KooKoo (ice hockey club)

KooKoo
KooKoo
City	Kouvola
League	Liiga
Founded	1965
Home arena	Lumon arena
Colours	Black, orange, white;
Owner(s)	KooKoo Hockey Oy
General manager	Sakari Välimaa
Head coach	Jouko Myrrä
Captain	Heikki Liedes
Farm club(s)	Kotkan Titaanit
Website	kookoo.fi
	Current season

KooKoo is a Finnish ice hockey team playing in the first level of Finnish ice hockey league Liiga. KooKoo plays in the Lumon arena (capacity 5,950), in Kouvola. The team was established in 1965 and the previous name of the club is Kouvolan Kiekko-65.

Franchise history

KooKoo was established by the Kouvolan Pallonlyöjät and Sudet in Kouvola on 3 November 1965. The first official match was played on November 17, 1965 when KooKoo won the Kuusankoski Puhti goals 4–2. A new club for ice hockey skills got plenty from Lappeenranta, where many of its first-year players and coaches came from.

Early years

KooKoo started its career in the official series of the Association in the 1966–1967 season, when it participated in the Southern Finland division of Maakuntasarja. During the 1967–1968 season, KooKoo played in the Greater Savo division of Maakuntasarja, where it ranked fourth. In the 1969–1970 season, KooKoo ranked second in the Kymenlaakso division and reached the Suomensarja qualifier but wasn't promoted.

Time in the I Division

KooKoo rise to the second highest level in the series, the Suomensarja for the season 1971–1972. It was also included in the 1974 newly created series, the I Division. In 1982, an ice rink was built in Kouvola, which greatly improved the operating conditions. The first match in November 1982 between KooKoo and SaPKo ended in KooKoo's 7–4 victory in front of over 4,000 spectators. KooKoo was able to attempt qualifying to SM-liiga for the first time in the 1984–1985 season, after ranking third in the season. However, KooKoo didn't make it. During the 1985–1986 season, KooKoo was coached by Reino Ruotsalainen, and was ranked third in the regular season. In the four-team league qualifying, Kookoo also ranked third and was forced to continue in the I Division. In the 1986–1987 season, the club celebrated its first league victory after winning the division's regular season before TuTo Hockey.

Time in SM-Liiga

KooKoo's first season in the SM-Liiga was difficult. In the spring of 1988, KooKoo played a very tight five-game relegation series with Lahden Kiekkoreipas. The fourth game extended to the overtime until Lasse Tasala settled the match to KooKoo. After that, KooKoo easily retained its place in the crucial fifth match played at home.

In their second season, KooKoo played in the 1988–1989 season with Urpo Ylönen. The team reached its best results as ninth of the league.

The team's last season in the league was very weak and it was relegated back to the first division after losing to the qualifying round for Hockey Reipas.

Back to Division and Fall in Division II

KooKoo started the 1990s in the first division. KooKoo was relegated in 1997 when the first division team was downsized by four. The unambiguous aim of the club was to get back to the first division. The team survived until qualifying, but Hyvinkää Ahmat was better off with 3–2.

Back to Division and Mestis

In the 1998–1999 season, KooKoo came out again in qualifying. It succeeded in winning the Uudenkaupungin Jää-Kotkat in the matches 3-2 and was promoted to the first division after the two-year absence.

In 2000, the team moved to the newly established Mestis. In the spring of 2005, the club announced that it would close down the representation team, but the team with new organization. In 2009–2010 season, KooKoo won the Mestis Regular Series for the first time in 23 years. At the end of the season KooKoo reached bronze medals by winning LeKi 4–2. In the season 2013–2014, KooKoo won Jukurit in finals.

Return to the SM-Liiga

KooKoo against Kärpät in Oulu's Raksila, 2022-23 season

In October 2014, information about KooKoo return to the SM-Liiga for the 2015-2016 season was published.

At the 2017–2018 season, KooKoo made history in the SM-Liiga by leading the series for the first time. At the time, there were 15 teams who had reached the top spot in the regular season.

KooKoo made the 2019–2020 season Kouvola's hockey history for the first time making to the league playoffs. However, the playoffs were not played during the season due to the Coronavirus pandemic. In 2020–2021 season KooKoo reached playoffs Wild-card round against Ilves. KooKoo's season ended in 9th place and Ilves advanced to the quarterfinals.

At the 2021–2022 season, KooKoo advanced for the third time to the playoffs, in Wild-card round ended up against a familiar local opponent Lahti Pelicans. KooKoo's season continued after defeating Pelicans with a total score of 2-1 after two games and KooKoo advanced to the quarterfinals against old Mestis rival Jukurit.

Current roster

Updated February 2020.^[1]


No.	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
28	Jesper Ahlroth	D	L	22	2024	Kokkola, Finland
49	Seth Barton	D	R	25	2023	Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
35	Antoine Bibeau	G	L	30	2024	Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada
71	Marcus Davidsson	W	L	25	2024	Tyresö, Sweden
11	Petter Emanuelsson	RW	R	33	2023	Kiurna, Sweden
9	David Farrance	D	L	25	2024	Victor, New York, United States
55	Vilmos Galló	W	L	28	2024	Budapest, Hungary
17	Ari Gröndahl	D	R	35	2022	Helsinki, Finland
19	Simo Heinonen	RW	L	21	2023	Kotka, Finland
15	Ossi-Petteri Jaakola	RW	L	22	2024	Hamina, Finland
48	Christian Kåsastul	D	L	27	2024	Skien, Norway
29	Radek Koblížek	W	R	27	2023	Ivančice, Czech Republic
12	Ville Leskinen	W	R	30	2023	Oulu, Finland
43	Kalle Loponen	D	R	23	2024	Hämeenlinna, Finland
27	Akseli Mäkinen	C	L	22	2024	Kouvola, Finland
18	Joonas Oden	W	R	24	2024	Benton City, Washington, United States
13	Otto Paajanen (C)	C	L	32	2023	Loppi, Finland
77	Ville Puhakka	D	R	24	2024	Kuopio, Finland
34	Eetu Randelin	G	L	23	2024	Espoo, Finland
10	Riley Sawchuk	C	R	25	2024	Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada
42	Jimi Suomi	D	L	21	2024	Espoo, Finland
46	Matic Török	RW	L	21	2021	Kranj, Slovenia
20	Samuel Valkeejärvi	C	L	23	2022	Jyväskylä, Finland
70	Stepan Vopravil	G	L	20	2023	Liberec, Czech Republic

Captains


Name^[2]	Seasons
Aki Räisänen	1981-82
Reijo Mansikka	1982-87
Harri Haapaniemi	1987-88
Risto Kerminen	1988-90
Esa Julkunen	1990-92
Anssi Melametsä	1992-94
Antti Kuljunen	1996-97
Mikko Outinen	1998-99
Jani Luoma-aho	1999-00
Mikko Liukkonen	2000-01, 2007-08
Mikko Mattila	2001-04, 2006-07
Tatu Kattelus	2004-06
Jarno Kultanen	2008-10
Pasi Järvinen	2010-11
Henrik Forsberg	2011-12
Jarno Lippojoki	2012-13
Jari Kauppila	2013-14
Olli Julkunen	2014-15
Ari Vallin	2015-16
Josh Green	2016-17
Toni Kähkönen	2017-19
Alexander Bonsaksen	2019-22
Heikki Liedes	2022-23
Otto Paajanen	2023-

Honours

Champions

Mestis (1): 2013-14
I-Divisioona (1): 1986-87
Maakuntasarja (II-Divisioona) (1): 1972

Runners-up

Mestis (3): 2001-02, 2012-13, 2014-15
I-Divisioona (Fazer-liiga) (1): 1994–95
Mestis (3): 2002-03, 2009-10, 2011-12
I-Divisioona (5): 1982–83, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1991–92, 1992–93

Other awards for the club:

Imatra Bauer Tournament winner (1): 2016
Vaasa Cup winner (1): 2013
Tampere Cup winner (1): 2021

Ranking in the SM-Liiga

1987–88 – 10.
1988–89 – 9.
1989–90 – 11.
2015–16 – 11.
2016-17 – 13.
2017–18 – 14.
2018–19 - 13.
2019–20 - 5.
2020–21 - 9.
2021–22 - 4.
2022–23 - 8.
2023–24 - 12.
2024–25 -

NHL alumni

Other former notable players

Retired numbers

Kouvola KooKoo retired numbers
No	Player
36	Mikko Outinen
81	Timo Nurmberg

References

^ "KooKoo | Liiga". liiga.fi.
^ "KooKoo | Liiga". liiga.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2020-08-06.

External links

Official website (Finnish)

[1] "KooKoo | Liiga". liiga.fi.

[2] "KooKoo | Liiga". liiga.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2020-08-06.

[1]

[2]

v t e Liiga
Seasons	1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Current teams (2024–25)	HIFK HPK Ilves Mikkelin Jukurit JYP Jyväskylä KalPa Kiekko-Espoo KooKoo Oulun Kärpät Lukko Lahti Pelicans SaiPa Vaasan Sport Tappara HC TPS Porin Ässät
Former teams	FPS Jokerit Jokipojat Koovee TUTO Hockey
Trophies and awards	Kanada-malja Kultainen kypärä Kalevi Numminen Jarmo Wasama memorial Matti Keinonen Raimo Kilpiö Urpo Ylönen Pekka Rautakallio Aarne Honkavaara Veli-Pekka Ketola Lasse Oksanen Jari Kurri Unto Wiitala
Other	Mestis Suomi-sarja 2. Divisioona 3. Divisioona Finland men's national ice hockey team SM-sarja (defunct) Naisten Liiga Naisten Mestis Finland women's national ice hockey team U20 SM-sarja Finland men's national junior ice hockey team
IIHF IIHF Continental Cup IIHF European Champions Cup