Porin Ässät

The early days of Ässät did not go smoothly after the merger. Moving Karhut and RU-38 players to the same team didn't go without the club executives being gathered for a meeting to cool down the heated atmosphere. The merger of the two top clubs also raised dreams in Pori that one super team will now be added to the city. This was not the case, as one line of WC level players found themselves a new team. Players who left were mainly the players of the previous season's Finnish champion RU-38. The first team of aces thus consisted mainly of Karhut players.[10]

The first games of Ässät in the autumn of 1967 went well and even before the start of the Finnish Championship series, Ässät won the Suomen Cup championship. In the final match played in Savonlinna, SaPKo collapsed.[11] Thanks to the RU-38 championship, Ässät also played in the 1968 European Cup, where it won its first two rounds. In the semi-finals, however, SC Dynamo Berlin advanced to the semi-finals.[10][12]

In its first season in the 1967–1968 SM-sarja, Ässät placed fourth with Rauli Virtanen's coaching. The new club did not receive unreserved support from the people of Pori, as the number of spectators decreased somewhat. The total audience for the first season was 10,000 viewers lower than the audience for the last season of Karhut.[10] In the second season of Ässät the audience numbers started to rise, and the audience numbers already rose to the same level as Karhut had. Lasse Heikkilä, the former coach of Karhut, became the coach for the second season and served as the team's coach until 1974 and later in 1976–1981. In the 1968–1969 season, Ässät were again fourth. For the following season, 1969–1970, Ässät suffered two heavy losses when Veli-Pekka Ketola and Alpo Suhonen left for Jokerit for a year. Ässät finished sixth in the series.[13]

For the season 1970–1971, Ässät got a tough returnee from Helsinki when Veli-Pekka Ketola returned to Pori after playing for one season in Jokerit. Alpo Suhonen also returned to Ässät after Ketola. Ketola's return to his home club gave rise to a huge training enthusiasm in other players as well, and coach Lasse Heikkilä took the team on a training trip to Moscow before the start of the season. The trip to the Soviet Union started training very early, by the standards of the time, because there was no ice on Pori in early autumn.

In the 1970–1971 season Ässät finished third in the series after Jokerit and HIFK. In the final series, everything fell into place, Ässät lost only one of their ten matches and overtook the Helsinki clubs ahead. Ässät's championship was decided before the end of the series. The gold medals were finally secured by a five-point difference to the Jokerit who came in second.

The first championship came under the leadership of the forward trio Erkki Väkiparta - Veli-Pekka Ketola - Tapio Koskinen. Other lines behind No. 1 were also able to provide solutions. There were also big names in the defense, such as Antti Heikkilä and Pekka Rautakallio.[13]

The post-championship periods were more modest for Ässät. Ässät remained the same after the championship season and an arena was given to Pori, but no lasting success was achieved. In the four seasons following the championship season, the club placed in the middle caste of the series and did not seek medals, but there was no threat of relegation either.[14]

Nor was much expected for the period 1975–1976. The worst loss was Pekka Rautakallio's departure for North America. However, promising young people came to Ässät; Tapio Levo filled the gap left by Rautakallio. The net was blocked by the young Antero Kivelä. The young team of Ässät showed their potential in the series by beating the clubs that were predicted to be at top of the series. It was worst experienced by the future champion TPS, who were beaten by Ässät 14-0. However, the access for Ässät to the top four in the playoffs was only decided in the final round against Lukko. In the semi-finals, Ässät challenged Tappara, who advanced to the finals 2-0. In the bronze matches against HIFK, Ässät's hunger for victory was greater and the team took the bronze games 2-0.

At least as good a performance was expected for the following season, 1976–1977, but Ässät remained fifth in the series and thus did not make the playoffs.[15]

The 1977–1978 season again raised hopes of success when Pekka Rautakallio and Veli-Pekka Ketola returned to Ässät from North America. In addition, promising young people played in the club, such as Arto Javanainen, Kari Makkonen, Tapio Levo and Harry Nikander. The aces finished second in the regular season after Tappara and defeated TPS 3–2 in the semi-finals. The final series against Tappara did not start promisingly, as Tappara won the first match in Tampere 8–0. However, Ässät won the rest of the games, and the club achieved its second Finnish Championship. The last match at the Porin jäähalli (now Isomäki Areena) was estimated to have been attended by more than 14,000 spectators, even though only 8,600 spectators should have been allowed into the arena at that time. There were more spectators in the auditorium than in any other previous hockey match played in Finland.[16]

In the early years of the SM-liiga[lower-alpha 2] in the second half of the 1970s, Ässät was one of the league's absolute top teams. The most important player on the team was the captain, center Veli-Pekka Ketola, who had returned from the North American WHA League. Ketola broke the point record in the playoffs at the time.

The season that followed the championship, 1978–1979, went as expected for Ässät in the regular season. The team won it by five points to Tappara. In the semifinals, Ässät knocked out HIFK with a win of 3-0 and advanced to the final against Tappara. Last year's finalists struggled again for the championship. The final series became a thrilling play. Tappara won the first two matches, Ässät the next two and the final series thus stretched to the fifth, decisive match. The match played in Pori ended with Tappara's 2-5 victory, so Ässät was left with silver.

In the following season, 1979–1980, Ässät were nowhere near the previous season in the regular season, finishing fourth. In the semi-finals, TPS was defeated by Ässät 3-1, winning the finals for the third time in a row. HIFK came up against Ässät. HIFK took the championship 3–0, so Ässät were silver medallists again.[17]

After the silver seasons, Ässät suffered bad losses when Veli-Pekka Ketola went back to North America. Tapio Levo also joined the NHL. In addition, Risto Tuomi and Veli-Matti Ruisma went to the Swedish series and Erkki Väkiparta retired. In the following seasons, Ässät placed in the middle caste of the SM-Liiga. For the 1983–1984 season, the team received well-known returnees when Tapio Levo returned from the NHL and Risto Tuomi and Harry Nikander from Sweden. The team was also strengthened by its own juniors, from whom more top players of the future were emerging; In addition to Javanainen and Levo, Kari Takko and Christian Ruuttu, among others. The team placed second in the regular season and beat Oulun Kärpät 3–2 in the semi-finals. In the finals, the opponent was again Tappara. The series was close. Ässät won the first match in overtime but Tappara took the next three. The overtime goal of the decisive match secured Tappara the championship with 3–1 victories.[18]

In the following season, 1984–1985, Ässät survived to the medal games, but still finished fourth. In the next three seasons, 1985–88, the team's success slowed down and Ässät were placed in the middle caste of the SM-liiga. However, access to the top four playoffs was only a few points away each time, so there was no threat of relegation. Ässät also saw the first foreigner in the 1986-87 season, when a Canadian Mark Jooris played in Pori for two seasons.[19]

For the 1988–1989 season, Ässät prepared without major goals. A handful of regular players left the team, and no new high-class players were acquired due to the tight economic situation, but playing time was given to young promises. Sean Toomey, Rejean Boivin and later Risto Tuomi were acquired from abroad to replace Brad Beck, who was acquired to replace this injury. The season started well, but as the series progressed, Ässät sank to the tail end of the series. In the final round, Ässät met Oulun Kärpät in the "jumbo final". The set-up was that with the win, Ässät would rise to tenth above the qualifying line and retain their place without qualifying. In any case, Kärpät had to play the qualification games. Kärpät won the match 2–1 and Ässät were the last in the series, having to qualify for their league place against JoKP.

The qualifiers became a thrilling play. The first qualifying match in Joensuu ended bitterly for Ässät, JoKP won with an overtime goal. Ässät won the next match in Pori, but in Joensuu JoKP won again. Ässät won the fourth match at home again. In the decisive match, the club's veterans Levo, Makkonen and Nikander and a few others gave their all in front of their team, but the Yankee reinforcements acquired unnecessary coolers, and the spirit of the game was not entirely clear to everyone else from outside Pori. JoKP won the match 5–3 and Ässät fell to the I Division.

However, relegation to Division I for the period 1989–1990 raised the hockey boom in Pori as the townspeople stood behind their team. Audience numbers increased from previous league seasons as Ässät's excerpts were followed with interest. For the I Division season, Ässät received top confirmations when Arto Javanainen returned from TPS and Arto Heiskanen from Lukko. Alexei Frolikov and Vladimir Durdin from Riga Dynamo. Matti "Mölli" Keinonen became the coach. The division visit was only for the duration of the season. The aces were superior in the regular season, breaking numerous Division I records and progressing effortlessly to victory and league qualifiers in the series. In the qualifiers, JoKP was met. Ässät won the series 3-0 and returned to the SM-liiga.

With the club's toddler, the fanatical audience in Pori had time to level off due to the team's weak performances, until the puck boom was revived in the 2005–2006 season with the success of Ässät. The team survived fifth in the regular season, with Marko Kivenmäki and Kristian Kuusela as their brightest stars. The team also included enterprising promising young people such as Jesse Joensuu and Leo Komarov. Ässät first surprised Tappara, who was the favorite in the quarterfinals, with a 4–2 match win. In the semi-finals, the champion favorite Oulun Kärpät met. Ässät won the series 3-1 and advanced to the final after a 22-year break. In the final series against HPK, Ässät's efforts were no longer enough, and HPK won the championship 3-1. Winged by surprising success, the Pori hockey boom helped the club rise from years of financial distress.

The 2012–2013 season went differently for Ässät. It started the season strongly, but by the turn of the year had fallen below the playoff line. The team sold its No. 1 center, Stephen Dixon to a KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. At the end of January Ässät started the longest winning streak in their club history, ending only in the last previous round of the regular season with an overtimetime loss against Oulu Kärpät. The standings rose to twelfth to fourth. In the quarterfinals, Ässät won KalPa 4-1. Semifinals against JyP Ässät started with an overtime win when Michael Ryan scored the winning time in 92.51. Ässät won the second match in Pori 2–0 and the third in Jyväskylä 1–4. JyP narrowed the situation with their 1-2 away victory, but Ässät won the fifth match 0-1 and advanced to the finals. Tampereen Tappara won the first final 2–1 after Jukka Peltola scored five seconds before the end of the regular time. The second final match in Pori was won by Ässät 5-1. In the third match, Tappara was better with 3-2 goals, and the winning goal was scored by Niclas Lucenius just one second before the end of the actual game time. Ässät won the fourth match 4-0 in their home arena. In the fifth final match, Ässät took the away victory with goals 1-2. Veli-Matti Savinainen finished the winning goal from Ville Uusitalo's pass in the third overtime in 108.59. The match was the longest final match in SM-liiga history and the third longest in all playoffs.

Ässät won the Finnish Championship after winning Tappara in the sixth final 3–2 with Jyri Marttinen's goal, and at the same time the whole series was won by Ässät 4–2. The Pori team had won their previous championship in 1978. A real generational change was seen after the match, when the captain of the 1978 championship team, Veli-Pekka Ketola, came on the ice to hand over the Kanada malja to captain Ville Uusitalo.

In the period following the championship, Ässät was coached by Pekka Virta. Ässät signed a former NHL forward Niklas Hagman. The team played variedly, being well involved in the playoffs until the November World Championships break. After that, however, a downturn began, from which the team no longer recovered and they ended the season in 12th place in the regular season.

In the 2014–2015 season, Pekka Rautakallio returned to the Ässät. The team started the season with a young team and played in the regular season variably except for the losing streak in October and February. During the fall season, Ässät lost the lead several times in the third set, losing in regular time or overtime. Ässät finished 9th in the regular season and faced SaiPa in the 1st round of the playoffs. SaiPa sent Ässät directly to the summer holidays in two games.

Ässät at the beginning of the 2015–2016 season had to start with a long guest tour. The team clearly picked up after the start of the home games and was well involved in the playoffs until the end of January, when it started to lag behind. Mikael Kotkaniemi replaced Pekka Rautakallio as the coach of the Ässät in mid-February. In the following season, Jyrki Aho took over the lead responsibility for the team.

In the 2016-2017 season, Ässät signed many new players. The team did well, ranking directly to the playoffs for most of the season. At the end of the regular season, however, Ässät were unable to secure a direct playoff spot. In the first round of the playoffs, Tampereen Ilves settled, who sent ässät to the summer holidays with a win of 1-2.

In the 2017-2018 season, Ässät were renewed more. Jesperi Kotkaniemi was put in the Liiga line-up from the U20 league. During the World Championship break in November, Ässät strengthened their team with high-class returnees when Jarno Kärki, who moved to Tappara at the end of the previous season, and Sakari Salminen, who had played abroad for many years, returned. In January, Tommi Taimi returned to Ässät. Ässät were among the top six in the regular season throughout the autumn season, returning to 4th place after the Christmas break. The course of Ässät improved and the team started to win again, finishing in 8th place at the end of the regular season. Ässät sent Lukko directly on a summer holidays with a win of 2–0 and advanced to the semi-finals against Oulun Kärpät. In the series against Kärpät, Ässät were able to challenge the Kärpät, but the Kärpät eventually won the series 4-1.

After Ässät finished 15th (last) place in the 2021-22 season, Ässät started a rebuild by firing their coach, Ari-pekka Selin and hiring Karri Kivi and Jere Härkälä. Ässät signed players considered as top tier players like Jesse Joensuu, Roope Talaja and Jan-Mikael Järvinen. Ässät also picked up some of their own junior players from the U20 league. Ässät also published their future plans like the player budgets.

• Sari Marjamäki (née Fisk) (four-time European champion and six-time World Championship bronze medallist)
• Sofianna Sundelin (Olympic bronze medallist and a World Championship bronze medallist)

Updated April 22, 2022.[20]

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
35		Rasmus Korhonen	G	L	20		Oulu, Finland
-		Niklas Rubin	G	L	26		Kungsbacka, Sweden
-		Verneri Hellmann	D	L	19		Pori, Finland
33		Nikolas Matinpalo	D	R	24		Espoo, Finland
37		Rami Määttä	D	L	20		Pori, Finland
57		Roni Sevänen	D	L	27		Eura, Finland
-		Valtteri Viirret	D	L	19		Ylivieska, Finland
28		Eemeli Virtanen	D	L	20		Pori, Finland
47		Samuli Aaltonen	F	L	22		Uusikaupunki, Finland
21		Niklas Appelgren	C/LW	L	32		Kouvola, Finland
26		Derek Barach	C	R	27		Glenmont, USA
73		Eemil Erholtz	W	R	22		Mikkeli, Finland
29		Lenni Hämeenaho	F	R	18		Kajaani, Finland
44		Jan-Mikael Järvinen	F	R	34		Pirkkala, Finland
6		Jesse Joensuu	LW	L	35		Pori, Finland
19		Patrik Juhola	C	L	19		Ylöjärvi, Finland
15		Valtteri Karnaranta	LW	L	20		Oulu, Finland
-		Jesperi Kaukonen	RW	L	18		Paimio, Finland
16		Feetu Knihti	C	L	20		Kiukainen, Finland
87		Kalle Myllymaa	C	L	20		Pori, Finland
39		Eero Niemi	F	L	20		Pori, Finland
82		Alexander Ruuttu	C	R	30		Chicago, USA
20		Roope Talaja	LW	L	34		Kuopio, Finland
61		Leevi Viitala	RW	R	21		Pomarkku, Finland
10		Jami Virtanen	W	R	22		Pori, Finland

Updated March 13 2022

• 2 - Antti Heikkilä
• 4 - Arto Javanainen
• 11 - Raimo Kilpiö, September 21.2019.
• 12 - Tapio Levo
• 13 - Veli-Pekka Ketola
• 89 - Jaroslav Otevrel[lower-alpha 3]

• Kanada-malja (3): 1970–72, 1977–78, 2012–13
• Runner-up (4): 1978–79, 1979–80, 1983–84, 2005–06
• Bronze (2): 1975–76, 1994–95

Finnish cup:

• Winners (1): 1967

IIHF European Cup:

• Bronze (1): 1978–79

Other awards for the club:

• I-Divisioona winner (it was the second level of ice hockey in Finland): 1989–90

Bold text implies that the player is currently playing in the NHL.

Ässät's goal song is Patasydän by Nuoret vihaiset miehet (played everytime they score). Patasydän is specifically made for Ässät. In the start of every game the arena plays Isomäen legenda by Remix. The song is also made specifically for Ässät. Their entrance music (played when the players come on the ice) is "Touch and go" from Emerson, Lake & Powell. Ässät also uses different rock music like Hells Bells from AC/DC.

• 
  "Patalogo"

Ässät's Home and away uniforms

Ässät also has an additional black-red uniform used rarely.[24]

Ässät's has a fan organization "Pataljoona" (Finnish for battalion).[25][26]