KeuPa HT

KeuPa HT

City	Keuruu, Finland
League	Mestis
Founded	1995 (29 years ago) (1995)
Operated	1995–present
Home arena	Keuruu Ice Hall 1200 Capacity
Colours	Blue, Red, White and Black
General manager	Juuso Mörsky
Head coach	Tomas Westerlund
Captain	Juho Koivusaari
Affiliates	JYP Jyväskylä, Vaajakosken Pelikaanit
Website	KeuPa HT Home
Franchise history
1995–present	KeuPa HT
Championships
Mestis	1 (2018)
Suomi-sarja	2 (2012, 2014)
Current season

KeuPa HT are a semi-professional ice hockey team based in Keuruu, Finland. They are members of the second highest league in Finland, Mestis. The club was founded in 1995 in the Finnish fourth division II-Divisioona after the ice hockey club decided to part company with the Keuruu sports club. They play their home games in the Keuruu Ice Hall, which holds 1200 spectators. KeuPa are two time Suomi-sarja champions and one time Mestis champions.

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History

KeuPa HT was born in 1995 after the ice hockey branch of the Keuruu sports club split from the football and ice skating branches. KeuPa kept their traditional name but added "Hockey Team" to the end to differentiate themselves; hence, the abbreviation HT appears at the end of the name.^[1]^{[better source needed]}

The club was promoted to the third division, Suomi-sarja, in 2011–2012 and went on to claim the gold medal and win the third-division championship. By winning, they entered the playoffs with LeKi, KooVee and HCK that year for the right to be promoted to the second division, Mestis. KeuPa finished third in the playoffs and remained in Suomi-sarja, while the other two clubs were promoted to Mestis. HCK, who came second in the playoffs, were promoted only because Wafer-Laser went bankrupt and had to pull out of Mestis.^[2]^{[better source needed]}

In the 2012–2013 season, the club sought to defend their title but could manage only a third-place finish at the conclusion of the season, winning the bronze medal. RoKi won the championship title and qualified for Mestis. KeuPa HT had to settle for another season in the third division after coming close to promotion again. The head coach quit at the end of the season.^[2]

The 2013–2014 season started off badly for the club. They had not been able to find a replacement for their head coach, and the club was in a precarious financial situation, staring at bankruptcy or folding the club up and ceasing operations, which would mean that they would not be able to compete in the Suomi-sarja season. The KeuPa HT players started a fundraising campaign to raise the money needed to keep the club afloat and allow them to compete in the league that year. By season's start, they had managed to raise the needed money, and they began the season on schedule. The club went through a rocky, patchy start to the season but managed to gain momentum at the end of the regular season and just reach the playoff finals. In the playoffs, KeuPa dispatched with RoKi and Bewe Tuuskin to meet FPS (formerly FoPS) of Forssa in the final. KeuPa HT beat FPS in the final and qualified for Mestis for the first time, ending what became a Cinderella season from a very bleak start.^[2]

KeuPa HT went through two head coaches in their first season in the second division in 2014–2015, firstly Jussi Tupamäki then Kari Rautakorpi from 23 February 2015.^[3] The team finished the regular season in 8th position, just missing out on the relegation positions of 9 and 10. Their record for the season was 13 wins and 30 losses with 8 overtime victories and 5 overtime losses for a total of 60 points from 56 matches.^[4]^{[better source needed]}^[5]

Season-by-season-results

Champions	Runners-up	Third Place	Promoted	Relegated

KeuPa HT
Season	League	P	W	OW	OL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Finish	Post season	Cup	Pro/Rel
2008–09	II-divisioona	20	13	2	1	4	151	90	+61	44	3rd	-	-	-
2009–10	II-divisioona	18	18	0	0	0	191	47	+144	54	1st	Champion	-	-
2010–11	II-divisioona	21	15	1	2	3	158	84	+74	49	2nd	Runner-up	-	Promoted
2011–12	Suomi-sarja	22	16	2	0	4	139	68	+71	52	1st	Qualification loss	-	-
2012–13	Suomi-sarja	22	13	1	2	6	100	63	+37	43	3rd	Qualification loss	-	-
2013–14	Suomi-sarja	38	20	0	3	15	165	141	+24	63	7th	Champion	-	Promoted
2014–15	Mestis	56	13	8	5	30	143	217	-74	60	8th	Quarterfinal loss	-	-
2015–16	Mestis	50	19	7	5	19	140	126	+14	76	5th	Bronze game loss	-	-
2016–17	Mestis	50	19	6	3	22	144	156	-12	72	8th	Quarterfinal loss	-	-
2017–18	Mestis	50	30	2	3	15	182	132	+50	97	1st	Champion	Quarterfinal loss	-
2018–19	Mestis	50	18	5	5	22	151	139	+12	69	8th	Runner-up	Runner-up	-
2019–20	Mestis	50	25	5	8	25	189	182	+7	78	6th	Cancelled	3rd Round	-
2020–21	Mestis	31	17	2	2	10	112	102	+10	57	4th	Quarterfinal loss	-	-
2021–22	Mestis	52	22	4	6	20	165	170	-5	80	5th	-	Qualification loss	-

Source:^[6]

Honours

Championships

Mestis

Champions (1): 2017–18

Runners-Up (1): 2018–19

Suomi-sarja

Champions (2): 2011–12, 2013–14

Players

Current roster

Team roster for the 2021–22 Mestis season ^[7]^[8]

KeuPa HT roster - 2021–22 Mestis season
Active Roster		Coaching staff
Goaltenders 35 Juho Ahopelto 35 Sami Suni 70 Samuli Tervo Defencemen 60 Olli Aitola (A) 63 Aleksi Ek 28 Jani Kluuskeri 4 Kimi Kuusela (Loan) 6 Mikko Lahtinen (A) 37 Atro Leppänen 8 Tomi Niku (Loan) 26 Ville Ottavainen (Loan) 4 Eetu Pylkkänen 22 Elias Ruusu (Loan) 26 Santeri Suistio 44 Sakari Turtiainen	Forwards 11 Joni Airo (Loan) 42 Atte Antinaho 8 Niko Himmanen (Loan) 25 Konsta Keteli 90 Juho Koivusaari 7 Janne Kumpulainen 12 Oula Kuure 91 Joonas Larinmaa (A) 47 Niklas Lehikoinen 9 Miro Lehtimäki 88 Justus Mikkonen 85 Tomi Mäntynen (Loan) 20 Tommi Niskanen 73 Valtteri Pihlajamäki (Loan) 94 Joni Piipponen (C) 22 Samuel Salonen 14 Jani Siekkinen 75 Samuel Valkeejärvi (Loan) 17 Veeti Vuorio	Coaches Max Walther Tuomo Riikonen Antti Leskinen Legend (C) Captain (A) Alternate Captain (Loan) Player on loan with club Statistics Average age: 23.4 Average height: 181.2 cm Average weight: 82.7 kg
Last updated on: 13 April 2022
Elite Prospects

Well-known former players

A list of players that have played for KeuPa HT and gone onto play at the top professional level of hockey in Finland or abroad.

Name	League(s)
Joni Lius	SM-liiga; Elitserien; Austria
Olli Palola	SM-liiga; KHL; SHL
Sinuhe Wallinheimo	SM-liiga
Waltteri Lehtonen	SM-liiga; AlpsHL
Taneli Maasalo	ALIH
Petri Pitkänen	AIHL

References:^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14]

Team staff

Current as of 2021–22 Mestis season ^[15]

**KeuPa Staff**
Role	Staff
Head coach	Tomas Westerlund
Assistant coach	Max Walther
Assistant coach	Tuomo Riikonen
Goalkeeping coach	Antti Leskinen
Team manager	Tuomo Riikonen
Equipment manager	Johannes Manni
Physical therapist	Kari Rautakorpi

Leaders

Team captains

All team captains of the club since 2005-06:^[16]

Name	Term
Janne Väliaho	2005–2006
Heikki Virkajärvi	2006–2009
Toni Rautakorpi	2009–2011
Jani Lyytinen	2011–2012
Matias Kiiskinen	2012–2013
Taneli Maasalo	2013–2017
Samuel Salonen	2016–2017
Jani Ollitervo	2016–2017
Markus Jokinen	2017–2018
Waltteri Lehtonen	2017–2019
Joni Piipponen	2019–2021
Juho Koivusaari	2021–Present

Head coaches

All head coaches of the club since 2007-08:^[17]

Name	Term
Kari Rautakorpi	2007–2015
Jussi Tupamäki	2014–2015
Ville Nieminen	2015–2016
Mikko Heiskanen	2016–2018
Niko Härkönen	2018–2019
Niko Eronen	2019–2020
Tomas Westerlund	2020–Present

References

^ Keuruun Pallo (Keuruun ball), Retrieved 2015-04-27
^ ^a ^b ^c KeuPa HT, Retrieved 2015-04-27
^ Ikonen, Petteri (23 February 2015). "KeuPa HT vapautti päävalmentaja Jussi Tupamäen tehtävistään". Mestis.fi. Archived from the original on 20 March 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
^ Mestis season 2014–2015, Retrieved 2015-04-27
^ "Sarjataulukko". Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
^ "KeuPa HT Team History and Standings". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
^ "KeuPa HT 2020-2021 Roster". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
^ "Joukkue" [Team] (in Finnish). keupaht.fi. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
^ "Joni Lius". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
^ "Olli Palola". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
^ "Sinuhe Wallinheimo". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
^ "Waltteri Lehtonen". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
^ "Taneli Maasalo". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
^ "Petri Pitkanen". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
^ "KeuPa HT Team Staff". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
^ "KeuPa HT - Team Captaincy History". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
^ "KeuPa HT - Team Staff History". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 12 April 2022.

External links

v t e Mestis
Teams (2023–24)	FPS Hermes Hokki IPK Ketterä Jokerit Jokipojat KeuPa HT Kiekko-Espoo Kiekko-Vantaa KOOVEE Peliitat RoKi TUTO Hockey
Former teams	Ahmat Espoo United Haukat HCK Jukurit JYP-Akatemia KalPa Kiekko-Laser KooKoo Salamat Sport Titaanit UJK SaPKo HK Zemgale/LLU
Seasons	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Related topics	SM-liiga Suomi-sarja 2. Divisioona Naisten Liiga Naisten Mestis Finland men's national ice hockey team Finland women's national ice hockey team SM-sarja (defunct)
See also: IIHF IIHF Continental Cup IIHF European Champions Cup

This page was last edited on 28 August 2023, at 08:41

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