KooKoo (Liiga)

KooKoo
City	Kouvola, Finland
League	Liiga
Founded	1965
Home arena	Lumon Areena (capacity 6,400)
Colours	Black, orange, white
Owner(s)	KooKoo Hockey Oy
General manager	Sakari Välimaa
Head coach	Tuomas Tuokkola
Captain	Josh Green
Website	http://www.kookoo.fi/

KooKoo is a Finnish ice hockey team playing in the first level of Finnish ice hockey Liiga. KooKoo plays in the Lumon Areena (capacity 6,400), in Kouvola. The team was established in 1965 and the full name of the club is KooKoo Hockey Oy.

Franchise history

KooKoo was formerly established by the KPL and Sudet Kouvolan Kuntosali Sports Club 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 period 1966-1967, when it participated in the region's Southern Finland section. During the 1967-1968 season, KooKoo played in the region of the Greater Savo region, where it ranked fourth. KooKoo tasted in the provincial series without great success for the next two years. In the 1970-1971 season, KooKoo ranked second in the Kymenlaakso Group and reached the Finnish qualifier but did not reach the championship.

Time in the I Division

KooKoo rise to the second highest level in the series, the Finnish series for the period 1971-1972. It was also included in the 1974 newly created series, the first division. In 1982, an ice rink was built in Kouvola, which greatly improved the operating conditions. The first jumping match in November 1982 between KooKoo and SaPKo ended in KooKo's 7-4 victory over 4,000 spectators. KooKoo was able to attempt an SM-liiga for the first time in the 1984-1985 season, after ranking third in the season. However, KooKoo did not make any profit. During the 1985-1986 season, KooKoo was reigned by Reino Ruotsalainen, and in the training team the team was ranked third in the regular season. In the four-legged league qualifying, Kookoo also ranked third and was forced to continue in the division. In the 1986-1987 season, the club celebrated its first league victory after winning the division's regular season prematurely before TuTo Hockey.

Time in SM-Liiga

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

In his second season, KooKoo played in the 1988-1989 season with Urpo Ylönen. In this case, the team reached its best position in the ninth of the league.

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

Back to Division and Fall in Division II

KooKoo started in the first division of the 1990's. The team was at the top of the line even though its economy had come out of trouble due to lease payments. KooKoo fell back to the downs 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 always 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 rise after the two-year break to the first division.

KooKoo started in the autumn of 1999 in the first division. In 2000, the team moved to the newly established Mestis. In the spring of 2005, the club announced that it would end the level of representation of the board, but the team's games continued with new background factors. 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 wins the Jukurit in finals, won the Mestis championship and 24 years later KooKoo get promoted back to the SM-Liiga.

Return to the SM-Liiga

In October 2014, information about KooKoo return to the SM-Liiga for the period 2015-2016 was published. In his current league season, KooKoo took 26 wins, 16 of which came in the regular time, total score was 78 and the result was 11.

Current roster

(Updated 15. July 2017)^[1]

Goalkeepers
#		Player	Catches	Contract	Birthplace
1	Finland	Juha Järvenpää	L	2018	Pori, Finland
43	Finland	Samu Perhonen	L	2018	Jämsänkoski, Finland

|-

Defenders
#		Player	Shoots	Contract	Birthplace
3	United States	Jake Newton	L	2018	California, United States
3	Finland	Arttu Pelli	R	2018	Kouvola, Finland
5	Sweden	Robin Jacobsson	L	2018	Stockholm, Sweden
8	Denmark	Emil Kristensen	R	2018	Esbjerg, Denmark
8	Finland	Mikko Jokela	R	2018	Lappeenranta, Finland
25	Finland	Henrik Forsberg	L	2018	Vaasa, Finland
45	Finland	Veeti Vainio	R	2018	Espoo, Finland
3	Finland	Ville Järvinen	L	2018	Tampere, Finland
20	Finland	Santeri Salmela	L	2018	Lappeenranta, Finland
?	Finland	Peetro Seppälä	L	2018	Kuusankoski, Finland

Attackers
#		Player	Shoots	Position	Contract	Birthplace
72	Finland	Siim Liivik	L	C	2018	Paide, Estonia
12	Finland	Jan-Mikael Juutilainen	L	LW/RW	2018	Helsinki, Finland
11	Finland	Tomi Leivo	L	LW/RW	2018	Lappeenranta, Finland
23	Finland	Jarkko Immonen	L	RW/LW	2018	Kouvola, Finland
85	Finland	Toni Kähkönen	L	RW/LW	2018	Vaasa, Finland,
51	Finland	Mikko Virtanen	R	LW/RW	2018	Kouvola, Finland
19	Finland	Toni Hyvärinen	R	C	2018	Kuopio, Finland
80	Finland	Ville Vainikainen	L	LW	2018	Kuopio, Finland
27	Finland	Eetu Pöysti	R	C/RW	2018	Espoo, Finland,
61	Finland	Miikka Pitkänen	L	LW/RW	2018	Kuopio, Finland
11	Finland	Sami Tamminen	L	RW/LW	2018	Valkeala, Finland,
45	Finland	Olli Korhonen	L	C/RW	2018	Anjalankoski, Finland
26	Finland	Eero Savilahti	L	C	2018	Tampere, Finland
71	Finland	Michael Keränen	L	RW/LW	2018	Stockholm, Sweden
94	Finland	Anrei Hakulinen	L	C	2018	Turku, Finland

Fans

Kuudes Kenttäpelaaja Ry (KKP) (The Sixth Field Player) is the official fansupport association of KooKoo, which was founded in 2001. The purpose of the association is to promote the fanciful fan culture. For the first time in 2010-2011, there were more than one hundred members, with an exact figure of 118 members. In January 2012, the Association had a total of 135 members in the recruitment campaign for home games.

Sixth Field Runner Ry will arrange day trip trips as far as possible. In recent games, the association has arranged for Mestis matches thanks to Revanss weekend, so-called missions where viewers can get free games. In December 2010 six busbars left for Turku and in November 2011 five bus tourists to Mikkeli.

trophies