The 1989–90 Porin Ässät season was the club's first and only season in the I-Divisioona and the second highest league in Finland. Ässät was relegated after the previous SM-liiga season. Ässät crushed I-Divisioona records and was promoted back to the SM-liiga after just one season.
| 1989–90 Porin Ässät | |
|---|---|
I-Divisioona champions | |
| League | 1st I-Divisioona |
| 1989–90 record | 37–3–4 |
| Goals for | 355 |
| Goals against | 144 |
| Team information | |
| Coach | Matti Keinonen |
| Captain | Tapio Levo |
| Arena | Pori Ice Hall |
| Average attendance | 4 412 |
| Team leaders | |
| Goals | Arto Javanainen (59) |
| Assists | Aleksei Frolikov (53) |
| Points | Arto Heiskanen (110) |
| Penalty minutes | Jari Levonen (86) |
| Plus/minus | Arto Heiskanen (+90) |
Relegation to the I-Divisioona for the 1989–1990 season, however, raised the hockey boom in Pori, as the townspeople stood behind their team. Audience numbers increased from previous SM-liiga seasons when Ässät's games were watched with interest. For the I-Divisioona season, Ässät got top reinforcements when Arto Javanainen returned from TPS and Arto Heiskanen from Lukko. Aleksei Frolikov and Vladimir Durdin came from Riga Dynamo. Matti "Mölli" Keinonen became the coach. The visit to the I-Divisioona only lasted a season. Ässät was superior in the regular season, breaking numerous I-Divisioona records and easily progressing to the series win and SM-liiga qualification. In the SM-liiga qualifiers, Ässät faced JoKP. Ässät won the series 3–0 and returned to the SM-liiga.[1]
Regular season and promotion
editÄssät's regular season started with a 10–2 home victory against Kiekko-Espoo. Ässät won the next four games, before a 3–3 tie game with FoPS. Ässät's first loss came in January 1990 after a 27 game unbeaten streak. Ässät managed to only lose four games out of the 44 game season and tie three times. Some of the biggest victories for Ässät included 19–4 against Ketterä, 19–3 against Sport, 20–6 against Ketterä again and 13–0 against KooVee.[2] Ässät's top point scorer was Arto Heiskanen with 110, a I-Divisioona record. Arto Heiskanen also recorded a +/- statistic of +90.[3][4][1][5]
Ässät finished 1st in the regular season, winning the I-Divisioona championship. Ässät faced JoKP in the SM-liiga qualification series. Ässät won the series 3–0 and got promoted back to the SM-liiga.[2][3]
Player statistics
editSkaters
editTop-10 point scorers of the season. Sorted by points, then +/-.[2][1]
| # | Player | Position | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Arto Heiskanen | Forward | 44 | 58 | 52 | 110 | +90 | 12 |
| 2. | Arto Javanainen | Forward | 36 | 59 | 39 | 98 | +79 | 30 |
| 3. | Kari Makkonen | Forward | 44 | 31 | 52 | 83 | +80 | 18 |
| 4. | Aleksei Frolikov | Forward | 43 | 28 | 53 | 81 | +86 | 12 |
| 5. | Tapio Levo | Defence | 44 | 32 | 47 | 79 | +87 | 33 |
| 6. | Jari Levonen | Forward | 43 | 37 | 26 | 63 | +54 | 86 |
| 7. | Rauli Raitanen | Forward | 41 | 17 | 44 | 61 | +56 | 20 |
| 8. | Vladimir Durdin | Defence | 43 | 14 | 35 | 49 | +83 | 18 |
| 9. | Janne Virtanen | Forward | 42 | 9 | 40 | 49 | +26 | 6 |
| 10. | Jokke Heinänen | Forward | 40 | 27 | 13 | 40 | +15 | 8 |
References
edit- ^ a b c Majasaari, Matti (1994). Pitkä laukaus : porilaisen jääkiekkoilun historia (in Finnish). Pori: satakunnan kirjateollisuus. pp. 125–132. ISBN 9519583750.
- ^ a b c "Patahistory – 1989/90 PDF" (PDF).
- ^ a b "Muistatteko: Tasan 30 vuotta sitten Ässät putosi 1. divisioonaan". Satakunnan Kansa (in Finnish). 2019-03-01. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
- ^ "Kiekkotähti Arto Heiskanen, 59, on kuollut". www.iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-11-08.
- ^ "Ylivoimainen Ässät: Ikuinen ennätysmies Heiskanen teki keskinäisen sopimuksen maalitykki Javanaisen kanssa kaikkien aikojen divarijoukkueessa". Satakunnan Kansa (in Finnish). 2020-02-07. Retrieved 2023-11-08.