Tartu Välk 494
CityTartu, Estonia
LeagueCoolbet Hokiliiga
1994–present
Founded1994 (1994)
Home arenaLõunakeskus Ice Hall
(capacity: 600[1])
Colours   
Head coachAlexei Bogdanov[2]
WebsiteTartu Välk 494
Franchise history
1994–2007Tartu Välk 494
2007–2018Tartu Kalev-Välk
2018–Tartu Välk 494
Uniform

Tartu Välk 494 is an ice hockey team located in Tartu, Estonia, and playing in the Coolbet Hokiliiga, the top tier of ice hockey in Estonia. They play home games at the Lõunakeskus Ice Hall.

History

Tartu Välk 494 was founded in April 1994,[3] and the team won their first Meistriliiga Championship in 1997.[4] Since then, team have gone on to win the league a further 13 times,[4] with the most recent victory coming in 2022.[5] In addition, they have twice won the now-defunct Estonian Cup, in 1997 and 1998.[6][7]

By performing well in the Meistriliiga, Välk 494 have subsequently represented Estonia in continental competition on several occasions, initially during the 1997–98 IIHF Continental Cup where they finished 3rd in the group, after suffering losses to Latvian side Juniors Riga and the Ukrainian Sokil Kyiv, but they did manage a victory over Romanian outfit SC Miercurea Ciuc.[8] They played in the Continental Cup the following year, finishing 2nd in their group having beaten HK Vojvodina and KHK Crvena zvezda, both Yugoslavian teams, but suffering a heavy loss to Ukrainian side HC Berkut-Kyiv.[9] The 2009–10 Cup saw Välk 494 represent Estonia once again, beating the Lithuanian side SC Energija in Overtime, whilst suffering heavy losses against Kazakhstan's Saryarka Karaganda and KS Cracovia Kraków of Poland.[10] Välk 494 would once again participate in the 2011–12 edition, comfortably beating Turkish side Başkent Yıldızları, before being beaten themselves by White Caps Turnhout of Belgium.[11]

In 2020 Välk 494 took place in the inaugural Baltic Hockey League, a competition made up of two teams from each of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. They finished top of their group after beating Kaunas Hockey, however, their final game against HK Mogo was cancelled after 4 of the Välk 494 squad tested positive for COVID-19.[12] Despite this, both Välk 494 and HK Mogo qualified for the final round, as both teams had already beaten the Lithuanian team. The finals of the tournament are scheduled to take place in February 2021, having been postponed from December 2020 to several HK Mogo players contracting the virus.[13]

Name

Välk is the Estonian word for lightning,[14] whilst the 494 in the team name refers to the month and year the club was founded. From their inception through to 2007 the team was known as Tartu Välk 494, before changing their name to Tartu Kalev-Välk. This moniker lasted until 2018, when the team reverted to the Välk 494 brand.[3]

Roster

Updated November 29, 2021.[2]

Goaltenders
Number Player Catches Acquired Place of Birth
30 Estonia Dmitri Rovda L 2021 Narva, Estonia
31 Latvia Antons Naumovs - 2021 Riga, Latvia
33 Estonia Juri Bahturin L 2019 Tartu, Estonia
Defencemen
Number Player Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
17 Estonia Anatoli Jakovlev L 2010 Narva, Estonia
21 Estonia Maksim Rõbushkin R 2007 Narva, Estonia
26 Estonia Taavi Ahman L 2021 Tartu, Estonia
27 Russia Artem Kints L 2019 Prokopyevsk, Russia
28 Russia Ivan Troshkov L 2020 St. Petersburg, Russia
38 Russia Sergei Peretiagin L 2021 Kirovo-Chepetsk, Russia
47 Latvia Andrejs Kostjuks L 2021 Riga, Latvia
55 Russia Dmitri Shapovalov L 2019 St. Petersburg, Russia
69 Russia Nikita Kochergin L 2021 Moscow, Russia
92 Russia Nikita Tsyganov L 2018 St. Petersburg, Russia


Forwards
Number Player Shoots Position Acquired Place of Birth
5 Russia Ilja Dokshin L F 2021 St. Petersburg, Russia
8 Latvia Miks Lipsbergs L F 2021 Riga, Latvia
9 Estonia Mark Tihhomirov L F 2017 Tartu, Estonia
10 Russia Nikita Vyglazov R F 2021 Olenegorsk, Russia
11 Russia Nikita Garanin L F 2018 St. Petersburg, Russia
12 Estonia Dmitri Kuznetsov L F 2017 Tartu, Estonia
15 Estonia Robin Sepma L F 2021 Tartu, Estonia
16 Estonia Otar Sakhokia L F 2021 Tartu, Estonia
18 Estonia Nikita Tihhomirov L F 2021 Tartu, Estonia
19 Estonia Harri Koll L F 2019 Jõhvi, Estonia
67 Russia Danil Galimullin L F 2018 Yekaterinburg, Russia
77 Estonia Vassili Titarenko R RW 2004 Kohtla-Järve, Estonia
79 Russia Ivan Akimov R C 2018 St. Petersburg, Russia
87 Ukraine Oleksii Voitsekhovskyi L F 2018 Kyiv, Ukraine
88 Russia Stefan Garanin R F 2020 St. Petersburg, Russia
91 Estonia Maksim Turovski L F 2018 Tartu, Estonia
97 Russia Fedor Gusynin L F 2018 Russia

Honours

Meistriliiga Championships:[4]

Estonian Cup:

References

  1. ↑ "HockeyArenas.net". HockeyArenas.net. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Team – Ice Hockey Club Välk 494". Tartu Välk 494. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Info/Contact – Ice Hockey Club Välk 494". Tartu Välk 494. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 "Coolbet Hockey League". Estonian Ice Hockey Association. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  5. ↑ "HC Everest одержал неожиданную победу над Välk 494 в первом туре" (in Russian). Postimees. October 10, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Championnat d'Estonie 1997/98" (in French). Passion Hockey. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Championnat d'Estonie 1998/99" (in French). Passion Hockey. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Coupe Continentale 1997/98" (in French). Hockey Archives. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Coupe Continentale 1998/99" (in French). Hockey Archives. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Group C" (in French). International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Group A" (in French). International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Balti hokiliiga tegi Tartus ajalugu" (in Estonian). Postimees. December 1, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  13. ↑ "COVID-19 virusas jaukia Baltijos lygos planus: nukeliamas finalinio ketverto turnyras" (in Lithuanian). Lithuanian Ice Hockey Federation. December 15, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Välk in English". Linguee. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
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