Ismo Kuoppala

Ismo Kuoppala
Date of birth	March 17, 1975
place of birth	Espoo , Finland
size	179 cm
Weight	85 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Left
Career stations
until 1995	Espoo Blues
1995-1997	Jokerit Helsinki
1997-1998	KalPa Kuopio
1998-2001	Lukko Rauma
2001-2003	Mora IK
2003-2004	Esbjerg IK
2004-2005	Ilves Tampere
2005-2006	Kiekko-Vantaa
2006-2009	Espoo Blues

Ismo Kuoppala (born March 17, 1975 in Espoo ) is a former Finnish ice hockey player .

Career

Ismo Kuoppala began his career as a hockey player in the youth of the Espoo Blues , for whose first team he made his debut in the SM-liiga in the 1993/94 season . After the defender had only played 14 games for the Blues in his first two professional years, he moved to their league rival Jokerit Helsinki in 1995 , with whom he first won the European Cup in the 1995/96 season and became Finnish champion for the first time in his career . In addition, Kuoppala also won the Finnish Junior Championship with the U20 juniors Jokerits. In the 1996/97 season , the left shooter was able to repeat the championship win with Jokerit's professional team. Afterwards, Kuoppala was active for one season for KalPa Kuopio and three seasons for Lukko Rauma before he moved to another European country for the first time in the summer of 2001.

After Kuoppala began the 2001/02 season at AIK Solna in the Swedish Elitserien , he played the following two years for Mora IK in the HockeyAllsvenskan . The Finn then moved to Esbjerg IK in the Danish Superisligaen , where he was Danish champions with his team in the 2003/04 season . He himself was named the best defender in the league. After this success he returned to his Finnish homeland, where he first played for Ilves Tampere for a year . Since the 2005/06 season , Kuoppala has been back under contract with his ex-club Espoo Blues, with whom he became Finnish runner-up in 2008 when he was defeated by his team in the finals against Kärpät Oulu . Following the 2008/09 season , he ended his career.

Achievements and Awards

1996 European Cup win with Jokerit Helsinki 1996 Finnish champion with Jokerit Helsinki 1996 Finnish junior champion with Jokerit Helsinki 1997 Finnish champion with Jokerit Helsinki

2004 Danish champion with Esbjerg IK 2004 Best Defender of the Superisligaen 2008 Finnish runner-up with the Espoo Blues

Web links

• Ismo Kuoppala at hockeydb.com (English)
• Ismo Kuoppala at eurohockey.com
• Ismo Kuoppala at eliteprospects.com (English)