Saimaan Pallo (SaiPa) is an ice hockey team in the Finnish Liiga. They play their home games at Kisapuisto in Lappeenranta, Finland.

SaiPa has many nicknames, such as "The Sputniks", "Sputnik", "Miracle of the East" and "Eastern Giant."

SaiPa play home games in the yellow shirt, black pants, yellow socks, and a black helmet.

SaiPa play away games in mostly the same uniform as the home games, but also have a black version of the jersey.

History

The team's best achievement is silver in the 2024–25 Liiga season. Previous best result was from the 1965–1966 season, when they won bronze medals for placing third. SaiPa also played in a bronze medal game in the 1998–1999 and 2013–14 seasons, but lost the games to HPK (7–2) and Lukko (3–2).

SaiPa has participated twice in the Champions Hockey League. During the 2014–2015 season, the team survived the quarterfinals, where they lost the return match against Oulun Kärpät. During the 2016–17 season, SaiPa won their initial games by 11 points. Eisbären Berlin and Luleå HF were the runners-up.

SaiPa has produced seven players who have played in the National Hockey League (NHL): Antti Aalto, Jussi Markkanen, Petteri Nokelainen, Petri Skriko, Jussi Timonen, Vesa Viitakoski, and Niklas Bäckström. Jussi Markkanen was a part owner of the club until may 2024.

Honours

Domestic

Liiga

  • 2nd place (1): 2024–25
  • 3rd place (1): 2025–26

SM-sarja

  • 3rd place (1): 1965–66

Pre-season

Finnish Cup

  • Runners-up (3): 1958, 1965, 1971

Players

Current roster

<small>As of January 17, 2026.</small>

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thumb|300px|SaiPa's bronze medal team 1965–1966

thumb|200px|[[Jarno Koskiranta playing for SaiPa in 2010]]

Retired numbers

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

|+ style= "background:#FFFFFF;border-top:#fee200 5px solid;border-bottom:#070605 5px solid;" | SaiPa retired numbers

|-

! width=40px | No.

! width=130px |Player

! width=40px |Position

! width=150px |Career

|-

| 3 || Lalli Partinen || D || 1959–1969

|-

| 8 || Ville Koho || C || 2001–2020

|-

| 9 || Petri Skriko || LW || 1979–1984

|-

| 20 || Heikki Mälkiä || C || 1975–1986<br>1988–1992

|}

NHL alumni

  • Antti Aalto
  • Niklas Bäckström
  • Frank Banham
  • Richard Lintner
  • Jussi Markkanen
  • Dale McTavish
  • Jarmo Myllys
  • Petteri Nokelainen
  • Antti Pihlström
  • Martin Richter
  • Petri Skriko
  • Jussi Timonen
  • Shayne Toporowski
  • Vesa Viitakoski

References

  • SaiPa official website
  • SaiPa Fan Club
  • Idän Ihme fan site