Aarne Honkavaara


Aarne Väinö Edvard Honkavaara was a Finnish ice hockey player and coach. He was born in Tampere, Finland.

Playing career

Honkavaara played his first game of ice hockey when he was 12 years old. The team which he represented was Tampereen Kisa-Veikot. He participated in the Continuation War between 1942–1944 and played his first actual SM-sarja game in 1944 against HSK. He played for Ilves, which was along with TBK, one of Tampere's top teams. He played his entire career for Ilves with the exception of a short visit to Canada, where he played in two Exhibition games for Sarnia Sailors. His playing career ended in 1953 when he broke his shin after a Polish player fell onto it during a National Team match between Finland and Poland. After retiring, he made a two-season return to playing staff while he was the head coach for Ilves in 1956. He re-retired in 1958 after a single game during his second season after comeback.

Coaching career

After retiring as a full-time player, Honkavaara went on to coach Ilves to three Finnish Championships and one silver medal. He was also the National Team Coach of Finland between 1954 and 1959.

International career

Honkavaara was part of the Finnish national team and played 47 games for Finland, scoring 46 goals.
International statistics

Career statistics