Tampere Hockey Route

The stairs on the southern slope of the Pyynikki ridge that ascend to the observation tower at the top area are a challenge that can show you what you are made of.

Ice hockey was first played in Tampere on an ice rink in front of Joselininniemi point. A local leather manufacturer, Yrjö Salminen, brought equipment for ice hockey, a new sport, from his travels in Canada. On Boxing Day 1926, at 10 a.m., he threw the equipment onto the ice and the young athletes from the clubs Tampereen Pyrintö and Tampereen Palloilijat tried it out. On 5 February 1928, the first ice hockey match between Finnish teams was played in the same place between Tampereen Palloilijat (TaPa) and Helsingin Palloseura (HPS).

The first artificial ice rink in Finland opened in Koulukatu in the Kaakinmaa district of Tampere in November 1956. There had been a playing field known as the Mariankatu field on the same plot of land previously, and it used to be frozen over by the Ilves club in wintertime from 1934. The rink with high boards
was completed in Koulukatu in December 1945 on the site of the current ice rink. The surplus cooling capacity from the nearby Pyynikki brewery made it possible to maintain the artificial ice rink cost-efficiently. The opening ceremony featured a quick tournament between the Tampere teams playing in the championship series, i.e., Ilves, TK-V and Tappara. When an indoor ice stadium was completed in Hakametsä, the main league teams from Tampere moved their activities there.

In January 1941, the City of Tampere opened a new ice hockey rink in the Southern Park, Eteläpuisto in Finnish. People did not care it was wartime and equipment was hard to come by, the new rink created a hockey boom in Tampere. There were originally no stands for spectators and the rink had low boards, which posed a hazard for players and spectators alike. The wooden stands built later proved to be lacking in capacity, as there was great enthusiasm for ice hockey among the people of Tampere. In the winter of 1971, the Ilves women’s team also started training in the Eteläpuisto ice rink.

The exhibition at Finland Hockey Hall of Fame displays the story of ice hockey in Finland from its beginnings to the present day. On display are all the World Championship trophies won by the Finland national team and Finland’s most coveted challenge trophy, the Canada Cup. The greatest Finnish ice hockey legends adorn the walls of the Hockey Hall of Fame. To crown the experience, you can test your own goaltending and shooting skills in simulators. Finland Hockey Hall of Fame is located in the Vapriikki Museum Centre.

In Tampere, ice hockey entered a new era when the Tampere Deck Arena, known as Nokia Arena after its main sponsor, designed by American architect Daniel Libeskind, was completed in December 2021. It served as the main venue for the 2022 World Championships. Tampere legends Lasse Oksanen, Risto Jalo, Jukka Tammi, Timo Susi, Janne Ojanen and Timo Jutila got to test the ice in the new arena. League teams Tappara and Ilves played their first match in the Nokia Arena on 3 December 2021. In addition to ice hockey matches, the arena is also used for other sport and entertainment events and concerts by top artists.

A condition for the 1965 Ice Hockey World Championships in Finland was that an indoor ice stadium be built for the tournament. When Helsinki took their time thinking about it, the people of Tampere took the lead, and the first indoor ice stadium in Finland was opened on 29 January 1965 in Hakametsä. Training rinks were also built on the site in 1974 and 1995.