
Jarl Ohlson ja Vasif Ahsen Böre.jpg, Jarl Ohlson and Vasif Ahsen Böre early 1940s File:Tbk45.jpg, TBK in 1945 File:Esko Niemi.jpg, Esko Niemi File:Tappara 1959-60.jpg, Tappara in 1959-60 File:Esko Luostarinen.jpg, Esko Luostarinen Kalevi Numminen keräilykortti.jpg, Kalevi Numminen File:Tampereen yhteisjoukkue vs. SKA Leningrad 1966.jpg, Tampere Alliance team - SKA Leningrad in 1966 File:Tappara Ässät 1972–73.jpg, Tappara - Ässät in 1972–73 season File:Ojanen Janne Tappara 2008 1.jpg, Janne Ojanen File:Tuukka Mäntylä.jpg, Tuukka Mäntylä File:Ville Nieminen.jpg,

File:Jori Lehterä.jpg, Jori Lehterä File:Harri Säteri.jpg, Harri Säteri File:Christian Heljanko Tappara 2021.jpg, Christian Heljanko File:Patrik Laine.jpg, Patrik Laine

Honours

Champions

Kanada-malja The Kanada-malja, or Poika (Literally "''Boy''" or "''Son''"), is an ice hockey club championship trophy, awarded annually to the winner of the Finnish SM-liiga playoffs. Kanada-malja is Finnish language, Finnish for "Canada Bowl"; the trophy is s ...

''(13)'': 1977, 1979, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 2003, 2016, 2017, 2022, 2023, 2024 *

SM-sarja SM-Sarja was the top level of ice hockey in Finland from 1928 to 1975. SM-sarja is a common abbreviation for ''Suomen mestaruussarja'', "Finnish Championship Series". There was variable number of teams playing for the Finnish championship dur ...

''(7)'': 1953, 1954, 1955, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1975 *

Finnish Cup The Finnish Cup (; ) is Finland's main national cup competition in football. This yearly competition is open for all member clubs of the FA of Finland and has been played since 1955. The winner qualifies for the UEFA Europa Conference League ...

''(1)'': 1957

Runners-up

''(13)'': (1958, 1960, 1963, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1981, 2001, 2002, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 *

''(4)'': 1958, 1960, 1963, 1974 *

''(3)'': 1990, 2008, 2019 *

''(9)'': 1946, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1956, 1957, 1962, 1973 *

''(2)'': 1964, 1966

International

Champions Hockey League The Champions Hockey League is a European first-level ice hockey tournament. Launched in the 2014–15 season by 26 clubs, 6 leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the tournament features top teams across Europe. Backgrou ...

''(1)'': 2022–23 * Nordic Trophy ''(1)'':

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

''(1)'': 2021–22 *

IIHF European Cup The IIHF European Cup, also known as the Europa Cup, was a European ice hockey club competition for champions of national leagues which was contested between 1965 and 1997, governed by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). History The ...

''(1)'':

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

''(2)'':

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

* Tampere Cup ''(6)'': 1996, 1999, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022

Retired numbers

*2 - Kalevi Numminen *3 - Pekka Marjamäki *7 - Timo Jutila *8 - Janne Ojanen *10 -

*12 - Erkki Lehtonen

Head coaches

* Jaakko Hietaniemi 1937-1950 * Jarl Ohlson 1950–61, 1965–66 * Aulis Hirvonen 1961-63 * Erkki Hytönen 1963-65 *

Reijo Ojanen Reijo is a Finland, Finnish male given name. There are more than 27,000 people with this name in Finland. More than half of them were born in the 1940s and 1950s. It originated as a variation of the Latin name Gregorius and the Greek name Gregorios, ...

1966-67 * Matti Haapaniemi 1967-68 * Esko Luostarinen 1968-1970 * Kalevi Numminen 1970–1979, 1991-1992 * Rauno Korpi 1979–1982, 1985–1991, 1997-1998 * Olli Hietanen 1982-1984 * Esko Niemi 1984 * Jorma Kurjenmäki 1984-1985 * Pertti Hasanen 1992-1993 * Boris Majorov 1993-1994 * Kaj Matalamäki 1994–1995, 2005 * Jukka Rautakorpi 1995–1997, 1999–2003, 2005–2006, 2012–2014, 2017-2020 * Ismo Läntinen 1998-1999 * Mika Saarinen 2003-2005 * Mikko Saarinen 2005, 2008-2010 * Rauli Urama 2006-2008 * Sami Hirvonen 2010-2011 *

Risto Dufva Risto Dufva (born May 1, 1963) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender. He is currently the head coach of Vaasan Sport of the Finnish ice hockey league (Liiga). Dufva played with JYP Jyväskylä JYP is an ice hockey team playin ...

2011-2012 *

Jussi Tapola Jussi Tapola (born June 13, 1974) is a Finland, Finnish ice hockey coach. He is currently the head coach for SC Bern in the Swiss National League (ice hockey), National League. Career Tapola spent his playing days in Finnish lower leagues, mos ...

2014-2017, 2020-2023 * Rikard Grönborg 2023-

References

External links

* {{Liiga Sport in Tampere Liiga teams 1932 establishments in Finland 1955 establishments in Finland