Jouni Loponen (born July 1, 1971 in Oulu ) is a former Finnish ice hockey player who won several national championships with his teams during his playing days from 1988 to 2008.
Jouni Loponen began his career as an ice hockey player in his hometown in the youth department of Kärpät Oulu . During his time as a junior player at Kärpät he was also active in eight games for the Spokane Chiefs in the Canadian junior league Western Hockey League in the 1988/89 season . From 1990 to 1994 the defender played for the professional team of Kärpät in the I divisioona, the second Finnish division. He then received a contract with JYP Jyväskylä , for which he was on the ice from 1994 to 1996 in the SM-liiga . He then spent two seasons with HV71 in the Swedish Elitserien , before returning to his Finnish homeland, where TPS Turku signed him . With TPS he was Finnish champion three times in a row in the seasons 1998/99 , 1999/2000 and 2000/01 . He was particularly convincing when he won the title in 2001. First he was voted Player of the Month for March and then into the All-Star Team of the SM-liiga. In addition, he received the Pekka Rautakallio trophy as the best defender in the league and the Matti Keinonen trophy as the player with the best plus / minus balance.
From 2001 to 2005 Loponen was again under contract with the HV71 in the Elitserien. With his team he won the Swedish championship in the 2003/04 season . After losing his regular place with the team from Jönköping, he returned to his home club Kärpät Oulu, which in the meantime played again first class. With Kärpät he won the Finnish championship title for the fourth time in his career in the 2006/07 season . Most recently he spent the 2007/08 season with Herning Blue Fox in the AL-Bank Ligaen . With the team he was instant Danish champion and then ended his career at the age of 37.
Jouni Loponen 