Finland men's national floorball team

Finland Men's National Floorball Team
Founded 1985
Manager Finland Jari Oksanen
Coach Finland Petri Kettunen
First game 1-13, vs. Sweden Sweden
(09.28.1985)
Largest win 38-0, vs. Ukraine Ukraine
(01.31.2014)
Largest defeat 1-13, vs. Sweden Sweden
(09.28.1985)
All-time top scorer Tero Tiitu (110 goals)
Championships 3 World Championships (2008, 2010, 2016)
1 European Championships (1995)
Home colors
Away colors

Finland Men's National Floorball Team is the national floorball team of Finland. The national team was founded in 1985 and they played their first official game against Sweden in 1985. Finland has won three World Championships (2008, 2010, 2016) and 1 European Championships (1995). Finland has appeared in every World and European Championships tournament organised by the IFF and is the only team with Sweden to have won such a tournament.

History

Early years

The Finland national floorball team was founded in 1985 and they played their first game against Sweden in Sollentuna on 28 September 1985. Finland lost 1-13 and it is still the worst defeat the national team has suffered so far. Pekka Kainulainen scored the first goal of the match and the first official national team goal leading Finland to early 1-0 lead.[1]

1991 - 2000

The 1994 and 1995 European Championships
The national team participated to the 1994 and 1995 European Championships, which were the first organised international floorball tournaments between national teams. In 1994 tournament Finland lost to Sweden in the final (4-1) on home ground in Helsinki after upsetting the swedes earlier in the group stage. The 1995 European Championships tournament was held in Switzerland and the national team succeeded in making their way in to the final, where they were to meet Sweden again. This time Finland fared better and after a stalemate in regular time and overtime, Finland won the championships in a penalty shootout. Successful penalty shots by Jari Pekkola and Jari-Pekka Lehtonen, and goaltending by Jan Gråsten guaranteed the victory.[1][2]

1996 World Championships
The first ever World Championship tournament was held in Stockholm, Sweden. Finland placed second after being clearly outplayed by Sweden and losing 5-0 in the final. The final match was played in Stockholm Globe Arena in front of 15 106 spectators.[1][3]

1998 World Championships
The tournament in Prague, Czech Republic was a disappointment for team Finland. Finland lost to Switzerland (4-5) in the semi-finals in a penalty shootout and the national team placed third after beating Denmark 4-1 in the bronze medal game. Mika Kohonen was Finland's leading forward with 6 goals and 2 assists in 5 games.[1][3]

2000 World Championships
Finland was expected to challenge Sweden for real this time around and two teams met yet again in the final match. The final match was played in Jordal Amfi in Oslo, Norway and it was the closest World Championships final yet, with Sweden taking the title with a 5-3 victory.[1][3]

2001 - 2010

Finland playing against Sweden.

2002 World Championships
The 2002 World Championships tournament was hosted in Helsinki, Finland and the national team was eager to bring home the title in front of their home crowd. Finland battled its way to the final to meet Sweden. The final match was played in Hartwall Arena with 13 665 spectators, who witnessed Sweden grabbing yet another World Championships title in thriller of a match with 3 goals score in the last minute. The final score was 6-4 to Sweden.[1][3]

2004 World Championships
This time Finland and Sweden met in the semi-finals. Sweden gained the upper hand, were victorius and continued on to the final. Finland was to settle for the bronze medal game where they met Switzerland, an upcoming floorball nation, who had upset Finland earlier in the group stage with a 4-3 victory. The game was again close fought with team Finland emerging on top in a high scoring 8-7 win decided in a penalty shootout. Henri Toivoniemi (GK), Jari Lehtonen (D) and Mika Kohonen (F) were selected to the tournament's All-Stars line-up.[1][3]

2006 World Championships
The tournament was played in Stockholm, Sweden. Finland and Sweden met in the final in Stockholm Globe Arena. The match ended 7-6 to Sweden with Magnus Svensson scoring the deciding sudden death goal in overtime.[1][3]

2008 World Championships
Finland finally won its first World Championships title after beating Sweden 7-6 in overtime, in a final match played in Prague, Czech Republic. The game-deciding goal was scored by Tero Tiitu. After losing to Sweden four times in earlier World Championships finals, Finland finally laid its hands on the coveted trophy as the team captain Mikael Järvi lifted the prize for the very first time in Finnish floorball history.[1][3]

2010 World Championships
For the first time Finland came into the tournament as reigning world champions. The home games were held in Helsinki, Finland. As expected Finland met its nemesis Sweden in the final. Finland were the dominant team and took the title for the second time in front of a roaring home crowd. The final game ended 6-2 to Finland. Mika Kohonen scored a hat-trick in the game.[1][3]

2011 - present

2012 World Championships
The tournament was held in Switzerland and the two floorball juggernauts clashed again in the final game. Sweden totally devastated the finnish side with quickly gaining a 9-0 lead. The game soon evened out, but with such an advantage given early on, Sweden coasted to victory with the final score being 11-5.[1][3]

2014 World Championships
The 2014 World Championships are played in Gothenburg, Sweden in December 2014. Finland will participate in the competition.[3]

Players and staff

Roster for 2014 World Championships

Goalkeepers
Number Player name Club
31 Tomi Ikonen Finland Oilers, Espoo
48 Eero Kosonen Finland Happee, Jyväskylä
Defensemen
Number Player name Club
8 Juha Kivilehto Finland SPV, Seinäjoki
13 Risto Töllikkö Finland NST, Lappeenranta
17 Janne Lamminen Finland SC Classic, Tampere
20 Nico Salo Finland SC Classic, Tampere
21 Tatu Väänänen Switzerland SV Wiler-Ersigen, Ersigen
30 Lauri Stenfors Finland SSV, Helsinki
33 Mikael Lax Finland SSV, Helsinki
Forwards
Number Player name Club
5 Jami Manninen Finland Happee, Jyväskylä
9 Eemeli Salin Finland Koovee, Tampere
11 Mika Moilanen Sweden FC Helsingborg, Helsingborg
15 Mikko Kailiala Finland SSV, Helsinki
16 Kari Koskelainen Switzerland Chur Unihockey, Chur
18 Lauri Kapanen Finland Tapanilan Erä, Helsinki
22 Jani Kukkola Sweden FC Helsingborg, Helsingborg
23 Oscar Hänninen Finland Oilers, Espoo
27 Rickie Hyvärinen Sweden Storvreta IBK, Storvreta
29 Mika Kohonen Sweden Storvreta IBK, Storvreta
50 Tero Tiitu Sweden IBK Falun, Falun

Team staff for 2014 World Championships

Updated 2 Dec 2014.[4][5]

Past rosters

2010 World Champions[6]

2008 World Champions[7]

World Championships

Year Hosting Country Rank
1996 Sweden Sweden 2nd place
1998 Czech Republic Czech Republic 3rd place
2000 Norway Norway 2nd place
2002 Finland Finland 2nd place
2004 Switzerland Switzerland 3rd place
2006 Sweden Sweden 2nd place
2008 Czech Republic Czech Republic 1st place
2010 Finland Finland 1st place
2012 Switzerland Switzerland 2nd place
2014 Sweden Sweden 2nd place
2016 Latvia Latvia 1st place

Honours

World Games

World Championships

European Championships

Records

All-time World Championships record

Tournament GP W D L GF GA +/-
Sweden 1996 76016610+56
Czech Republic 1998 5401269+17
Norway 2000 53112611+15
Finland 2002 64023513+22
Switzerland 2004 64026019+41
Sweden 2006 65016115+46
Czech Republic 2008 66004515+30
Finland 2010 66006010+50
Switzerland 2012 65016820+48
Sweden 2014 64023215+17
Latvia 2016 66004314+29
Totals 6553111522151+371

Updated 11 Dec 2016.[8]

Individual records

Updated 2 Dec 2014.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Haastajasta kaksinkertaiseksi maailmanmestariksi". floorball.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Floorball Federation. 24 June 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "European Championships 1994-1995". floorball.org. International Floorball Federation. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "World Championships Men 1996-present". floorball.org. International Floorball Federation. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "Miehet - Joukkue". floorball.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Floorball Federation. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  5. ↑ Oikarinen, Johannes (13 November 2014). "Salibandyn MM: Kokenut kolmikko vielä kerran yhdessä". yle.fi (in Finnish). YLE. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "Maailmanmestarit 2010". floorball.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Floorball Federation. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  7. ↑ "Maailmanmestarit 2008" (in Finnish). Finnish Floorball Federation. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "Pelatut ottelut". floorball.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Floorball Federation. 9 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  9. ↑ "Ennätykset". floorball.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Floorball Federation. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
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