HIFK Hockey
HIFK (a traditional abbreviation of Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors, English: "Sporting Society Fellows, Helsinki") is a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland that plays in the Liiga, the sport's top-level league in Finland. The team plays at Helsinki Ice Hall. History. The club was founded in 1897 and started participating in ice hockey in 1929. Since then, HIFK has won the Finnish national championship seven times (1969, 1970, 1974, 1980, 1983, 1998, and 2011). HIFK has the highest number of audience in the Liiga and is one of the wealthiest sports clubs in Finland. The  derbies against local rivals Jokerit were often sold out and were in the later years among the fiercest in Nordic ice hockey, but are no longer played following Jokerit's withdrawal from Liiga after the 2013–14 season to join the Russian-based Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Following a history of even series of games, HIFK won the game total with 106–105 after a 2–1 victory in a classical outdoor game in March 2014, claiming the title of Helsinki's dominion. HIFK's general manager starting from May 1, 2008, is Jukka Valtanen. He is the successor of Pentti Matikainen, who  coached Team Finland to its first hockey Olympic medal (silver) in Calgary 1988. HIFK won the Finnish national championship in the 2010–11 season when they defeated Espoo Blues. The championship team from 1998 is widely recognized as one of the best ever to have skated together in the top flight of Finnish ice hockey. Players on the 1998 championship team included a number of future (and former) NHL players – including Tim Thomas, Jan Čaloun, Johan Davidsson, Bob Halkidis, Olli Jokinen, Jere Karalahti, Jarno Kultanen, Brian Rafalski, Christian Ruuttu, Jarkko Ruutu, Kimmo Timonen and Marko Tuomainen. History. One of the major  influences to HIFK was the NHL veteran and Stanley Cup winner Carl Brewer. Hired in 1968 as a playing coach, he advocated a North American style of play which has persisted in HIFK since. Brewer's influence on the way ice hockey is played in Finland led to his posthumous induction to the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003. Team information. Logos and jerseys. HIFK uses a shield for their logo, with a four pointed star and text "I.F.K." and year of formation "1897" on it. They wear red, white and blue colored jerseys, and have worn those colors  since their beginnings. For the 1993-94 season, HIFK changed their logo to a five pointed star with text saying "HIFK Hockey" on it. Unpopular with fans, and HIFK wanting to modernize their brand, changed their logo again in 1996 to a red big cat on a blue circle. Commonly referred to as "petologo" (English: "beast logo") among fans. When the beast logo became HIFK's primary logo for the 1996-97 season, they reintroduced the original shield logo to become their jersey's new shoulder patches. For the 2008-09 season, HIFK made their original shield logo the primary  logo once again. It would swap places with the beast logo on the jerseys, making the beast logo their new shoulder patches until 2017, when the beast logo was eliminated from the jerseys entirely. Home arena. HIFK play their home games at Helsinki Ice Hall. The stadium opened in 1966, and seats up to 8 200 spectators. The arena was also used and shared by rival team Jokerit until 1997, when they moved to the Hartwall Arena. HIFK is well known for playing classic hard rock music during games in Helsinki Ice Hall. Honors. International. "Other awards for the club