KUOPIO, FINLAND – In the mid to late 1990s, KalPa was known for easy points for every team in the SM-Liiga. However, after a tumultuous history, the team has risen like the Phoenix from its ashes and has become one of the most consistent teams since the late 2000’s.
Apart from its famous owners, which include the likes of former NHLer and current roster player Sami Kapanen, Philadelphia Flyers defence man Kimmo Timonen and forward Scott Hartnell, KalPa has faced perhaps more adversity during its existence than many other teams. However, through a successful restructure of the organisation, KalPa should be a case study on how to achieve success.
KalPa first made its debut in the Finnish top flight of hockey 1986 after winning promotion from the old Division 1. In its inaugural SM-Liiga season KalPa finished second from bottom and improved on the position slightly during its second season in the top flight, by finishing third from bottom. KalPa made its Play off debut in 1988-1989 season after finishing 5th in the regular season. However, the Playoff glory was short lived as when it lost in the first round of the playoffs to Tappara. That season KalPa finished 5th overall in the standings.
KalPa’s consistency carried on and in 1991 it won its first medal in the SM-Liiga, by capturing silver after TPS won the championship.
It is after that medal and playoff series that KalPa’s troubles began. By 1993 it was public knowledge that KalPa was in serious debt and despite sizeable investments in player acquisitions, success eluded the club.
From 1996 to 1999 KalPa was the weakest team in the SM-Liiga and lost its credibility as a team and organisation in the eyes of the hockey public. The stigma of those seasons still follows the club as some within the Finnish hockey community still do not regard KalPa as a credible team. During the 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 seasons KalPa hardly mustered 90 goals for during the regular season. The coaches came and went during the darker years and the club had accumulated debts in the millions.
Further financial trouble was endured in 1997-1998 season when KalPa was without a headline sponsor and organisations were afraid to invest money into the club due to the weak success of the team.
Fall from SM-Liiga
After the 1998-1999 season, KalPa was relegated to the second highest division in Finland, Mestis, after it lost the relegation/promotion playoff series against Pelicans. After the relegation KalPa started to invest heavily into the team and named current team Finland head coach, Jukka Jalonen as its head coach. The team set its goal to rise back to the SM-Liiga in a couple of years time. However, these investments turned out to be costly. KalPa went bankrupt for the second time in its history. Just like with the first one, KalPa was in debt worth millions. Due to the bankruptcy, KalPa fell down to the third highest level in Finland, Suomi-sarja and had to give up on coach Jalonen and the expensive players it had acquired.
During the first year in Suomi-sarja, KalPa’s player material was significantly weaker than its Junior A team, which played in the Junior SM-Liiga. This was an intentional move as KalPa wanted to develop the players in the junior team and keep it in the top flight of Finnish junior hockey.
During the second season of Suomi-sarja, KalPa invested into coaching and soon it was dominating the league. By 2001 KalPa won the Suomi-sarja and won promotion to the second highest league, Mestis.
After the 2002-2003 season in Mestis, Sami Kapanen, Kimmo Timonen and Pasi Kuivalainen became owners of the club, with Kapanen becoming the majority stake holder in the team after buying 50.5% of the shares. Kapanen, Timonen and Kuivalainen were products of the KalPa system and felt indebted to the team for their success. The new owners set a target to have the team back in the top flight of Finnish hockey within three seasons.
NHL Lockout and return to SM-Liiga
The 2004-2005 NHL lockout saw Sami Kapanen, Kimmo Timonen and Timonen’s teammate Adam Hall join the team while it was still playing in Mestis. The addition of the big name players made KalPa nearly invincible as it won 36 games out of 44. During the Mestis playoffs, KalPa held a clean record as it went undefeated to claim the title and saw its six year trek in the lower leagues come to an end.
However, the return was far from successful as it finished bottom of the standings and had a 27 point deficit to Lukko, who finished second from bottom. The story repeated itself in 2006-2007, despite the team improving in light of points and wins. This was not enough and the team was sent to relegation playoffs to fight for its existence in the SM-Liiga.
In 2008-2009, Sami Kapanen returned to the KalPa uniform after announcing his retirement from the NHL. Kapanen said that he was unhappy with the ice time he was receiving in the Philadelphia Flyers’ organisation and that he didn’t fit into Flyers’ head coach John Stevens’ system. During the 08-09 season, KalPa made it into the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. KalPa made it all the way to the semi-finals where it lost to the team that was to be crowned champions, JYP. In the bronze medal finals, KalPa defeated Espoon Blues 2-1 and brought home the second medal in the history of the club.
KalPa Today:
Despite the history of the club, KalPa seems to have shed its reputation as a bottom runner of the league. In 09-10 season, KalPa was second in the regular season and played the best season of its history. However, the regular season success didn’t translate to success after KalPa lost the semi-final battle against HPK and then lost to arch rivals JYP in the bronze medal final.
The current regular season has seen KalPa has been one of the top teams throughout the year, despite some changes in the roster. After the December leg of the Euro-Hockey tour, KalPa’s number one goalie Ari Ahonen moved to Metallurg Magnitogorks in the KHL. KalPa reacted quickly by signing goalie Mikko Koskinen, a prospect from the New York Islanders system.
KalPa achieved a new league record for points after it recorded an impressive 115 points in the regular season, finishing at the top of the standings, an impressive feat from a team who were coached by a coach with no prior SM-Liiga experience.
KalPa is going to be starting its playoff battle for the Finnish championship on Thursday against Espoo Blues.
Contact Janne.Virtanen@prohockeynews.com
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