Ilves and SaiPa have agreed on a player switch. Forward Jarno Koskiranta join Ilves on loan for the remainder of the season and forward Emil Järventie joins SaiPa on a loan contract that runs until the end of the 2023–2024 season.
36-year-old Jarno Koskiranta joins Ilves on loan for the rest of the season. The forward recorded 7 points (1 goal, 6 assists) in 37 games for SaiPa this season and was the teams captain for the third successive season. In total the experienced center has scored 171 points (70 goals, 101 assists) in 330 regular season games and 10 points (9 goals, 1 assist) in 14 playoff games in the Liiga (Finnish top league). He won silver medal in the 2012–2013 season when he played for Tappara.
Koskiranta represented Sibir Novosibirsk and St. Petersburg SKA in the KHL in the 2013–2020 seasons. The forward recorded 149 points (71 goals, 78 assists) in 353 regular season games and 33 points (23 goals, 10 assists) in 96 playoff games and won the KHL championship with SKA in the 2016–2017 season.
The center has played 61 games and recorded 12 points (7 goals, 5 assists) in the Finnish men’s national team. He represented the country in the World Championships in 2013 and 2016, when Finland won silver, and in the Winter Olympics in 2018.
Koskiranta will join the team on Monday and wears the number 40 for Ilves.
– We are happy that SaiPa made our loan deals possible and we get Jarno Koskiranta into our team for the remainder of the season. We wanted to make our center selection ever stronger for the rest of the season and he is a player who can shoulder responsibility reliably in the key moments, says Ilves sports director Timo Koskela.
– As an experienced player Jarno brings leadership and solid two-way game to our team and adds expertise to penalty killing and face-offs. He has a lot of experience in important games and has achieved success in his career. We discussed our expectations and thoughts about his role in detail with Jarno and he joins the team full of motivation.
Emil Järventie joins SaiPa on loan
Forward Emil Järventie, 17, joins SaiPa on loan until the end of the 2023–2024 season. During the first half of the season the product of the Ilves junior academy played on loan at KOOVEE and for the Ilves U20 and U18 teams. Järventie scored 4 points (3 goals, 1 assist) in 16 Mestis (second highest league in Finnish hockey) games, 19 points (8 goals, 11 assists) in 21 games in the U20 league and 4 points (3 goals, 1 assist) in 2 games in the U18 league. The talented forward has also recorded 14 points (6 goals, 8 assists) in 19 games for the Finnish national under-18 team this season.
Ilves and Järventie have a contract that runs until spring 2024 and includes the club’s option for the 2024–2025 season.
– SaiPa showed interest in Emil Järventie and we considered this loan contract as a good deal for all sides. At the same time we were clear that we wanted to hold on to our contract as well. Emil is a very talented young player and our goal is that, from Ilves’ perspective, he will be a more complete player for the possible option season 2024–2025, comments sports director Koskela.
