Jouni Loponen
Jouni Loponen ( born July 1, 1971 in Oulu ) is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey player who has in his time won from 1988 to 2008 multiple national championships with his teams.
Career
Jouni Loponen began his career as a hockey player in his hometown in the junior department of Kärpät Oulu. During his time as a junior player at Kärpät he was in the 1988/89 season also active in eight games for the Spokane Chiefs in the Canadian junior Western Hockey League. From 1990 to 1994 the defender played for the first team of Kärpät in the I divisioona, the Finnish second division. He subsequently received a contract with JYP Jyväskylä, for the SM- liiga in he was on the ice from 1994 to 1996. He then spent two seasons with HV71 in the Swedish Elitserien, before he returned to his native Finland, where he undertook TPS Turku. With TPS, he was in seasons 1998/99, 1999/2000 and 2000/01, three consecutive times Finnish Champion. Especially with the last title win in 2001 he was able to convince. First, he was voted player of the month of March and then in the All-Star team of the SM - liiga. In addition, he received the Pekka - Rautakallio Trophy as the league 's best defenders and the Matti - Keinonen trophy as a player with the best plus / minus balance.
From 2001 to 2005 was Loponen again when HV71 in Elitserien under contract. With his team, he won the Swedish championship title in the 2003/04 season. After he had lost his place in the team from Jönköping, he returned to his hometown club Kärpät Oulu, who played first-class again in the meantime. With Kärpät he won in the 2006/07 season for the fourth time in his career, the Finnish championship. Most recently, he spent the 2007/08 season in Herning Blue Fox in the AL -Bank Ligaen. With the team he immediately became Danish champion, and then finished at the age of 37 years of his career.
Awards and achievements
- 2001 - Pekka Rautakallio Trophy
- 2001 Matti - Keinonen Trophy
- 2004 Swedish Champion with HV71
- 2007 Finnish Champion with Kärpät Oulu
- 2008 Danish champion with Herning Blue Fox