1.
Finland
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Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. A peninsula with the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, the country has borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north. Estonia is south of the country across the Gulf of Finland, Finland is a Nordic country situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia. Finlands population is 5.5 million, and the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region,88. 7% of the population is Finnish people who speak Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages, the second major group are the Finland-Swedes. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe, Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 311 municipalities, and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, from the late 12th century, Finland was an integral part of Sweden, a legacy reflected in the prevalence of the Swedish language and its official status. In the spirit of the notion of Adolf Ivar Arwidsson, we are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, let us therefore be Finns, nevertheless, in 1809, Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1906, Finland became the nation in the world to give the right to vote to all adult citizens. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Finland declared itself independent, in 1918, the fledgling state was divided by civil war, with the Bolshevik-leaning Reds supported by the equally new Soviet Russia, fighting the Whites, supported by the German Empire. After a brief attempt to establish a kingdom, the became a republic. During World War II, the Soviet Union sought repeatedly to occupy Finland, with Finland losing parts of Karelia, Salla and Kuusamo, Petsamo and some islands, Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and established an official policy of neutrality. The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics during the Cold War era, Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. It rapidly developed an advanced economy while building an extensive Nordic-style welfare state, resulting in widespread prosperity, however, Finnish GDP growth has been negative in 2012–2014, with a preceding nadir of −8% in 2009. Finland is a top performer in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, a large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, though freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Finnish Constitution. The first known appearance of the name Finland is thought to be on three rune-stones. Two were found in the Swedish province of Uppland and have the inscription finlonti, the third was found in Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. It has the inscription finlandi and dates from the 13th century, the name can be assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, which is mentioned first known time AD98. The name Suomi has uncertain origins, but a candidate for a source is the Proto-Baltic word *źemē, in addition to the close relatives of Finnish, this name is also used in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian
2.
Ice hockey
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Ice hockey is a contact team sport played on ice, usually in a rink, in which two teams of skaters use their sticks to shoot a vulcanized rubber puck into their opponents net to score points. Ice hockey teams usually consist of six each, one goaltender. A fast-paced, physical sport, ice hockey is most popular in areas of North America, Ice hockey is the official national winter sport of Canada, where the game enjoys immense popularity. In North America, the National Hockey League is the highest level for mens hockey, the Kontinental Hockey League is the highest league in Russia and much of Eastern Europe. The International Ice Hockey Federation is the governing body for international ice hockey. The IIHF manages international tournaments and maintains the IIHF World Ranking, worldwide, there are ice hockey federations in 74 countries. Ice hockey is believed to have evolved from simple stick and ball games played in the 18th and 19th century United Kingdom and these games were brought to North America and several similar winter games using informal rules were developed, such as shinny and ice polo. The contemporary sport of ice hockey was developed in Canada, most notably in Montreal, some characteristics of that game, such as the length of the ice rink and the use of a puck, have been retained to this day. Amateur ice hockey began in the 1880s, and professional ice hockey originated around 1900. The Stanley Cup, emblematic of ice hockey club supremacy, was first awarded in 1893 to recognize the Canadian amateur champion, in international competitions, the national teams of six countries predominate, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States. Of the 69 medals awarded all-time in mens competition at the Olympics, in the annual Ice Hockey World Championships,177 of 201 medals have been awarded to the six nations. In Russia and the Ukraine, where hockey can also refer to bandy, the name hockey has no clear origin. The English historian and biographer John Strype did not use the word hockey when he translated the proclamation in 1720, the 1573 Statute of Galway banned a sport called hokie—the hurling of a little ball with sticks or staves. A form of this word was thus being used in the 16th century, though much removed from its current usage. According to the Austin Hockey Association, the word derives from the Scots Gaelic puc or the Irish poc. The blow given by a hurler to the ball with his caman or hurley is always called a puck. Stick-and-ball games date back to pre-Christian times, in Europe, these games included the Irish game of hurling, the closely related Scottish game of shinty and versions of field hockey. IJscolf, a game resembling colf on a surface, was popular in the Low Countries between the Middle Ages and the Dutch Golden Age. It was played with a curved bat, a wooden or leather ball
3.
Centre (ice hockey)
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The centre in ice hockey is a forward position of a player whose primary zone of play is the middle of the ice, away from the side boards. Centres have more flexibility in their positioning and are expected to cover more ice surface than any other player, centres are ideally stronger, faster skaters who can back check quickly from deep in the opposing zone. Generally, centres are expected to be gifted passers more so than goal scorers and they are also expected to have exceptional ice vision, intelligence, and creativity. They also generally are the most defensively oriented forwards on the ice, centres usually play as part of a line of players that are substituted frequently to keep fresh and keep the game moving. First-liners are usually the top players, although some top players make the line to allow for offensive scoring opportunities. Centres are required to cover much of the ice in all three zones, where the centre tends to play in the offensive zone is usually a matter of coaching and personal preference. Centres are responsible for keeping the flow of the moving, and generally handle. Because of this, most good centres tend to score rather than goals because the play goes through them as they try to find open teammates. Because the range of offensive styles teams like to use, exactly how centres are used in the zone is as varied as the players themselves. Generally the centres role on offence is to move the offence through himself, setting up other players and they roam around most areas of the ice in the zone and have a lot of freedom in decision making. They are also expected to constantly be in motion causing defenders to have a time tracking them. Zone Entry The matter of bringing the puck in the zone generally is accomplished in two ways, the first involves the teams best puck carrier using his speed and quickness to cross the blue line with the puck and set up the offence. Once the puck is freed the offence can then set up as normal, behind the net When a centres winger is being attacked along the boards, the centre can take position behind the net to receive the pressured wingers pass. Behind the net is a place for some centres to play. It is a difficult position to defend because it forces the opposing defencemen to leave the front of the net. It also gives the centre a view of the ice. From here the centre has clear passing lanes and minimizes the distance, in the slot Many centres use their mobility and freedom to take advantage of the slot area, the area in between the faceoff dots, about 5 to 15 feet from the goal. The slot area is notorious goalscoring territory because of its proximity to the net, centres like this area because of its openness
4.
SM-liiga
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The Liiga, known as SM-liiga from 1975 to 2013, and colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. As of March 2008, it is ranked by the IIHF as the second strongest league in Europe and it was created in 1975 to replace the SM-sarja, which was fundamentally an amateur league. The SM-liiga is not directly overseen by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, SM is a common abbreviation for Suomen mestaruus, Finnish championship. On 9 August 2013, the dropped the SM. In the 2011–12 season there were 14 teams, the league was opened in 2005 and allowed KalPa to get a promotion. In 2009 a new system was introduced and it includes the last placed SM-liiga team facing the Mestis champion in a best of seven playout series, the SM-liiga was constituted in 1975 to concentrate the development of top level Finnish ice hockey, and pave the way towards professionalism. Its predecessor, the SM-sarja, being a competition, had its disadvantages. One of the problems was that the governing of the SM-sarja was based on the annual meeting of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Since all clubs registered under the Finnish Ice Hockey Association had the right to vote, therefore, the concentrated development of top-level Finnish ice hockey by the motivated and financially capable clubs proved arduous. The new SM-liiga was to be run by a board consisting of its participating clubs only, the SM-sarja was also outdated on its own, as it was run according to amateur principles. Clubs were not supposed to pay their players beyond compensation for lost wages, however, by the 1970s many clubs were already run like businesses and recruited players through a contract of employment, paying their wages secretly and often evading taxes. However, in 1974, accounting reform in Finland extended book-keeping standards to sports clubs. The SM-liiga was to allow wages for players, and clubs were put under a tighter supervision. They were to establish their own association for SM-liiga ice hockey only, separating their commitments from junior activities, copies of all player contracts were to be sent to the SM-liiga to provide players with adequate security, such as insurance and pensions. The SM-sarja had other limits for players, according to amateur ideals, no player could represent more than one club within one season. To discourage trading, a system of quarantine was in force, the SM-liiga stripped the limitations for players, replaced quarantine with a then-modest transfer payment, and introduced the transfer list. Players wanting a transfer were to sign up, and the SM-liiga would distribute the right of negotiations to clubs, in practice the list was not successful, as both parties often worked their way around the formalities. These changes led to a transition towards professional ice hockey as the league became semi-professional
5.
Mikkelin Jukurit
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Mikkelin Jukurit is an ice hockey team in the SM-liiga. They play in Mikkeli, Finland, at the Kalevankankaan jäähalli, the team has won 7 Mestis championships. Mikkelin Jukurit was founded in 1970, the season of 1998-99 was a turning point for the team, when Matti Turunen became the executive director and Risto Dufva from Jyväskylä became head coach. In 1999–2000, they won their first championship in the newly established Suomi-sarja league, when Jukurit had won a fourth championship in spring 2006, Risto Dufva left the team
6.
Amur Khabarovsk
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Hockey Club Amur, commonly referred to as the Amur Khabarovsk, is a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Khabarovsk. They are members of the Chernyshev Division of the Kontinental Hockey League, located in the Russian Far East, the team takes its name from the Amur River, and plays its home games at the Platinum Arena. Amur Khabarovsk was founded in 1966 as SKA Khabarovsk, it adopted its current name in 1996. By its location in the Russian Far East, the team is pretty isolated from other team in the KHL, making rivalries difficult. Still, the team is very popular among Khabarovsk citizens, and despite its poor results. For a long time a lower division dweller, Khabarovsk won the championship of the Soviet League Division 3 in 1989, in 1996, Khabarovsk promoted to the Russian Superleague. A relegation to the Vysshaya Liga occurred in 2004 when the company that funds the club had financial difficulties. The Tigers could promote back to the top level in 2006 and that same financial crisis forced the teams reserve squad, the Golden Amur Khabarovsk, to withdraw from the Asia League where it played for the 2004-05 season. The team could finish the season and take part in the playoffs, however, they finished third in season standings. In 2008, Khabarovsk was one of the 24 founding members of the Kontinental Hockey League, the team played the leagues inaugural game on September 2 against Dinamo Riga at home in front of a sell-out crowd of 7,100 people. Unfortunately for the fans, their team lost 4-2 to the Latvian side, Riga and the Tigers were playing back-to-back games in Khabarovsk, however, and on the second match, Amur won 7-6 in a tied game that went to shootouts. But the 2008-09 didnt prove to be successful for the Tigers. The team was plagued with injuries - in October only,11 players were side-lined, including imports Kyle Wanvig, murleys signing didnt prove beneficial for Amur though, as he only contributed 8 points to a fairly impotent offence that scored only 111 goals. Veterans Oleg Belkin and Peter Nylander were Amurs top goal scorers with 11 goals each, Amurs defence was better, with regular defencemen Vasily Turkovsky and Viktor Kostyuchenok even managing to finish the season with a +3 and +2 record, respectively. But overall, the season was disappointing for the Tigers, with a 20th place,15 wins and 60 points, Amur finished 21st, out of playoffs again, this time again with 60 points and only 12 wins in regular time. All in all, its only 129 goals that the team scored,18 better than the previous season, Oleg Belkin had to miss the whole season, while Peter Nylander left the team after ten game to go back in Sweden, joining Timrå IK of the Elitserien. The defence was not as solid as the season, with Turkovsky retired. The result was 187 goals against,29 more than the previous season, former NHL veteran and Stanley Cup winner Nolan Pratt ended up being the fourth defenceman on the team in icetime and finished the season with 11 points and a -14 +/- rating
Finland