Ilves is celebrating and honoring its legends who have made significant contributions to the club history. These people are to be inducted into the newly founded Ilves Hockey Legends Hall of Fame. Ceremonies are held in Hakametsä during the ongoing season and the season 2020-2021. After the next season, hall of fame inductions will continue in the Tampere Deck Arena.
There are a number of players, coaches and other members of the organization without whom Ilves would never have become one of the most successful ice hockey teams in Finland. In honor of these people, Ilves will be holding ceremonies to induct them into the team of Ilves Hockey Legends. The first induction ceremony takes place in Hakametsä on Thursday the 23rd of January 2020 before the Ilves-Kärpät game. The next ceremony will be held on Saturday the 7th of March 2020 when Ilves is playing against HIFK.
While Ilves will continue the tradition of naming honorees in the upcoming seasons, the season 2020-2021 will be nostalgic for Ilves. These will be the final games in the legendary Hakametsä arena before the team will be moving into the brand-new Tampere Deck Arena in the season 2021-2022. Year 2021 marks also a momentous chapter in the history of Ilves as the organization will then be celebrating its 90th anniversary.
Ilves-Hockey Ltd has established a separate selection committee responsible for the nominations for the induction into the Ilves Hockey Legends Hall of Fame. The committee is comprised of the president Jyrki Seppä, the vice-president Erkki Lagerstam and the secretary Kimmo Leinonen as well as the members Raimo Helminen, Seppo Hiitelä, Jukka Hirsimäki, Jarmo Huhtala, Marianne Ihalainen, Risto Jalo, Timo Peltomaa and Jari Vainio.
Thursday, 23rd of January 2020 – Ilves vs Kärpät
List of honorees:
Pentti Isotalo
Lasse Oksanen
Reijo Hakanen
Pekka Leimu
Risto Siltanen
Raimo Helminen
Marianne Ihalainen
Niilo Tammisalo (15.10.1894 – 5.2.1982)
Members of the Tiitola family
Juhani Linkosuo (22.6.1923 – 27.5.1980)
Aarne Honkavaara (7.6.1924 – 22.3.2016)
Jarmo Wasama (2.12.1943 – 2.2.1966)
Jorma Peltonen (11.1.1944 – 30.4.2010)
The honorees for the next ceremony on Saturday, 7th of March will be announced in February. Ilves will provide more detailed information regarding the arrangements of the events closer to the games.
