Kari Harila

Kari Harila
Date of birth	April 15, 1968
place of birth	Oulu , Finland
size	186 cm
Weight	88 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Left
Career stations
until 1988	Kärpät Oulu
1988-1996	TPS Turku
1996-1998	Malmo Redhawks
1998-1999	Södertälje SK
1999-2000	TPS Turku

Kari Harila (born April 15, 1968 in Oulu ) is a former Finnish ice hockey player who won numerous titles during his playing days from 1985 to 2000.

Career

Kari Harila began his career as an ice hockey player in his hometown in the youth department of Kärpät Oulu , for whose professional team he made his debut in the SM-liiga , the country's top division, in the 1987/88 season . He remained pointless and goalless in five games. The defender then moved to Kärpät's league rivals TPS Turku . With his new club he was very successful both nationally and internationally in the following years. In 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993 and 1995 he won the Finnish championship title with his team and was runner-up with his team in 1994 and 1996. At European level he took second place in the European Cup in 1990 and 1994 with TPS , and in 1993 he even won the European Cup with the team. Parallel to the game operation with TPS, he ran in the 1994/95 season in two games in the second-rate I-divisioona . In the 1995/96 season he was team captain in Turku.

For the 1996/97 season Harila moved to the Malmö Redhawks in the Swedish Elitserien . In this he was a regular player for two years and also began the 1998/99 season in Malmö, before he spent most of the season in the then second-rate Division 1 at Södertälje SK . For the 1999/2000 season , the Finn returned to his long-time former club TPS Turku, which he led to another championship title as team captain. Internationally, he took third place in the European Hockey League with Turku . He then ended his career at the age of 32.

International

For Finland , Harila took part in the junior division at the U18 European Junior Championship in 1986 and the U20 World Junior Championship in 1988 . In the senior sector, he was in his country's squad at the 1993 World Cup . At the U18 European Championship in 1986 he won the title with his team, at the U20 World Cup in 1988 he won the bronze medal with his team.

Achievements and Awards

1989 Finnish champion with TPS Turku 1990 Finnish champion with TPS Turku 1990 2nd place in the European Cup with TPS Turku 1991 Finnish champion with TPS Turku 1993 Finnish champion with TPS Turku 1993 European Cup win with TPS Turku

1994 Finnish runner-up with TPS Turku 1994 2nd place in the European Cup with TPS Turku 1995 Finnish champion with TPS Turku 1996 Finnish runner-up with TPS Turku 2000 Finnish champion with TPS Turku 2000 3rd place in the European Hockey League with TPS Turku

International

• 1986 gold medal at the U18 European Junior Championship
• 1988 bronze medal at the U20 World Junior Championship

statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Elitserien main round	3	97	13	17th	30th	99
Elitserien Playoffs	1	4th	0	0	0	4th
SM liiga main round	10	346	36	75	111	210
SM liiga playoffs	9	84	12	14th	26th	100

Web links

• Kari Harila at hockeydb.com (English)
• Kari Harila at eliteprospects.com (English)