Isomäki Ice Hall

Lore & Background

The site began as the Isomäen tekojäärata (Isomäki artificial ice rink), built in 1964, replacing the natural ice of Juhannuslehto. The following year, B-series matches of the World Hockey Championships in Finland were played there. The artificial ice was transformed into an arena in 1971 after Ässät won the championship for the first time. The original arena had a capacity of about 8,000 spectators, with no seats and a partly wooden standing auditorium on three sides. Improvements in the 1970s added the first seats for about 500 people and decent changing rooms; previously teams changed at Pori Stadium and walked to the arena. In spring 1978, an all-time record crowd of an estimated 13,000 (officially reported as 9,364) watched the decisive SM-liiga final between Ässät and Tappara.

The arena underwent major renovations in 1986–1987, 1993, 1998, and 2014–2016. The 1998 renovation replaced the wooden standing auditorium with concrete, added a second floor with restaurant and sanitary facilities, and reduced standing capacity to 2,500 with 4,400 seats. The 2014–2016 renovation upgraded locker rooms, added a three-storey extension, improved restaurants, and reduced standing capacity to about 2,200, bringing total capacity to 6,350. In 2022, the City of Pori bought the arena shares from HC Ässät Pori Oy, making the city the sole owner. The naming rights expired in 2022 and were given to West Creative Oy, making the arena 'West Areena' for the 2022–23 season. In 2023, after a successful season, a new jumbotron with the best image quality in Finland and new sound technology (increasing speakers from ten to 130) were installed, along with more LED screens and a standing section for away fans. Since 2023, the sponsor name has been Enersense Areena.

Reader's Guide

Isomäki Ice Hall is notable as the home of Porin Ässät, a club that won the Finnish championship in 1971, prompting the arena's construction. The arena hosted the 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 2006, and 2013 SM-liiga finals, as well as the 2009 relegation series. Internationally, it hosted the 1976 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, the 1965 Ice Hockey World Championships (Group B), and a 2023 match between Finland and Denmark. The arena's history reflects the evolution of Finnish hockey facilities, from a standing-only structure to a modern venue with seats, video scoreboards, and advanced sound systems. Its capacity has fluctuated over decades, decreasing as standing areas were replaced by seats. The arena also honors retired jerseys of players from Ässät, Karhut, and RU-38, including Antti Heikkilä, Arto Javanainen, and Raimo Kilpiö.

Did You Know?

• The arena was originally an artificial ice rink built in 1964, replacing natural ice at Juhannuslehto.
• In 1978, an estimated 13,000 people watched the decisive SM-liiga final between Ässät and Tappara, though the official count was 9,364.
• On Christmas day 2022, Porin Ässät players accidentally broke a pipe while drilling ice, causing the ice to melt.
• The 2023 jumbotron was reported to have the best image quality in all of Finland.

A Home Since 1971: The Hall and the Club's Identity

Isomäki Ice Hall in Pori, Finland, has served as the permanent home of Porin Ässät since 1971, making it the backdrop for some of the most celebrated moments in Finnish ice hockey. The club itself was born in June 1967 from the merger of Rosenlewin Urheilijat-38 and Porin Karhut, and by the time the hall opened its doors to the team, Ässät was already a force in the SM-sarja. Over the decades, the venue has hosted three Kanada-malja championship celebrations in 1971, 1978, and 2013, as well as the Aaro Kivilinna Memorial Trophy triumph of the 1979–80 season. The hall also witnessed the club's European Cup bronze medal in 1979 and its nine total medals in Finland's top tier, including four silvers and two bronzes. Known colloquially as Pata, Ässät competes in the Liiga, the highest-ranking league in Finland, and the Isomäki Ice Hall remains the stage where that identity is forged every season.

The Secret Merger That Built a Club

The story of Porin Ässät begins not with a single founding act but with a covert negotiation. During the spring and early summer of 1967, leaders of Rosenlewin Urheilijat-38 and Porin Karhut secretly discussed merging their sports operations, keeping the players and staff of both clubs in the dark. The Rosenlew company, which backed RU-38, was seriously considering withdrawing from sports entirely, feeling that hockey did not generate enough positive publicity. Meanwhile, Karhut had poured money into acquiring players until its income could no longer cover its expenses. When an agreement was finally reached, Rosenlew absorbed a portion of Karhut's debts and pledged financial backing for the new team's early years. Vilho Santala, who had brokered the unification, was elected the club's first chairman and gave it the name Porin Ässät. Vesa Antikainen designed the logo, and red, black, and white became the team's colors. The announcement came at the end of June 1967. Yet the early days were turbulent: a heated atmosphere developed between former Karhut and RU-38 players now sharing a locker room, and a full line of national-team-caliber players departed, mostly from the RU-38 side. The first roster leaned heavily on Karhut veterans.

The 1971 Championship: Forged in Moscow

The 1970–71 season remains the defining triumph of the early Ässät era, and its roots trace back to a single signing. Veli-Pekka Ketola, who had spent one season with Jokerit, returned to his home club in Pori, and his arrival ignited a wave of training enthusiasm that rippled through the entire roster. Coach Lasse Heikkilä seized on that energy and took the squad on a training camp to Moscow, an unusual move at the time, partly because Pori simply had no ice available in early autumn. The strategy paid off. Ässät finished third in the regular season behind Jokerit and HIFK, then dominated the final series, losing only one of ten matches to overtake both Helsinki clubs and claim the Kanada-malja by a five-point margin. The forward trio of Erkki Väkiparta, Ketola, and Tapio Koskinen anchored the attack, while Antti Heikkilä and Pekka Rautakallio commanded the defense. Ketola led the entire SM-sarja in scoring with 42 points, splitting them between 25 goals and 17 assists. Captain Raimo Kilpiö led the charge, and goaltender Jorma Valtonen, who appeared in every single game, finished with a .922 save percentage.

Medals, Relegation, and the Long Road Back

Ässät entered the newly established SM-liiga in 1975 as one of its ten founding clubs, a status that underscored the club's standing in Finnish hockey. The 1975–76 season tested that standing immediately: veteran defenseman Pekka Rautakallio departed for North America, and the team leaned on promising youngsters like Tapio Levo in the back and Antero Kivelä between the pipes. The young squad delivered a stunning 14–0 demolition of eventual champions TPS, yet still fell to Tappara in the semi-finals. In the bronze-medal series against HIFK, however, Ässät's hunger proved decisive, and the club took the medal by a 2–0 series score. The 1978 championship followed, and the 1979 European Cup bronze added an international dimension to the trophy cabinet. Yet the path was never straight. For the 1989–90 season, Ässät was relegated to the I-Divisioona, a painful demotion for a club with three league titles in its history. The response was swift: after just one season in the lower tier, the team earned promotion back to the SM-liiga. That resilience—falling and rising within a single year—became part of the club's character, a trait that would echo all the way to the 2013 championship, the third Kanada-malja lifted in Pori.