Raimo Kilpiö

Raimo Kilpiö was a true gentleman player of ice hockey in Finland with an eponymous trophy now awarded to the person who shows the most sportsmanship and good behaviour in the Finnish league. Kilpiö’s career spanned from 1953 until 1977 with him playing for Ilves, RU-38, and Ässät in more than 450 league matches, scoring 492 points. He won the league title six times; four with Ilves (1957–58, 1960, 1962) and one each with RU-38 (1967) and Ässät (1971). He was also the league’s top scorer in 1960 and named the best player in the country in 1961 and 1963.

Kilpiö had a lengthy career with the Finnish national team, playing in 168 matches. He appeared at eight editions of the World Championships and two Olympic Games. At the 1960 Squaw Valley Games he was the top-scorer for Finland with nine goals in six matches. Four years later at the 1964 Innsbruck Games, however, he only managed to find the back of the net on one occasion, in Finland’s 4–0 win against Switzerland.

In 1962 Kilpiö also played football, winning a silver medal in the league with TaPa and playing one match for the national B-Team. In addition to all of the honours he won on the ice as a player, his former team Ässät retired his number 11 jersey, with it being displayed from the ceiling of the rink. Kilpiö was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985.