Kärpät
730936
214192895
2008-05-22T14:16:00Z
84.251.87.194
/* Korjauksia Vesa Viitakosken kohdalle */
{{SM-liiga Team
|team_name = Kärpät
|bg_color = #FFE000
|text_color = black
|logo_image = Kärpät logo.svg
|league = [[SM-liiga]]
|founded = [[1946]]
|history = '''Kärpät'''<br>1946–present
|arena = [[Oulun Energia Areena]] (capacity 6,614)
|generalmanager = [[Juha Junno]]
|city = [[Oulu]]
|colors = Yellow, black, white
|headcoach = [[Matti Alatalo]]
|teamcaptain = [[Ilkka Mikkola]]
|Championships = 1981, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008
}}
'''Kärpät''' is an [[ice hockey]] team in the [[SM-liiga]] that plays in [[Oulu]], [[Finland]]. Their logo features a [[stoat]] (''Mustela erminea''); "kärpät" is [[Finnish language|Finnish]] for [[stoats]] (short-tail [[weasels]]). The team has won 5 league championships (1981, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008).
==History==
[[Image:Kärpät kultaa 2005.jpg|thumb|314px|In the 2005 finals Kärpät beat [[Jokerit]] in Helsinki to win their second consecutive championship with 3 wins to 1.]]
In the spring of 1946, three young men decided to found a new sports club in Oulu. At the constitutional meeting on [[May 15]], the club was named Oulun Kärpät 46. At first, Kärpät played [[association football|football]] and its first winter sport was [[bandy]].
In the first annual meeting in January 1947, an ice hockey section was established. At the beginning of the new decade, Kärpät was somewhat successful in ice hockey and it became the main sport of the club. The first game at the highest level was played on the [[December 4]], [[1960]] against [[HJK]] but the visit to the highest level was short and Kärpät lost their position in the series. They made it to the highest level again in 1965-66, but lost their position again. The third try in 1967-68 did not produce a better performance, as Kärpät lost all their games.
From the first years on, junior work was important for Kärpät. E-juniors won the first Finnish Championship for Kärpät in the spring of 1971. When the [[SM-liiga]] was founded in August 1975, Kärpät started in the first division. Their goal was to rise to the league. It didn’t happen in the first season, but in 1976. In the next season Kärpät was 7th and then last, but they still remained at the league with ease. After Kärpät acquired some good players, they won the bronze medals in 1980.
In the following year, Kärpät was third in the regular series but in the finals they defeated [[Tappara]]. Next year, the weakened team had to settle for 5th place, and the following year they were almost relegated. With a new coach, the goal was to win a medal and finally Kärpät won the bronze. The next goal was to win the championship, but Kärpät only managed to get bronze for the following two years. Kärpät won the regular series in 1987 but they lost to [[Tappara]] in the finals. Hopes were high for the next season, but Kärpät fell from the league.
[[Image:Blues-Kärpät playoff.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Kärpät facing off against [[Espoo Blues|Blues]] in 2006 playoffs.]]
The goal was to rise again shortly but it did not work out. Due to financial constraints, Kärpät went into bankruptcy, but in the fall of 1995 they made it to the first division again. In the first year they came 8th and lost in the play offs. Next year they went against [[KalPa]] for a place in the league but lost. In the following year, they lost against KalPa again. For the 1998-99 season, Kärpät acquired coach Juhani Tamminen. After they played very well in the regular series they lost to [[TuTo]] in the play offs.
The next year, Kärpät finally qualified to the [[SM-liiga]] by beating Pelicans Lahti in the qualification series. The first season in the Elite league was full of ups and downs but Kärpät finished 4th, and 6th the following season. After that they finally made it to the finals but lost against [[Tappara]] just like in 1987. In the 2003-04 season, Kärpät played in the finals against [[TPS (ice hockey)|TPS]] and finally won their second Finnish Championship. In 2004-05, Kärpät won the Finnish Championship again when they defeated [[Jokerit]] in the finals, winning the best-of-five series 3-1. They retained the championship title in the 2006-07 season by beating [[Jokerit]] in the finals (3 wins to none) and winning all their games in the playoffs. The first three championships of the 2000's have been celebrated in Oulu with feasts, each gathering tens of thousands of people to rejoice. In the 2007-2008 season, the organization won its second consecutive championship title, and the fourth within the last five years, by defeating [[Espoo Blues]] in the finals with four wins to one.
When ''Oulun Kärpät Oy'' was founded in 2000 it took the responsibility off the representative team and A-juniors. ''Oulun Kärpät 46 ry'' focuses on other junior work.
==Current Squad==
''As of [[January 19]], [[2008]]''
{|
!colspan=7 |<big>Goalkeepers
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
!width=5%|Number
!width=5%|
!!width=15%|Player
!width=16%|Glove hand
!width=9%|Contract
!width=37%|Place of Birth
|-
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''1'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Petri Koivisto]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2008]]
|[[Kiiminki]], [[Finland]]
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''32'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Tuomas Tarkki]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2008]]
|[[Rauma]], [[Finland]]
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''40'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|20px|Canadier]]
|[[Andy Chiodo]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2008]]
|[[Toronto, Ontario]], [[Canada]]
|}
{| width=100%
!colspan=6 |<big>Defenders
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
!width=5%|Number
!width=5%|
!!width=14%|Player
!width=16%|Lower hand
!width=9%|Contract
!width=37%|Place of Birth
|-
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''2'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Oskari Korpikari]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2009]]
|[[Oulu]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''4'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Antti Ylönen]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2008]]
|[[Liminka]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''6'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Ilkka Mikkola]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2008]]
|[[Oulu]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''7'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Kari Haakana]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2010]]
|[[Outokumpu]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''9'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Topi Jaakola]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2008]]
|[[Oulu]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''25'''
|align=center|{{flagicon|FIN}}
|[[Juho Jokinen]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2009]]
|[[Kalajoki]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''26'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Mikko Lehtonen (ice hockey b. 1978)|Mikko Lehtonen]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2008]]
|[[Kiiminki]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''71'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Jukka-Pekka Laamanen]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2010]]
|[[Savonlinna]], [[Finland]]
|}
{|
!colspan=7 |<big>Forwards
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
!width=5%|Number
!width=5%|
!!width=14%|Player
!width=16%|Lower hand
!width=9%|Contract
!width=37%|Place of Birth
|-
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''8'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Hannes Hyvöven]]
|align=center|R
|align=center|[[2008]]
|[[Oulu]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''12'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Teemu Normio]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2009]]
|[[Tampere]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''15'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Veikko Karppinen]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2009]]
|[[Kajaani]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''16'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Sweden.svg|20px|Swedish]]
|[[Jonas Andersson (hockey player)|Jonas Andersson]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2008]]
|[[Lidingö]], [[Sweden]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''17'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Kristian Kuusela]]
|align=center|R
|align=center|[[2010]]
|[[Seinäjoki]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''18'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Mikko Alikoski]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2008]]
|[[Oulu]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''20'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Janne Pesonen]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2008]]
|[[Suomussalmi]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''21'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Tommi Paakkolanvaara]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2009]]
|[[Oulunsalo]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''36'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg|20px|Czech]]
|[[Michal Bros]]
|align=center|R
|align=center|[[2008]]
|[[Olomouc]], [[Czech Republic]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''37'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Timo Vertala]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2008]]
|[[Jyväskylä]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''39'''
|align=center|{{flagicon|Finland}}
|[[Vesa Viitakoski]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2008]]
|[[Lappeenranta]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''41'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Kalle Sahlstedt]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2008]]
|[[Rauma]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''43'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Antti Aarnio]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2008]]
|[[Oulu]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''50'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Juhamatti Aaltonen]]
|align=center|R
|align=center|[[2010]]
|[[Ii]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''81'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg|20px|Czech]]
|[[Ondrej Kratena]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2008]]
|[[Čeladná]], [[Czech Republic]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''83'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Tomi Mustonen]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2008]]
|[[Oulu]], [[Finland]]
|-bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|'''--'''
|align=center|[[Image:Flag of Finland.svg|20px|Finnish]]
|[[Toni Koivisto]]
|align=center|L
|align=center|[[2008]]
|[[Ylitornio]], [[Finland]]
|}
===Retired Numbers===
*10 - [[Reijo Ruotsalainen]]
==Trivia==
Heavy metal band [[Sentenced (band)|Sentenced]] performed the song [[Routasydän]], their only song in Finnish in 2003 for the team.
==External links==
*[http://www.oulunkarpat.fi Kärpät official web site]
*[http://www.oulunkarpat46.fi Kärpät junior official web site]
*[http://www.karpatfanclub.net Kärpät official fan club]
* Meltzer, Bill. [http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=289726 NHL.com 'Across the Pond'], article about Kärpät
{{SM-liiga}}
{{Champions Hockey League}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karpat}}
[[Category:Oulu]]
[[Category:SM-liiga teams]]
[[cs:Kärpät Oulu]]
[[de:Oulun Kärpät]]
[[et:Oulun Kärpät]]
[[fr:Kärpät Oulu]]
[[it:Kärpät]]
[[pl:Kärpät Oulu]]
[[fi:Oulun Kärpät]]
[[sv:Kärpät]]
[[zh:奥鲁Kärpät]]