| Vaasan Sport | |
|---|---|
| City | Vaasa, Finland |
| League | Mestis |
| Founded | 1939 1962 (the ice hockey team) |
| Home arena | Vaasa Arena |
| Owner(s) | HT Vaasan Sport Oy |
| General manager | Jyrki Niemi |
| Head coach | Pasi Räsänen |
| Captain | Markus Jämsä |
Sport, known by its full name as Hockey Team Vaasan Sport OY, is a Finnish ice hockey team based at Vaasa Arena (capacity 4448) in Vaasa. The team was established in 1939 as IF Sport (Idrottsföreningen Sport).
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Vaasan Sport was founded in 1939. The team was involved in the founding of SM-liiga in 1975, but was relegated in the 1975-1976 season (roster for their first and only SM-Liiga season).
After the relegation Sport played in the Finnish 1st Division (since then renamed as Mestis), until they were relegated in 1991-1992 to the Finnish Second Division. Climbing back up to the 1st division proved to be a tough task and wasn't accomplished until spring 1997, with the game winning goal of the deciding game against Kiekko-67 being scored by Kari Teräväinen in overtime.
Season 2008-09 was a success, as Sport won the championship. However the team lost in the last game (best of 7 games are played) to Ässät in the league qualification series and remained in Mestis. The overall qualification series were close, as Sport was 1 goal from being promoted to SM-Liiga, but was unable to score.
Sport has since year 2000, been struggling with bad economy. Which has almost led the club to bankruptcy. But the club board has made improvements to secure a future for the club, cutting down on the budget for the whole new season. And also installed new Head coach and former world ice hockey champion Antti Törmänen, who started to build a new young team from scratch.
"Fans"
Sport have a large fan base in Finland. The official fan club is called Red army, and Ultras 06 as non official supporters. In the first away game in the qualification series against Ässät, more than 20 official busses from Sport was filled with fans. It's the largest number of fans in Finland to go to an away game. At the arena in Pori (the town Ässät are from) all from 1500-2500 Sport fans where all around the Arena in Pori. Ultras 06 is the group who makes the so called "Tifo" at the home games. Usually althought fans doesn't travel at away games because of language barrier between them and other teams supporters.
| # | Nat | Player | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jean Aurén | G | L | 17 | 2011 | Nedervetil, Finland | |
| 9 | Markus Jämsä (C) | W | L | 34 | 1995 | Vaasa, Finland | |
| 6 | Lauri Kinos | D | L | 31 | 2008 | Jyväskylä, Finland | |
| 12 | Juha Koivisto | W | R | 27 | 2007 | Vantaa, Finland | |
| 15 | Mika Kujanpää | W | L | 22 | 2009 | Vaasa, Finland | |
| 94 | Teemu Kuusisto | W | L | 31 | 2009 | Espoo, Finland | |
| 13 | Miro Laitinen | C | L | 31 | 2005 | Jakobstad, Finland | |
| 11 | Timo Pahkala | W | L | 25 | 2006 | Himanka, Finland | |
| 31 | Aaro Peltonen | G | L | 22 | 2009 | Vantaa, Finland | |
| 35 | Mikko Rossi | G | L | 27 | 2007 | Vaasa, Finland | |
| 33 | Juha Salmu | D | L | 33 | 2008 | Oulu, Finland | |
| 24 | Toni Sihvonen (A) | C | L | 41 | 2008 | Seinäjoki, Finland | |
| 17 | Christian Sundman | W | L | 24 | 2009 | Vaasa, Finland | |
| 34 | Joni Puurula | G | L | 29 | 2010 | Kokkola, Finland | |
| 23 | Tuomas Takala | C | L | 31 | 2008 | Seinäjoki, Finland | |
| 10 | Antti Uitto | D | L | 28 | 2008 | Seinäjoki, Finland |
Its homeground is the Vaasa Arena which has a capacity of 4448 (seats: 1971 / standing: 2377 / luxury suites: 100).
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