Finland national bandy team
The Finnish national bandy team (Finnish: Suomen jääpallomaajoukkue, Swedish: Finlands herrlandslag i bandy) has taken part in all the Bandy World Championships for men since the competition was launched for the first time in 1957. Finland won the championship title in 2004.[1][2] They have always finished in the top four, and have won 28 medals in 36 championships.
 | |||
| Association | Finland's Bandy Association (Suomen Jääpalloliitto) (Finlands Bandyförbund) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach |  Ari Holopainen | ||
| Team colors | |||
| |||
| First international | |||
Finland  1 – 12  Sweden Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire 11 March 1907 | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Finland 23 – 0  Belarus Haparanda, 25 March 2001 | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
| Sweden 15 – 2 Finland Trollhättan, 22 November 1998 | |||
| Bandy World Championship | |||
| Appearances | 38 (first in 1957) | ||
| Best result |  Gold: (2004) | ||
The team is controlled by Finland's Bandy Association.
HistoryEdit
Finland was represented by the club Polyteknikkojen Urheiluseura (PUS) in the winter games in Helsinki in 1907, but the team was beaten by a team from Sweden.[3]
The first international bandy game after Finland became independent was held during the 1919 Finnish Winter Games in Helsinki, which were the first international sporting event organized by the recently independent nation.[4] The national team’s roster was dominated by players from Viipurin Sudet and included only three players representing other domestic clubs, Harald Nyström from HIFK, Lars Schybergson from Kiffen, and Niilo Tammisalo from HJK. The national team’s match against the Swedish club IFK Uppsala was held on 23 February at Töölön Pallokenttä before a crowd of 5,000 spectators, including State Regent of Finland C.G.E. Mannerheim.[3] The Finns won the match 4-1 in a victory that was described in the press as “one of the most amazing achievements of Finnish athletes.” [5]
In the 1920s and 1930s, Finland regularly played friendly games against Sweden and against Estonia.
Finland, Norway, and Sweden played bandy at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo. After having seen them there, the Soviet Union invited these three countries to a four nation bandy tournament in 1954. This was the first time a Soviet national bandy team met other national bandy teams. The four countries used somewhat different rules prior to this tournament, but the rules were adjusted to be the same for the future.[6]
The first ever World Championships of bandy were organised in 1957 in association with the 50th anniversary of the Ball Association of Finland, which at the time was the governing body of bandy in Finland. It was played at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium.
Finland's Bandy Association was founded in 1972.[3]
World Championship recordEdit
Russian Government CupEdit
| Games | Finish |
|---|---|
 Rossiya Tournament 1972, Ulyanovsk |
 Bronze
|
| Rossiya Tournament 1974, Arkhangelsk |
Bronze
|
| Rossiya Tournament 1976, Khabarovsk |
Bronze
|
| Rossiya Tournament 1978, Kemerovo |
 Silver
|
| Rossiya Tournament 1980, Syktyvkar |
Bronze
|
| Rossiya Tournament 1982, Syktyvkar |
Bronze
|
| Rossiya Tournament 1984, Kemerovo |
4th place |
| Rossiya Tournament 1986, Irkutsk |
Bronze
|
| Rossiya Tournament 1988, Abakan |
Bronze
|
| Rossiya Tournament 1990, Novosibirsk |
Silver
|
 Russian Government Cup 1992, Krasnojarsk |
4th place |
 Russian Government Cup 1994, Novosibirsk |
4th place |
| Russian Government Cup 1996, Arkhangelsk \ Moscow |
4th place |
| Russian Government Cup 1998, Nizhny Novgorod |
Bronze
|
| Russian Government Cup 2000, Kazan |
4th place |
| Russian Government Cup 2002, Arkhangelsk |
Bronze
|
| Russian Government Cup 2003, Krasnogorsk |
5th place |
| Russian Government Cup 2006, Krasnogorsk |
5th place |
| Russian Government Cup 2008, Novosibirsk |
4th place |
| Russian Government Cup 2010, Kirov |
5th place |
| Russian Government Cup 2012, Abakan |
Silver
|
Current squadEdit
Finnish squad at the 2014 World Championship in Irkutsk, Russia, January 26 – February 2, 2014.[8]
| Pos. | Age | Name | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK | 37 | Timo Oksanen | Bollnäs GIF
|
| GK | 30 | Kimmo Kyllönen | IK Sirius
|
| DF | 28 | Ilari Moisala | Brobergs IF
|
| DF | 35 | Pekka Hiltunen | HT-Bandy
|
| DF | 31 | Antti Ekman | HT-Bandy
|
| MF | 22 | Samuli Helavuori | Bollnäs GIF
|
| MF | 39 | Kimmo Huotelin | Kampparit
|
| MF | 28 | Ville-Veikko Angeria | Akilles
|
| MF | 34 | Ville Aaltonen | Bollnäs GIF
|
| MF | 29 | Juho Liukkonen | Bollnäs GIF
|
| MF | 27 | Tomi Hauska | Vetlanda BK
|
| MF | 26 | Anssi Hänninen | JPS Jyväskylä
|
| MF | 26 | Samuli Koivuniemi | OLS Oulu
|
| FW | 31 | Mikko Rytkönen | JPS Jyväskylä
|
| FW | 31 | Tomi Tukiainen | Akilles
|
| FW | 27 | Mikko Lukkarila | IFK Kungälv
|
| FW | 26 | Markus Kumpuoja | Hammarby IF
|
| FW | 39 | Sami Laakkonen | Dynamo Kazan
|
ReferencesEdit
- ^ The entire final
- ^ The decisive goal
- ^ a b c "The Finnish Bandy Federation, in English". Finnish Bandy Federation. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
- ^ Lavikainen, Jouni (2019-01-18). "Suomen talvikisat 1919 – itsenäisen Suomen ensimmäiset suurkilpailut" [Finnish Winter Games 1919 - The First Major Sporting Competition of Independent Finland] (in Finnish). Sports Museum of Finland. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
- ^ Koskinen, Jukka (2019-01-28). "Suomi-Ruotsi -maaotteluita jo 100-vuotta" [One-hundred years of Finland-Sweden matches] (in Finnish). Finnish Bandy Federation. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
- ^ Claes-G Bengtsson (23 November 2007). "Sargens entré förändrade bandyn" (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
- ^ "World Championship moves to October!". FIB. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
- ^ "Tässä Suomen jääpallojoukkue MM-kisoihin" (in Finnish). Yle Urheilu. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2014.