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Kärpät is a Finnish ice hockey team playing in SM-liiga and based at Raksilan jäähalli (capacity 6614), Oulu. Established in 1946. Registered name of the club is Oulun Kärpät Oy.
Officially retired number: 10 Reijo Ruotsalainen
Achievements
- Finnish championship 1981, 2004 and 2005
- silver 1987 and 2003
- bronze 1980, 1984, 1985 and 1986
History
In the spring of 1946 three young men decided to found a new sports club in Oulu. In the constitutional meeting on the 15th of May the club was named Oulun Kärpät 46. At first Kärpät played football and the first winter sport was bandy.
In the first annual meeting in January 1947 an ice hockey section was established. At the beginning of the new decade Kärpät was somewhat successful in ice hockey and it became the main sport of the club. The first game at the highest level was played on the 4th of December, 1960 against HJK but the visit to the highest level was short and Kärpät lost their position in the series. They made it to the highest level again in 1965-66 but lost their position again. The third try in 1967-68 didn’t go any better as Kärpät lost all of their games.
From the first years on junior work was important for Kärpät. E-juniors won the first Finnish Championship for Kärpät in the spring of 1971. When the SM-Liiga was founded in August 1975 Kärpät started in the first division. Their goal was to rise to the league. It didn’t happen in the first season but in 1976. In the next season Kärpät was 7th and then last but they still remained at the league with ease. After Kärpät acquired some good players they won the bronze medals in 1980.
In the following year Kärpät was third in the regular series but in the finals they won Tappara. Next year the weakened team had to settle for 5th place and the following year they almost fell from the league. With a new coach the goal was to win a medal and finally Kärpät won the bronze. The next goal was to win the championship but Kärpät only managed to get bronze for the following two years. Kärpät won the regular series in 1987 but they lost to Tappara in the finals. Hopes were high for the next season but Kärpät fell from the league.
The goal was to rise again shortly but it didn’t work out. Due to financial strains Kärpät finally made bankruptcy but in the fall of 1995 they made it to the first division again. In the first year they came 8th and lost in the play offs. Next year they went against KalPa for a place in the league but lost. Following year they lost against KalPa again. For season 1998-99 Kärpät acquired coach Juhani Tamminen. After they played very well in the regular series they lost to TuTo in the play offs.
The next year Kärpät finally rose to SM-Liiga. The first year was full of ups and downs but Kärpät came 4th and the following year 6th. After that they finally made it to the finals but lost against Tappara just like in 1987. In the season 2003-04 Kärpät played in the finals against TPS and finally won their second Finnish Championship. In 2004-05, Kärpät won the Finnish Cup again when they defeated Jokerit in the Finals, winning 3 games out of 4 that were played. Each of these recent victories have been celebrated in Oulu by a party, in which tens of thousands of people attended.
When Oulun Kärpät Oy was founded in 2000 it took the responsbility off the representative team and A-juniors. Oulun Kärpät 46 ry focuses on other junior work.
External links
- Oulun Kärpät (http://www.oulunkarpat.fi/) Team's official site, partly in English
- Kärpät Fan Club (http://www.karpatfanclub.net/) Supporters' association, in Finnish only
- Oulun Kärpät 46 ry (http://www.oulunkarpat46.fi/) Kärpät junior organisation, in Finnish onlysv:Kärpät