SaiPa

SaiPa
SaiPa
City	Lappeenranta, Finland
League	Liiga
Founded	1948
Home arena	Kisapuisto; (capacity: 4,820)
Colours	Yellow, black;
General manager	Jussi Markkanen
Head coach	Ville Hämäläinen
Captain	Jarno Koskiranta
Affiliate	Imatran Ketterä (Mestis)
Website	saipa.fi

Saimaan Pallo (SaiPa) is an ice hockey team in the Finnish Liiga. They play their home games at Kisapuisto in Lappeenranta, Finland. SaiPa has many nicknames, such as "The Sputniks", "Sputnik", "Miracle of the East" and "Eastern Giant."

SaiPa play home games in the yellow shirt, black pants, yellow socks, and a black helmet. SaiPa play away games in mostly the same costumes as the home games, but also have a black version of the jersey.

History edit

The team's best achievement is from the 1965-1966 season, when they won bronze medals for placing third. SaiPa also played in a bronze medal game in the 1998–1999 and 2013–14 seasons, but lost the games to HPK (7–2) and Lukko (3–2).

SaiPa has participated twice in the Champions Hockey League. During the 2014-2015 season, the team survived the quarterfinals, where they lost the return match against Oulun Kärpät. During the 2016–17 season, SaiPa won their initial games by 11 points. Eisbären Berlin and Luleå HF were the runners-up.

SaiPa has produced seven players who have played in the National Hockey League (NHL): Antti Aalto, Jussi Markkanen, Petteri Nokelainen, Petri Skriko, Jussi Timonen, Vesa Viitakoski, and Niklas Bäckström. Jussi Markkanen is also a part owner of the club.

Honours edit

Domestic edit

SM-sarja

3rd place (1): 1965–66

Pre-season edit

Finnish Cup

Runners-up (3): 1958, 1965, 1971

Players edit

Current roster edit

As of March 10, 2022.^[1]


No.	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
60	Jaakko Haarti	D	R	25	2022	Helsinki, Finland
2	Miika Herrala	F	L	22	2021	Kotka, Finland
77	Henri Hietala	D	L	23	2019	Hamina, Finland
57	Otto Hokkanen	C	L	20	2021	Lappeenranta, Finland
4	Joona Huttula	D	L	27	2021	Tampere, Finland
63	Mikko Juusola	LW	L	26	2021	Kuusamo, Finland
11	Roni Karvinen	F	L	21	2020	Vantaa, Finland
59	Niko Kautiainen	F	R	23	2020	Helsinki, Finland
40	Jarno Koskiranta (C)	C	L	37	2020	Paimio, Finland
21	Elmeri Laakso	D	L	19	2021	Joensuu, Finland
90	Valtteri Lipiäinen	RW	R	26	2021	Lappeenranta, Finland
29	Veikko Loimaranta	C	L	23	2019	Vantaa, Finland
18	Kalle Maalahti (A)	D	L	33	2021	Lappeenranta, Finland
25	Tino Metsävainio	LW	L	27	2021	Haukipudas, Finland
74	Sergei Monakhov	LW	L	32	2021	St. Petersburg, Russia
70	Janne Naukkarinen	C	L	20	2021	Lappeenranta, Finland
39	Valtteri Ojantakanen	LW	R	23	2019	Helsinki, Finland
6	Joel Olkkonen	D	R	31	2019	Hyvinkää, Finland
23	Ville Petman	C	L	24	2020	Lappeenranta, Finland
31	Cody Porter	G	L	26	2022	North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
38	Simo-Pekka Riikola	D	R	32	2019	Joensuu, Finland
61	Hugo Rikkilä	D	L	22	2019	Espoo, Finland
86	Aapo Sarell	D	L	20	2020	Lappeenranta, Finland
82	Aleksi Sinkkonen	F	L	21	2021	Imatra, Finland
80	Ville Vainikainen	RW	L	30	2019	Kuopio, Finland
34	Nuutti Viitasalo	D	R	25	2021	Raisio, Finland
53	Niclas Westerholm	G	L	26	2017	Helsinki, Finland