Ilves legend and 1948–1968 Finnish hockey great Yrjö Hakala, 91, has passed away forever.
A hockey player who has performed feats in domestic and foreign hockey rinks Yrjö Hakala91, died unexpectedly on a swimming trip to his cottage beach last week, Saturday, July 15.
One of the greatest Finnish ice hockey players of all time was, according to those close to him, an athletic and fit man of steel until the end, who, for example, was skiing for hours on the slopes of Ylläs last March.
Hakala is a six-time Finnish ice hockey champion (1950, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1961) and a record 15-time World Championship medalist. He played in the SM series for twenty seasons.
Hakala’s breeding club was Tampereen Ilves, in whose ranks he won, among other things, three golds. Yrjö Hakala played in the famous H chain at the time, Aarne Honkavaara and Kalle Havilinna.
In addition, Hakala represented HPK and TBK/Tappara at the club level, where they won three championships. While playing in Tappara, he switched to defender. In the final years, Hakala represented Lappeenranta’s SaiPa.
Forward Hakala represented Finland in the 1952 Oslo and 1960 Squaw Valley Olympic bowls, and served as captain of the Lions in the late 1950s.
In two World Cup tournaments (Krefeld 1955 and Moscow 1957) Hakala was the Lions’ best scorer. In 1955 and 1958, he was chosen as the best ice hockey player in Finland.
“Yte” from Tampere is the youngest player ever to appear in the national men’s ice hockey team. Hakala was 16 years, 9 months and 9 days old when she debuted in Leijon. In Hakala’s national team career, a total of 129 matches and eight honor competitions were marked.
In 1967, Yrjö Hakala made puck history together Rocks– with his son. At that time, it was only the first time that father and son were seen in Kaukalo when they played in the same SM series match. The duo excelled as SaiPa’s pack couple.
After his playing career, Hakala worked as SaiPa’s coach for five seasons. His list of merits can also include the victory in the points exchange and goal kingship of the SM series, as well as one Finnish championship in field hockey.
The under-20 ice hockey championship is awarded annually Yrjö Hakala awardwhich is given to the league’s best rookie.