Antti Pennanen

For the Finnish military officer, see Antti Pennanen (lieutenant general).

Antti Pennanen
Born (1979-02-05) February 5, 1979 (age 45)
Hausjärvi, Finland
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 207 lb (94 kg; 14 st 11 lb)
Position Forward
Played for HPK
Coached for Jukurit
HPK
Playing career 1997–2001
Coaching career 2007–present

Antti Pennanen (born 5 February 1979) is a Finnish former ice hockey player and current head coach for Ilves of the Finnish Liiga and Finland men's national junior ice hockey team. He previously served as the head coach for Jukurit and HPK in the Finnish Liiga.

Playing career

Pennanen made his professional debut for HPK during the 1999–2000 season. He then played for Hyvinkään Ahmat during the inaugural Mestis season in 2000–01.[1]

Coaching career

Pennanen served as an assistant coach for HIFK from 2011 to 2013, and an assistant coach for KalPa from 2013 to 2015.[2] He then served as head coach of Jukurit from 2014 to 2016 and won the Mestis championship in 2015 and 2016. He served as the head coach for HPK from 2016 to 2020.[3] He helped lead HPK to the 2019 Kanada-malja as Liiga champions, and was subsequently awarded the Kalevi Numminen trophy.[4][5]

Pennanen served as an assistant coach for Finland men's national junior ice hockey team that won a gold medal at the 2016 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. He also served as an assistant coach for Finland men's national ice hockey team that won a gold medal at the 2019 IIHF World Championship.[6][7] On 12 February 2019, he was named the head coach for Finland men's national junior ice hockey team for the 2021 and 2022 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.[8] Pennanen was critical of the IIHF following the cancellation of the 2022 World Junior Championship due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stating the tournament was poorly managed.[9][10]

On 5 October 2022, Pennanen was named head coach of Ilves of the Finnish Liiga.[11]

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1997–98 HPK U20 SM 35 4 7 11 26 — — — — —
1998–99 HPK U20 SM 19 2 4 6 30 — — — — —
1999–2000 HPK U20 SM 22 8 8 16 24 — — — — —
1999–2000 HPK SM-l 5 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2000–01 Hyvinkään Ahmat Mestis 32 6 4 10 14 3 0 1 1 2
SM-l totals 5 0 0 0 0 — — — — —

References

  1. ^ "Antti Pennanen". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  2. ^ "UUTINEN: Antti Pennanen siirtyy ensi kaudeksi HPK:n penkin päähän". jukurit.fi (in Finnish). June 20, 2018. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  3. ^ "HPK:n valmentajat kaudelle 2019-2020 - Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho". HPK.fi (in Finnish). January 22, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  4. ^ "Pennanen, Haapanen ja Lehtonen pokkasivat valmentajapalkinnot Jääkiekkogaalassa". HPK.fi (in Finnish). June 12, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  5. ^ "HPK coach "excited and relieved" to win title". eurohockeyclubs.com. May 5, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  6. ^ "Miesten MM-kisat käyntiin perjantaina - Suomen MM-joukkue valittu". leijonat.fi (in Finnish). May 5, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  7. ^ Robenhymer, Julie (December 18, 2020). "The World Juniors Coaches Q&A Series: Team Finland's Antti Pennanen". eprinkside.com. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  8. ^ Merk, Martin (February 12, 2019). "Pennanen to coach Finland U20". IIHF.com. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  9. ^ "Antti Pennanen latasi täyslaidallisen MM-kisajärjestäjien suuntaan: "Olen erittäin vihainen"". is.fi (in Finnish). December 29, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  10. ^ Williams, Thomas (December 30, 2021). "'This was not a COVID problem': Players, coaches blast poor planning of world juniors". yahoo.com. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  11. ^ "Ilves changes head coach – Antti Pennanen starts immediately". ilves.com. October 5, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2022.