KHL - Players With Brief Stays

In this instalment of our reflections on the League's 10-year history and those who have helped to shape it, we focus on some great players who found fame and renown, either before or after their arrival, but whose KHL days were so short that they may have passed under the radar of fans and experts alike.

Alexei Zhitnik
The D-man from Kiev, who played his post-USSR international hockey for Russia (winning Olympic silver in 1998, having won gold with the Unified Team in '92), left CSKA Moscow in 1992 and embarked on a glittering NHL career, donning the colors of the Los Angeles Kings, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers and Atlanta Thrashers, clocking up over 1,000 appearances in all. He briefly returned to Russia for a spell with Ak Bars Kazan during the lockout of 2004-05, and in 2008, when the fledgling Kontinental Hockey League began its maiden season, he departed North America and joined Dynamo Moscow, spending two years with the Blue-and-Whites and earning a call-up to the very first All-star Game in Red Square.

Dmitry Yushkevich

Another defenseman from that Olympic gold-winning Unified Team of 1992, Dmitry Yushkevich has enjoyed regular employment as a coach in the KHL for the past eight years, and many fans will recall his North American exploits for the Flyers, Maple Leafs (with whom he merited a call-up to the NHL All-Star Game), Panthers and Kings. He returned to Russia in 2003, to spend the latter part of his career in his homeland, and his years as a player stretched into the KHL era. After tours of duty with Lokomotiv, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, SKA, and Severstal (twice), he spent the 2008-09 season playing for Sibir. After spending the following season with Karpat in Finland, he finally retired and returned to Novosibirsk, starting his coaching career as an assistant to Andrei Tarasenko.
Alexander GulyavtsevThe story of Alexander Gulyavtsev's hockey career has three main locations: Cherepovets, where he played for and now coaches Severstal; his home city of Perm, where he spent the first decade of his career with Molot-Prikamie, earning a call-up to Russia's U20 team in 1993; and Yekaterinburg and Avtomobilist, which was a lowly second-tier side when he arrived, and whom he captained in the first two years of the KHL. Gulyavtsev was the driving force behind the Motor Men's rise, the top scorer whose goals helped Avto break into the playoffs, and the Yekaterinburgers will fondly remember his swashbuckling shootout goals.



Ryan O'Reilly
The 26-year-old Buffalo Sabres center and alternate captain has won World Cup and World Championship gold with the Canadian national team, but Ryan O'Reilly spent a curious spell in the KHL during the 2012 lockout. His older brother, Cal, had signed a two-year deal with Metallurg Magnitogorsk, so for Ryan, who was playing for the Colorado Avalanche when the lockout began, Magnitka was the obvious club to choose for the duration of the dispute. Ryan arrived a little later than most of the locked-out NHL men, but scored 10 (5+5) points in his 12 appearances, but did not, strangely enough, line up alongside big brother – Cal had sustained a severe injury, so the pair never played together during Ryan's brief stay in the Southern Urals.


Martin Gerber


Before the start of the current season, this goaltending great announced he was hanging up his skates at the age of 42, signalling the end of a glittering career that included Stanley Cup victory with the Carolina Hurricans, Olympic silver in Turin with Team Switzerland, and even a season in the KHL. He arrived in 2009 and stood between the pipes for Atlant of Mytishchi, in the same team as Sergei Mozyakin, Nikolai Zherdev and Jiri Novotny, playing 30 games in all. It is interesting to speculate on what might have been had Gerber been at Atlant the following season, when the outsider fought its way to the Gagarin Cup final, but injury cut short his stay in Russia and he moved on to the Oilers.

Joffrey Lupul

The Toronto Maple Leafs winger has had a rough time of late, and is expected to miss the entire season while he recovers from a groin injury, but hopefully he will return to add to his tally of 747 NHL appearances over the last 14 years. In 2012 he was an NHL All-Star, but in a matter of months found himself playing for Avtomobilist in the lockout. If hockey fans are unaware of his short tour of duty in the KHL, it is likely that some Russian train passengers remember him. While traveling by rail from Yekaterinburg to Omsk, the Canadian forward chatted to fellow passengers, shared some vodka, and serenaded the wagon with some North American hip-hop. His exploits on the ice were not so loud – nine appearances and just a solitary goal.

Ville Peltonen

It is rare for a foreign import to captai a side, and usually occurs when the player has spent a number of years at the club and has gradually acquired the necessary authority, yet the captain's patch was stitched onto Ville Peltonen's uniform in his very first season at Dinamo Minsk. The Finn arrived in 2009 from the Florida Panthers with more than enough authority – he boasted what must be the largest silverware collection of any man to play for the Belarusians. Four Olympic medals, eight more from World Championships, a hoard of player-of-the-week, month, or year awards and the captaincy of the Finland national team. He spent just the one season with Dinamo, but scored 26 (6+20) points and was selected for the KHL All-Star Game.


Jakub Voracek

The phrase, “a star of world hockey,” may be a little over-used, and few players could earn the title without incurring many dissenting voices, but Jakub Voracek is surely one of this elite brigade. The 28-year-old winger has been a favorite at the Philadelphia Flyers since 2011, a World Champion gold medalist with the Czech Republic, an NHL All-Star, and the Czech Player of the Year. He landed in North America at the tender age of 17, since when only once has he moved back to the Old World, and that was in the 2012 NHL lockout when he donned the colors of Lev Praha. His spell was by far the most striking of the four locked-out NHL players who moved to the Czech capital: Cervenka and Hudler had already spent considerable time in the KHL, while Zdeno Chara's sojourn was plagued by errors on the ice. Voracek, in contrast, was like a breath of fresh air, and his final account showed 20 (7+13) points in 23 games for the Lions of Prague.

Ryan McDonagh
The 28-year-old defenseman from Minnesota is now in his fourth season captaining the New York Rangers, whom he joined in 2010 from the University of Wisconsin (where he had also earned the captaincy), but his life story also includes a spell in Astana, Kazakhstan, with Barys during the 2012 lockout. He was in good company – also patrolling the Barys blue line was Swedish World Champion and NHL All-Star Victor Hedman, whose 6' 6” 223lbs frame is enough to put anyone in the shade. In all, McDonagh played 10 games for the Kazakhs and assisted on three goals before heading back to Madison Square Garden.

Joe Pavelski

Under any other circumstances, the arrival in the KHL of a United States international, and one whose trophy cabinet had a silver medal from the previous Olympics, would have aroused considerable interest, but like McDonagh, Joe Pavelski of the San Jose Sharks arrived as part of the 2012 lockout, and at Dinamo Minsk the main glare of publicitiy was understandably directed at his fellow locked-out arrivals, Pekka Rinne and Evander Kane. Nevertheless, Pavelski scored a highly respectable 15 points in just 17 games for the Belarusians, and his fleeting spell in the KHL certainly did him no harm. Three years later, as captain of the Sharks, Joe was the top goal-scorer in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

KHL - Juha Metsola - Life In The Far East

Amur Khabarovsk's Finnish goaltender, Juha Metsola, had a renaissance in form last season, and was frequently named in the KHL Top Ten most spectacular saves of the week feature. Mid-way through the 2017-18 season, he spoke to KHL.ru about his team's progress that campaign, his plans to stay in the KHL, hoping to play in the Olympics, and the best things about the Far East city where he plies his trade.



Back in November, you were involved in a thrilling game against Jokerit (a 5-4 overtime win for the Khabarovsk team). Do you enjoy games like that?
- I've always enjoyed playing in Finland. My family was there, my dad, a few friends... Jokerit kept me very busy, and it's never pleasant to allow four goals, but it doesn’t matter when you win.
This year Amur is a much more entertaining team. What happened?
- This year we’re scoring a lot of goals. I don't recall us scoring five in any game last season, but now we’re doing it quite often. We’re great in offense, and that’s a good thing. It’s comforting for me to know that even if I allow some goals, we still have a chance of winning. Last season, if we shipped three goals, it was game over.
This season the statistics suggest he was busier between the pipes.
- You can play well in defense and still allow 50 shots on goal. It's the quality of the shooting chances that really matters. It is not a problem for me if the opposition resorts to shooting from the blue line in clear sight.
Is this Amur team the best of all those in which you've played?
- Yes, we have a really good chance to make the playoffs. It is better than last year, when we really struggled. We’re almost there.
December might be crucial, as you have a lot of home games.
- It's a very important month for us, and we really need to bank a lot of points. It’s hard for us on the road because of the time difference. We must earn points at home.


The team began improving last season, after Andrei Martemyanov took charge. - I like him; he’s a smart guy. He knows that if we travel a lot, then we don't always need any practice on the ice. I like the way he sees the game. We talk via an interpreter, yes, but I’m a goalie, so there is often no need for me to know what he’s saying to other players. I’m just focusing on my own job
Do you feel that he has faith in you?
- Everyone in the team trusts me, and that gives me confidence.
It seems your place is not under threat from the other goalies, neither of whom has played as well as you have.
- Evgeny Alikin and Evgeny Kiselyov are great guys, but I’m getting a lot of ice time. And it's hard to get into a game if you're sent in when your team is already a few goals behind. If they were given a chance to start some games, it would be different.
The first part of the season did not go so well for you.
- It's hard to pinpoint the reason. We didn’t play well as team, either, but we all knew the solution – we worked harder, and the team improved. Now it’s going well.
Is it possible that the birth of your second child affected your concentration?
- It’s never nice being away from your family, and they should be coming to stay with me in December, when we have a lot of home games. Yes, my second daughter was born, I missed my family, and I wished I were at home. Maybe my mind was elsewhere. Everything is fine now.


This year at Khabarovsk, the club has surprised a few people by having a live, electric-guitar version of the pre-match anthem. Do you like it? - I like it a lot. These guys are great musicians, and are out there playing almost every game. I’m a fan of rock music, particularly live performances.
There is now a great atmosphere in the stands, and the team is finally winning on the ice.
- It’s the main thing for the fans. They want to see the team win. We could still play even better, and we are heading in the right direction.
Are you enjoying your time in the KHL?
- It’s been a great experience, and I want stay here as long as I can. The hockey is of a high quality, and I want to play in the best League I can get into.
So, you plan to stay in Khabarovsk?
- Possibly. We’ll see after the end of the season.
What about the Finnish national team?
- It's a big year for us, as we have a chance of playing in the Olympics. It’s the highest goal for me. I think it is possible, so I must make the most of my chance next week in Moscow.



When you decided to extend your contract with Amur two years ago, you hadn’t been playing much. - It was the end of my first season, and I wanted to stay here. Yes, I didn’t play much, but that was because Alexander Pechursky was just awesome. Whoever is playing the best is the one who should play.
There was some talk about a possible conflict between you and Andrei Nikolishin, who was the head coach at the time.
- No, I liked working with him. It's just that I didn’t play to my best.
This is now your third year in Khabarovsk. Do you feel at home?
- No, I never get that feeling anywhere away from Finland. I really like Khabarovsk, but Tampere is my home, and always will be.
What you like about Khabarovsk?
- Everything! I like the fine restaurants, the great people. There is nothing wrong with this city at all, apart from one thing – the distance from my home.

KHL - Spartak Celebrate Annual Retro Game

December 9, 2017 - Spartak Moscow v Slovan Bratislava 8-2
For Spartak, the 1980s were dominated by European success. The Red-and-Whites won the Spengler Cup five times between 1980 and 1990. Fittingly, then, on a day of 80s-themed action in Moscow, the home team enjoyed an impressive win against European opposition.
This time, away from the retro entourage off the ice, the focus was on securing points to keep in the playoff places – and Spartak delivered in some style. Things started well – Vyacheslav Leshchenko opened the scoring in the fourth minute – and got better. Colby Genoway’s first-period equalizer for Slovan was a brief blip, but once Dmitry Kalinin reinstated the home lead just before the intermission, there was no looking back for the home team.
Alexander Osipov added two more in the middle frame, then the host cut loose in the final stanza. Two goals in a minute from Lukas Radil and Dmitry Chernykh ended any doubt about the outcome and ensured that Andrej Stastny’s major penalty for slashing yielded three goals in total. Ryan Stoa made it 7-1 midway through the third, and the teams traded late markers when Pavol Skalicky got one back for Slovan before Alexander Kuznetsov completed the rout. The win moves Spartak up to seventh

KHL - Round Up - November 28 - December 04, 2017

On Earth, the match-up between Jokerit and SKA made history in several ways – not least because it was the first KHL game to be played beneath the starry Nordic skies of Finland. And soon, the KHL will be up among those same stars as the Gagarin Cup goes to the International Space Station. ISS missions are usually launched from Kazakhstan, where the league’s All-Stars are heading in January – and you’ll never guess who was the most popular player in the fan poll. But not every star shines so brightly: Kunlun Red Star announced the departure of head coach Mike Keenan after a dismal run of form.

History in Helsinki

Saturday’s game between Jokerit and SKA broke new ground for the KHL. It was the first ever open air classic played in the league, and it drew a league record attendance of 17,685. The event, played in the Helsinki park where some of Finland’s earliest recorded hockey games took place, marked both this 10^th anniversary KHL campaign and 50 years since the creation of the Jokerit club.
The game lived up to the billing, with the big crowd – almost all of them standing on specially-built terraces – witnessing a seven-goal thriller. SKA edged it 4-3, inspired by a three-point haul from Ilya Kovalchuk. His goal also made a bit of history, taking him to 150 for the Petersburg club and making him the all-time top scorer for SKA, moving ahead of Maxim Sushinsky. SKA also broke through the 100-point barrier in this game, getting there faster than any other team in KHL history.

Helsinki Ice Challenge

Gragnani tops the All-Star poll

Who’s the most popular player in the KHL? The answer might come as a surprise. According to the fan vote for January’s All-Star Game, Dinamo Minsk defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani is the league’s top dog. The Canadian blue-liner, now in his second season in Belarus, got 5,964 votes and will join Spartak’s Dmitry Kalinin on the Bobrov Division team in Astana next month. Impressively, Gragnani, 30, outscored Jokerit’s teenage sensation Eeli Tolvanen (5,819) and SKA’s record-breaker Ilya Kovalchuk (5,598). Team Bobrov also generated significantly more votes than the other three divisions.
The other players chosen were: Team Tarasov – Staffan Kronwall (Lokomotiv), Nikita Nesterov, Kirill Kaprizov (both CSKA), Dmitry Kagarlitsky (Severstal); Team Kharlamov – Andrei Markov, Vladimir Tkachyov (both Ak Bars), Chris Lee, Sergei Mozyakin (both Metallurg); Team Chernyshev – Kevin Dallman, Nigel Dawes (both Barys), Philip Larsen, Linus Omark (both Salavat Yulaev).

Out of this world!

Want to see the Gagarin Cup? Look into the night sky! On December 17, a replica of the trophy is heading to the International Space Station in the care of cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin. The miniature cup, and an official KHL puck, will spend 72 days in orbit before returning in time for the opening game of the 2018 Gagarin Cup Final. The stunt, in partnership with Russian space agency Roscosmos, reaffirms the KHL’s determination to aim as high as possible – a mission embodied in the name of the league’s principle trophy – and represents another celebration of this 10^th anniversary season of the competition.

Keenan leaves coaching role

Mike Keenan has stepped down as head coach at Kunlun Red Star after the Chinese team’s loss of form continued. The legendary coach was replaced as General Manager last week and stepped down as head coach before Sunday’s game at Amur. At that time, Red Star was on a nine-game losing streak and had picked up just two victories in 19 outings. That sequence saw the team drop to 11^th in the Eastern Conference, at risk of becoming detached from the playoff contenders.
Bobby Carpenter took charge of the team for Sunday’s game and oversaw an overtime win. Keenan remains within the Red Star organization with a role in international coordination.

Mike Keenan

Goal of the week – Shumakov plays lacrosse!

Sergei Shumakov’s game-winner for CSKA against Kunlun Red Star was just a little bit special. It takes some chutzpah to flick the puck onto your stick behind the net, then swing it round and stuff it in the smallest of gaps in the top corner. And that’s exactly how Shumakov did it, deceiving Magnus Hellberg in the visitor’s goal and setting up his team for a 3-1 victory.

Canada names roster for the Channel 1 Cup

A total of 19 KHL players were called up by Canada to play in the Channel 1 Cup in Moscow later this month. As in Finland last month, the Canadians are looking to use this guest appearance in the Euro Hockey Tour to test out options ahead of February’s Olympic Winter Games and, once again, there’s a strong KHL accent to the team. Even among those not currently playing in the league, Barry Brust, Stefan Elliott and Derek Roy have tasted KHL action in the past, with only three names in the party unfamiliar to our league’s fans.
The KHL contingent in Moscow includes: Ben Scrivens (Salavat Yulaev); Karl Stollery (Dinamo Riga), Charles Genoway (Lada), Chris Lee (Metallurg), Simon Despres (Slovan), Mat Robinson (CSKA); Wojtek Wolski, Taylor Beck, Gilbert Brule (Kunlun Red Star), Matthew Frattin, Linden Vey (Barys), Ryan Garbutt (Torpedo), Eric O’Dell (Sochi), Brandon Kozun, Max Talbot (Lokomotiv), Matt Ellison (Metallurg), Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau (Avtomobilist), Teddy Purcell (Avangard), Rob Klinkhammer (Ak Bars).

Team Canada fans

Challenge Cup starting lineups are revealed. JHL week in review

JHL Challenge Cup starting lineups for Team West and Team East are revealed. The game will take place in Astana, Kazakhstan on January 11th as part of the 2018 All-Star Week festivities.
Head-coaches of Team West and Team East, Mikhail Milyokhin and Dmitry Stulov, have made their choice for the starting lineups and goaltenders for the 9th JHL Challenge Cup that will be played at Barys-Arena.

Team East
Goaltender: Andrei Katyukhin (Kuznetskie Medvedi)
Defensemen: Ilya Morozov (Sibirskie Snaipery), Samat Daniyar (Snezhnye Barsy)
Forwards: Vladimir Gaideik (Mamonty Yugry), Razat Timirov (Reaktor), Yegor Korobkin (Stalnye Lisy)

Team West
Goaltender: Kirill Ustimenko (MHC Dinamo St. Petersburg)
Defensemen: Vladimir Miroshnichenko (Krasnaya Armiya), Akim Trishin (MHC Spartak Moscow)
Forwards: Nikolai Kovalenko (Loko), Evgeny Tsaryuk (SКА-1946), Ivan Muranov (МHC Dynamo Moscow)

Full rosters of Team West and Team East will be announced later.

Top players of the week:
Best goaltender – Alexander Samoilov (Krasnaya Armiya)
Best defenceman – Alexei Puzanov (Reaktor)
Best forward – Danil Bashkirov (Mamonty Yugry)

Top players of November:

Eastern conference
Best goaltender – Amir Miftakhov (Irbis)
Best defenceman – Samat Daniyar (Snezhnye Barsy)
Best forward – Stepan Grymzin (Mamonty Yugry)

Western conference
Best goaltender – Alexander Samoilov (Krasnaya Armiya)
Best defenceman – Gleb Morulyov (Almaz)
Best forward – Pavel Kruty (Kunlun Red Star Junior)

KHL - Winter Classic 2017 Jokerit v SKA 3-4 December 02, 2017

Any match-up between Jokerit and SKA is a momentous occasion: the teams are fierce rivals at the top of the Western Conference, and there’s a local edge to these clashes across the Gulf of Finland. But today’s encounter was extra-special for several reasons.
This was the Helsinki Ice Challenge, the first ever open-air KHL game, played on a site that is almost sacred in the development of Finnish hockey. In a park where the earliest games of hockey were played in the capital, it attracted the biggest ever crowd for any KHL game, with 17,645 fans there to witness the spectacle. And, while Jokerit celebrated its 50^thanniversary, SKA saw Ilya Kovalchuk become the club’s all-time record goal-scorer to help the league leader become the fastest team to reach 100 points in a season. SKA achieved that milestone in 38 games at an average of 2.68 points per game.

Kovi’s big moment

Kovalchuk opened the scoring in the ninth minute, rifling home a wrist shot over Karri Ramo’s shoulder after a nicely-weighted feed from Vadim Shipachyov. Ramo was unsighted by Vladislav Gavrikov’s presence on the slot and could do nothing as the puck whistled into the top corner. That made it 150 goals since joining SKA – initially on a temporary basis during the 2012-13 NHL lock-out – and took Kovi clear of Maxim Sushinsky’s previous record of 149. Kovalchuk finished the game with two more assists taking his career tally to 194 for the Petersburg team. But it didn’t give SKA the lead for long: visiting goalie Mikko Koskinen wasn’t all that busy in the opening exchanges, and he couldn’t react in time to prevent Henri Ikonen tying the game two minutes after Kovi’s opener.
The visitor continued to press, and regained the lead thanks to some lovely skill by Alexander Barabanov. His deke tied Sami Lepisto up in knots, and his pass presented Jarno Koskiranta with the perfect chance to put his mark on the festivities in his homeland.

SKA presses, Jokerit digs in

The second period saw Jokerit looking to stem the tide of SKA attacks and ensure that the league leader did not put the game out of reach. And the Finns did just that with a tying goal in the 27^th minute when Tommi Huhtala fired home a one-timer after Marko Anttila came up with the puck following a battle in the corner. That sparked an exchange of views between Anttila and Kovalchuk, but the SKA captain came up with a riposte on the ice to help his team regain the lead. His unexpected pass sprang the Jokerit defense and Shipachyov cashed in to make it 3-2 at the second intermission.

Marko Anttila fans

The Army Men take control

Neutralizing the threat of young Jokerit star Eeli Tolvanen was a key part of SKA’s strategy on the night, and for much of the evening the visitor managed it. On the two occasions when the teenager did get a significant shooting chance, he was denied. First, he saw a wrister charged down, then Koskinen had the answer to his slap shot. And then, moments later, it was 4-2. Penalty trouble left Jokerit killing a 3-on-5 situation, and SKA’s offensive power was simply too great. Kovalchuk got involved again, starting off a slick combination that ended with Sergei Kalinin putting the puck in the net. Jokerit wasn’t quite done: a late penalty saw the home team gamble on a spell of 6-on-4 hockey, and that enabled Peter Regin to reduce the deficit to a single goal. But the clock was always against the host and, despite a late flourish, there was no way to save the game and take this historic Helsinki Ice Challenge into overtime.

More than 17,000 people packed the stands to watch Jokerit and SKA play under open skies, and every single spectator played a part in making the atmosphere suit such a unique occasion.

The attendance was a little below the capacity of 18,300, but it was still a healthy turnout. As this picture shows, the harsh Finnish winter is well underway, and the stands did not, at first glance, appear to be the sturdiest constructions ever made. The stands were tougher than they looked, however, and did not wilt or sag.

It is less than five minutes to the opening face-off, and the fans are still arriving in droves at Kaisaniemi Park, where 90 years ago Finnish hockey was born. All the stadium places were standing only, just as they were nine decades ago. The fans were happy to spend the whole game on their feet, and the SKA sector was particularly visible and audible.

Many had dressed specially for the occasion. There were the unique team uniforms…

… and the woolly hats for the pre-match skate The war paint...

… and the puffer jackets to warm the coaches on the bench.…

… and the wall of flame heralding the players' arrival on the ice.

The crowd scarcely needed any encouragement to raise the decibel level, but Jokerit's cheerleaders took part in the occasion in their special outdoor gear, and they looked no less striking as a result.

After the game, the players were unanimous in their praise for the playing surface. For an open-air venue in temperatures hovering around zero, the ice was certainly better than many expected. There was a festive atmosphere among the spectators, but out on the ice the two teams produced a fierce and uncompromising battle, with passions threatening to spill over at any moment.

The scorer of the opening goal in this historic match was Ilya Kovalchuk.

Finland - 50 Years of Jokerit

On the 2nd of December, 2018, Helsinki hosted the KHL's first ever open-air regular championship match, timed to coincide with and celebrate the 10th anniversary of the League and the 50th anniversary of the famous Finnish club, Jokerit. The opposition on this special day will be the reigning KHL champion, SKA Saint Petersburg, and KHL.ru has decided to mark the occasion by presenting you with a few fascinating facts about one of the most popular clubs in Finland.

From Makinen and Baseball to Harkimo and Stability

The official date of the foundation of Jokerit is October 27, 1967, but the team's first gathered together on the 10th of November the same year. The father of the club is acknowledged to be Aimo Makinen, a constructionmagnate who previously had interests in baseball. He bought out a debt-ridden hockey team by the name of Toolon Vesa, from which he formed Jokerit. The first taste of success came in 1973, when the team won the championship of Finland, which in those days rejoiced in the grand name of the Canada Cup. This was a high point in an era of hard times for the team, but the a sharp upturn in fortune occurred in the early 90s.
In February 1991 the then owner of the team (and later the President of the Finnish Hockey Federation), Kalervo Kummola, persuaded a well-known and popular businessman, Harry ”Hjallis” Harkimo, to invest in the club. This ushered in a golden era, during which the club won five league titles (1992, 1994, 1996, 1997 and 2002), and then, in the 2014-15 season, the Jokers joined the KHL. Harkimo, whose relationship with the club stretches back more than 25 years, is still the Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Hjallis Harkimo.

Mayorov: I came to Lukko, and ended up at Jokerit

At the time of Harkimo's arrival at Jokerit, the team - to put it mildly – was not exactly setting the hockey world ablaze. and in November 1991, thoughts turned to legendary Soviet forward and coach Boris Mayorov, who had already spent two seasons in charge of the team back in the 70s. The story behind the coach's return reads like a passage from a Le Carre spy novel. Boris Mayorov described the curious episode in an interview withSovietsky Sport:
”In the Summer of 1990, I traveled to see representatives of the Finnish club Lukko of Rauman. Their team had started the season with five straight losses, so they wanted a change of coach, We talked, and we agreed all the terms. However, by the time I had arrived to take over they had won five games in a row. Understandably, they changed their minds about their staff, but they had no idea what to do with me. We agreed I would leave, but I would stay in touch. And then things began to resemble a spy novel. The next day, I was waiting at the Helsinki station when two strangers approached me. One said, “Are you Mayorov?” I confirmed that I was, and one said, “We want you to come and coach our team, Jokerit.” The team was last in the standings, and 8 points adrift of the team above them. We immediately began to discuss financial terms, and by the 15th of November I had already started work in my new job.”
The club persuaded up-and-coming star, Teemu Selanne, to stay on for another year, and in the spring of 1992, under the guidance of Mayorov, the Jokers won their second Finnish Championship.

Boris Mayorov

Into the finals with Makarov!

Mayorov had previously, albeit indirectly, helped Jokerit produce a rare season of good form during the wilderness years of the early 80s. Boris helped facilitate the transfer to Jokerit of Soviet defenseman Nikolai Makarov, a world champion in 1981 and the older brother of Toronto Hall-of-Famer Sergei Makarov. The move was a success: Nikolai had an outstanding season and helped the Jokers reach the final series, where they were defeated by their eternal rival, HIFK of Helsinki.

Nikolai Makarov.

Selanne: the Jokerit legend

The club is understandably proud of the fact that the Finnish Flash, Hall-of-Famer Teemu Selanne, wore no other jersey than that of Jokerit while playing club hockey in his homeland. He made his debut in 1989, and by the 1990-91 season was already the club's finest forward. A year later, at the age of 21, he was alternate captain under Boris Mayorov when he helped the team claim the Finnish Championship, after which he crossed the Atlantic to embark on a glittering NHL career, including a Stanley Cup triumph with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007. Four years later, and still with Anaheim, he played in what must have been for him one of the most emotional exhibition games, against his former club Jokerit in Helsinki. That evening, a packed Hartwall Arena was supporting just one player.

Teemu Selanne.

The Untouchables

It is a curious fact that Jokerit has not, to date, retired Selanne's Number 8 jersey. The current list of unavailable numbers reads:5, 15, 17, 23, 24 and 91.
The retired number 5 belongs to Esa Tikkanen, who first donned the Jokerit jersey at the tender age of four – he was the team mascot. Three decades were to pass before he would wear the uniform again, in the 1999-2000 season, after finally calling time on an NHL career which saw him claim five Stanley Cups. Number 15 was worn by Henry Leppa, who played for Jokerit throughout the 1970s and into the 80s, clocking up 11 seasons in all. The number 17 adorned the jerseys of Timo Turunen, who played for the club from its inception, and Jari Kurri, who made his debut at the age of 17. Kurri played for the club for three seasons, before setting off for his glory years in the NHL, and is now General Manager of the club. Number 23 belonged to Petri Varis, the club's all-time leading scorer with 420 (200+220), points, while 24 was worn by Waltteri Immonen, the team's longest-serving captain.

Jari Kurri.

The mascot's Czech godfather

Otakar Janecky, a native of Pardubice in the Czech Republic, arrived in Helsinki in 1991, just in time to become part of the championship-winning side, and he stayed on in Helsinki almost until the end of the century, becoming a firm favorite with the fans. Janecky's number 91 jersey has also been retired, and this season he was acknowledged as the finest player in the club's history. An indicator of the fans' love for the Czech forward is the fact that the club mascot has been christened “Otto,” the name by which Otakar was known during his years with the Helsinki Men.

Otakar Janecky.

The shutout king

This is not about Ryan Zapolski, whose shutout series in the current season has smashed so many records, but about Tim Thomas. In the late 90s, Thomas, seeking time off from trying to break into the NHL, came to Helsinki and played for HIFK. He returned to Finland during the 2004/05 lockout, but chose Jokerit, for whom he amassed 15 shutouts in under a season – a club record – before returning to North America, where he eventually tasted Stanley Cup glory with the Bruins.

The Third Coming of Westerlund

Coach Erkka Westerlund first came to Jokerit in 1999 from HIFK, and the team won silver under his stewardship. After two seasons, he left to take charge of the Finland national team. In 2010, he returned for another two-season stint with the Jokers, but this time, success on the ice proved elusive. Then, after leading Team Finland to bronze at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Westerlund came back for his third spell with the club, which was now a member of the KHL.

Erkka Westerlund

LoKoMotive from Helsinki

It was in Westerlund's third tour of duty with Jokerit that he put together one of the League's most excitingand memorable offensive lines. Fans called the Linus Omark – Petr Koukal – Steve Moses troika the LoKoMo Line. In its first year in the KHL Jokerit proved a formidable and combative force, and this line, while nominally the third, became widely feared as the sharpest weapon in the Jokerit arsenal. Moses even set a new KHL snipers' record of 36 goals in a season, although this was later surpassed by a certain Sergei Mozyakin.

Steve Moses and Linus Omark

Three open-air “derbies”

From the moment Jokerit was born, its fiercest rival has been fellow Helsinki resident HIFK, and this crosstown rival has often gained the upper hand in contests between the two. Curiously, the upcoming match under open skies will not be Jokers' first, but their fourth, and the previous three were all against HIFK. On the 5th of February, 2011, Jokerit suffered a narrow 3-4 loss in front of a crowd of 36,644, then a European hockey record. The following year, the Jokers lost in the shootout (2-3), and again in regulation (1-2).

Jokerit — HIFK open-air game.