SaiPa
| SaiPa | |
|---|---|
_logo.svg){kind=logo} | |
| City | Lappeenranta, Finland |
| League | Liiga |
| Founded | 1948 |
| Home arena | Kisapuisto (capacity: 4,820) |
| Colours | Yellow, black |
| General manager | Jussi Markkanen |
| Head coach | Raimo Helminen |
| Captain | Ville Petman |
| Affiliates | Imatran Ketterä (Mestis) |
| Website | saipa |
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Saimaan Pallo (SaiPa) is an ice hockey team in the Finnish Liiga. They play their home games at Kisapuisto in Lappeenranta, Finland. SaiPa has many nicknames, such as "The Sputniks", "Sputnik", "Miracle of the East" and "Eastern Giant."
SaiPa play home games in the yellow shirt, black pants, yellow socks, and a black helmet. SaiPa play away games in mostly the same uniform as the home games, but also have a black version of the jersey.
History
[edit]The team's best achievement is silver in the 2024–25 Liiga season. Previous best result was from the 1965–1966 season, when they won bronze medals for placing third. SaiPa also played in a bronze medal game in the 1998–1999 and 2013–14 seasons, but lost the games to HPK (7–2) and Lukko (3–2).
SaiPa has participated twice in the Champions Hockey League. During the 2014–2015 season, the team survived the quarterfinals, where they lost the return match against Oulun Kärpät. During the 2016–17 season, SaiPa won their initial games by 11 points. Eisbären Berlin and Luleå HF were the runners-up.
SaiPa has produced seven players who have played in the National Hockey League (NHL): Antti Aalto, Jussi Markkanen, Petteri Nokelainen, Petri Skriko, Jussi Timonen, Vesa Viitakoski, and Niklas Bäckström. Jussi Markkanen is also a part owner of the club.
Honours
[edit]Domestic
[edit]
2nd place (1): 2024–25
3rd place (1): 1965–66
Pre-season
[edit]- Runners-up (3): 1958, 1965, 1971
Players
[edit]Current roster
[edit]As of January 17, 2026.[1]
Retired numbers
[edit]| No. | Player | Position | Career |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Lalli Partinen | D | 1959–1969 |
| 8 | Ville Koho | C | 2001–2020 |
| 9 | Petri Skriko | LW | 1979–1984 |
| 20 | Heikki Mälkiä | C | 1975–1986 1988–1992 |
NHL alumni
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ "Team Roster / SaiPa". eliteprospects.com. 17 January 2026. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
External links
[edit]- SaiPa official website (in Finnish)
- SaiPa Fan Club Archived 2006-02-22 at the Wayback Machine (in Finnish)
- Idän Ihme fan site (in Finnish)
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