Ilves-Hockey Oy and KOOVEE Hockey Oy have agreed to continue their cooperation, which started three years ago. The new contract of the Tampere-based clubs covers the 2022–2024 seasons and includes Ilves’ option for the 2024–2025 season.
Ilves and KOOVEE started their cooperation in the summer of 2018. The cooperation has enabled effective player monitoring and player movement between Liiga and Mestis during the season, which has served both organizations excellently.
– The contract extension and continuing Mestis cooperation with KOOVEE are fantastic news. This unique opportunity allows us to continue to develop and control our young players daily training and overall development towards permanent Liiga players here in Tampere and Mestis, says Ilves sports director Timo Koskela.
– As an organization we value the cooperation with KOOVEE highly and believe that young, elite players of the future see our player path as a very interesting option in the future as well. Several Ilves players of recent years have represented KOOVEE in the Mestis at some point in their career. Some of them have already moved forward on their career, but KOOVEE has played a big part in the development of Roby Järventie, Miro Nalli, Eetu Päkkilä, Eetu Mäkiniemi and Santeri Hatakka among others, says Koskela.
Pekka Hemmilä, the CEO of KOOVEE Hockey Oy, is also delighted that the well-functioning cooperation continues.
– We are very happy and proud that, in cooperation with Ilves, we can continue to develop our organization’s daily routines on the Mestis level and Ilves players towards bigger leagues. The cooperation with Ilves has been very productive for years. Most of all, the extension of the agreement gives players an excellent opportunity to develop in Tampere, says Hemmilä.
