Aarne Honkavaara

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


played_for = SM-liiga
Ilves
IHL
Sarnia Sailors
position = Forward
shoots = Left
height_ft = 6
height_in = 0
weight_lb = 187
nickname = "Dynamo", "Mister Hockey"
nationality = FIN
birth_date = birth date and age|1924|6|7|mf=y
birth_place = Tampere, FIN
career_start = 1943
career_end = 1952
1956 – 1958

Aarne Honkavaara (born June 7 1924 in Tampere, Finland) is a former Finnish ice hockey player and coach.

Playing career

Aarne Honkavaara played his first game of Ice hockey when he was 12 years old. The team which he represented was Tampereen Kisa-Veikot.

Honkavaara participated in the Continuation War between 1942 - 1944 and played his first actual SM-sarja game in 1944 against HSK. Honkavaara played for Ilves, which was along with TBK one Tampere's top teams.

Honkavaara played his entire career for Ilves with the exception of a short visit Canada where Honkavaara played in two Exhibition games for Sarnia Sailors.

Honkavaara's playing career ended in 1953 when he broke his shin after a Polish player fell on to it during a National Team match between Finland and Poland.

After Retiring, Honkavaara however made a two-season return to playing staff while he was the head coach for Ilves in 1956. Honkavaara re-retired in 1958 after he played a single game during his second season after comeback.

Coaching career

After retiring as a Full-time player, Honkavaara went on to coach Ilves to three Championships and one Silver.

Honkavaara also was the National Team Coach of Finland between 1954 and 1959.

International career

Being one of the top players in Finland at the time, Honkavaara naturally was part of the Finnish national team.

Honkavaara played 47 games for Finland and scored 46 goals.

International statistics

Career Statistics

Bibliography

* Dynamo, ISBN 951-98557-5-0 (Book in Finnish)

External links

*Eurohockey|8441
*http://kampanja.veikkaus.fi/latkalegendat/ilves_1.html Aarne Honkavaara profile in "Lätkä Legendat" (Finnish for Hockey Legends), page in Finnish