BC Ferries

Most of the major vessels are based on similar designs which are aggregated into "classes" of ferries:. Notable players who have moved on to the NHL:. All of the vessels in use by BC ferries are "roll-on, roll-off" car ferries. Coaches. There are 35 vessels, ranging from small 16-car ferries up to 470-car "superferries". Forwards. BC Ferries has the largest fleet of vehicle ferry vessels in the world. Defensemen.

All routes allow vehicles unless stated otherwise. Goaltenders. Route numbers are used internally by BC Ferries. Other achievements:. The Queen of Oak Bay was repaired and tested, then returned to regular service on July 8, 2005. Personal awards by SM-sarja and SM-liiga:. The faulty speed governor had been serviced 17 days before the incident during a $35-million upgrade and the cotter pin was not properly replaced at that time. Other awards for the club:.

Without the pin, the nut fell off and the linkage separated, causing the engine, clutches, and propellers to increase in speed until overspeed safety devices tripped and shut down the entire propulsion system. Immonen, a long-time Jokerit player but rookie head coach, was moved from the job in November and Curt Lindström hired to salvage the team. The pin normally retained a nut on a linkage between an engine speed governor and the fuel control for one of the engines. The spree of departures, combined with rookie coach Waltteri Immonen's coaching debut, led Jokerit to an abysmal early season, with a win-loss-tie record of 5-11-4 after 20 games. On July 7, 2005, BC Ferries concluded that a missing cotter pin was to blame. The last departure occurred just one day before regular season play started, when goaltender Tim Thomas signed with the Boston Bruins. An inspection revealed minimal damage to the ship, with only some minor damage to a metal fender, paint scrapes to the rudder, and some minor scrapes to one blade of a propeller. When the NHL lockout ended in 2005, many players were lost to NHL teams and to other teams in Europe: Campbell, Väänänen, Selänne, Metropolit, Pasi Häkkinen, Valtteri Filppula and Tomi Mäki.

On July 1, 2005, BC Ferries issued a statement that Transport Canada, the Transportation Safety Board, and Lloyd's Register of Shipping were reviewing the control and mechanical systems onboard to find a fault. After the NHL lockout. No casualties or injuries were reported. The two teams faced off in the finals, with Jokerit losing three games to one and having to settle for the silver. The horn was blown steadily and an announcement telling passengers to brace for impact was made minutes before the 139-metre ship slowly ran into the nearby Sewell's Marina, where it destroyed or damaged 22 pleasure craft and subsequently went aground a short distance from the shore. With a strong team, Jokerit looked set to win the regular season and take the championship when an inexplicable late-season collapse allowed Kärpät to take and keep the regular season lead. The vessel became adrift, unable to change speed, but able to steer with the rudders. Teemu Selänne officially joined the Jokerit lineup in December, but he spent the spring rehabbing his injured knee and was unable to play any games for the team.

On June 30, 2005 at about 10:10 in the morning (17:10 UTC), the vessel Queen of Oak Bay, on the Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay (or Trans-Canada Highway) ferry route, lost power four minutes before it was to dock at the Horseshoe Bay terminal. As the NHL lockout was extended, Jokerit hired Brian Campbell, and Ossi Väänänen returned to his hometown team from the Colorado Avalanches in December. 260 people were hurt, but there were no deaths. Thomas played in every game of the season bar two with a save percentage of 94.59% and a record-breaking 15 shutouts, for which he won the "Kultainen kypärä" MVP award. The collision occurred in heavy fog, with both vessels suffering minor damage. Another important Jokerit acquisition was goalie Tim Thomas from the Boston Bruins organization. On March 12, 1992, at 8:08 am (16:08 UTC), the Queen of Alberni collided with the Japanese freighter Shinwa Maru southwest of Tsawwassen. Metropolit became a firm fan favorite, and many were sorry to see him leave the Finnish league after the 2004-05 season.

The Soviet ship was not supposed to be in Active Pass, and as such, the Soviet government was forced to compensate BC Ferries. In the spring of 2003 Jokerit acquired forward Glen Metropolit from the Washington Capitals organization; despite his unimpressive NHL record, Metropolit became scoring leader of Jokerit in both the 2003-04 regular season and playoffs, as well as the 2004-05 regular season. Three people were killed and damage was estimated at over one million (1970) dollars. The 2002-03 and 03-04 seasons yielded no medals for Jokerit. On August 2, 1970 the Soviet freighter Sergey Yesenin collided with the Queen of Victoria in Active Pass, slicing through the middle of the ferry. Jokerit won their sixth Finnish championship in 2002. The three vessels are expected to be delivered in 2007 and 2008. In the 2000s, the management have regained what the supporters consider more reasonable an attitude by concentrating back on SM-Liiga, but the line-ups have had a notable turnover rate between seasons - a distinct core has not developed or been preserved.

The contract protects BC Ferries from any delays through a fixed price and fixed schedule contract, and the performance of the ferries is guaranteed with strong contractual requirements. To the next millennium. On September 17, 2004, BC Ferries finally awarded the vessel construction contract to Germany's Flensburger shipyard. However, despite having sparkling line-ups, their performance fluctuated, ending up winning "only" Finnish bronze in 1998 and silver in 2000, and repeatedly having no success in European Hockey League (which turned out as a major flop in itself). shipbuilders. As they set foot at Hartwall Areena, the club signed several star reinforcements seen to be required to win the two professional leagues and to replace the now slightly aged core. The advantages of employing European shipbuilders were that they had far more experience and shipyards that were more capable of constructing the ships, the cost was expected to be significantly less, and others' contract terms could be negotiated that were superior to what was likely to be available from B.C. Most of these plans did not meet with success, but the new venue turned out to be a gold-mine for the club's business.

shipbuilding industry, and entitle the provincial government to a large portion of the cost in the form of taxes. They focused on the new European Hockey League expecting it to evolve into a competition more money-making than SM-Liiga, and sought various other ways to expand. The argument for domestic construction of the ferries is that it would employ numerous British Columbia workers, would revitalize the sagging B.C. Ownership was reformed into Jokerit HC Oyj, a public limited company. The contract is estimated at less than $500 million for the three ships, which are each designed to carry 370 vehicles and 1600 passengers. His efforts yielded Jokerit their own home venue Hartwall Areena in 1997 - first such privately owned in Europe. A controversy began in July, 2004 when BC Ferries, under a new American CEO, announced that the company had disqualified all Canadian bids and only the proposals from European shipyards to build three new Super-C class ships were being considered. Harkimo further converted the club from semi-professionalism towards his ideal of professional sports entertainment, which was unmistakably adopted from NHL.

More information about the various aspects of this change to the company is available here. Together with the above-mentioned junior champions they formed a core of a dynasty of thriving times: Jokerit won Finnish championship in 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1997, and European Cup in 1995 and 1996, plus Finnish silver once and European bronze once. Critics have said that the company, however reorganized, will continue to be subject to political interference, despite the Government's assurances to the contrary. Several successful acquisitions were signed, most memorably Otakar Janecky, who manned the first line center for several seasons, becoming the club's all-time best point scorer; Petri Varis, who became the club's best goal scorer of the 1990s; and forward Antti Törmänen. The single voting share is held by the BC Ferry Authority, which operates under the rules of the Act. Thus, they were able to reinforce the team with first class talent. This was established through the passing of the Coastal Ferry Act (Bill 18-2003). In a few years, Jokerit were the wealthiest Finnish sports club.

In 2003, the Government of British Columbia announced that BC Ferries, which had been in debt, was going to be reorganized into a private company. This proved to be the final stroke of luck the club needed: the disagreements vanished once and for all and Harry Harkimo established himself as an efficient businessman, being able to conduct a rapid recovery of the economy. The distinctive 'dogwood on green' flag that BC Ferries used between 1960 and 2003 gave the service its popular nickname "the Dogwood Fleet". He appointed himself the chairman of the board, discontinued all managerial positions and nominated his wife Leena Harkimo the managing director (who held the task up to her election to the Parliament of Finland in 1999). This action dramatically increased the size of BC Ferries' fleet and its geographical service area. In 1991 an investor withdrew and board member Harry Harkimo got credentials to a double majority of shares. Ministry of Transportation and Highways, which ran ferry services to very small coastal communities. The Harkimo era.

In the mid 1980s, BC Ferries took over the operations of the saltwater branch of the B.C. But once again, despite the phenomenal boost in popularity supported by the prominent scorer Selänne and other young star players, the owners ran into severe financial problems, caused by incompetent management and disagreements within the board. waters, with only two foreign purchases and one domestic purchase. The team, reinforced with the junior champions, orchestrated a quick promotion back to the top level, now called SM-liiga. The vast majority of the vessels in the fleet were built in B.C. Kalervo Kummola, who played the leading role assembling the company, sat in its board up to 2002. Another method of satisfying increasing demand for service was BC Ferries' unique "stretch and lift" program, involving seven vessels being cut in half and extended, and five of those vessels later cut in half again and elevated, to increase their passenger and vehicle-carrying capacities. They established Jokeri-Hockey Oy and became the first limited company based sports club in Finland.

As the ferry system expanded and started to service other small coastal communities, BC Ferries had to build more vessels, many of them in the first five years of its operations, to keep up with the demand. Now that the club was spiced with such promising, new willing owners turned up to save them. ferry system, as it literally took over operations of the Black Ball Line and other major private companies providing vehicle ferry service between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. In 1988 their 20-year-olds won the Finnish junior championship with several prospective stars: defenceman Waltteri Immonen would be captain of the team 1991-1999; Mika Strömberg the club's all-time best-scoring defenceman; Ari Sulander the main goaltender 1993-1998; forward Keijo Säilynoja a goal scorer and a penalty-shot specialist; and Teemu Selänne the NHL record-breaker. The next few years saw a dramatic growth of the B.C. In the middle of the bleakest hour of their history, with Jokeriklubin Tuki Ry seeking to discontinue their association, new blood was rushed into Jokerit. BC Ferries' first route, commissioned in 1960, was between Swartz Bay, a small suburb of Sidney on Vancouver Island, and Tsawwassen, a part of the Corporation of Delta, using just two vessels. Jokerit faced the imminent relegation in 1987.

needed to be government-owned, and so he set about creating BC Ferries. Few others, apart from the longtime goaltender Rauli Sohlman, remained. Bennett to decide that the coastal ferry service in B.C. The first line was a shambles as wing Risto Kerminen departed and center Jari Lindroos almost did, but though he had signed elsewhere, the contract was illegitimately nullified. In the late 1950s, a strike caused the Social Credit government of W.A.C. Only a few years later, they had to avert bankruptcy twice, which struck a blow to their credibility, as a mass desertion of the players ensued. . However, the management ran into unexpected financial problems, and success soon withered.

coast. They had a near-perfect season, losing only the 1983 finals extremely narrowly - and bitterly - to local rivals. Set up in 1959 to provide a substantially better service then those provided by the Black Ball Line and the Canadian Pacific Railway, which were affected by frequent spurts of job action, BC Ferries has become the largest passenger ferry line in North America and the second largest in the world, boasting a fleet of 35 vessels with a total passenger and crew capacity of over 27,000, serving 48 locations on the B.C. Having signed mainly outcasts of other clubs, they suddenly hit jackpot: Soviet Union's national team defenceman Nikolai Makarov was transferred to Jokerit. British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. or BC Ferries is the company that provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry services on the West Coast of British Columbia. Under new management, the club didn't instantly shake off its wobbliness, but then they peaked for one season. Skeena-Queen Charlotte. New owners, Jokeriklubin Tuki Ry, were a conventional association supervised by its board.

Central Coast. When a replacement candidate turned up in 1980, Mäkinen retired from the ownership, though he went on in the club's junior organisation up to the 1990s. Powell River. With Mäkinen's controversial manner of management added to these, the club turned into a center of turbulence. Sunshine Coast. Success slowly declined and Jokerit had to qualify against relegation several times. Greater Vancouver. He started downsizing the team's budget by methodically replacing departing stars with junior players.

Mount Waddington. Despite winning Finnish championship silver in 1971 and gold in 1973, Jokerit didn't develop financially profitable for Mäkinen. Comox-Strathcona. Kanada-sarja didn't survive the 1970s, but Jokerit benefitted from it through a steady flow of emerging talent including Jari Kurri, and by gaining a strong popular base in the outer urban zones of Helsinki. Nanaimo. Mäkinen also enhanced the club's junior organisation by launching a competition of their own, called Kanada-sarja, with 500 participating junior players, a figure that cumulatively tripled in a few years. Cowichan Valley. This became the trademark of Jokerit that stuck all the way to the late 1990s.

Capital. He guided the team, with success, towards a play that demanded technique and clever tactics. FastCat Series. Lampainen, however, reckoned physical play unsuitable for the line-up at hand (consider nallipyssyketju). Retired BC Ferries ships. SM-sarja underwent a tactical revolution as physical, mean play became a means to success. Other ships of BC Ferries (not classed). In 1969, IIHF had loosened amateur rules by permitting bodychecking anywhere in the rink (old rules allowed bodychecking only in defensive end).

Two T class ships. Other mentionworthy reinforcements, that came later, were forward Jouko Öystilä and defenceman Timo Saari, and finally, head coach Matti Lampainen. Three K class and Two Q class ships, for small inter-island routes. Among them were the national team regulars defenceman Ilpo Koskela with forwards Henry Leppä and Timo Sutinen, whose relationship with the club lasted long. As the name suggests, this vessel can carry 100 cars per load, for use on busy, short inter-island routes. Immediately after the promotion was secured, Mäkinen began an aggressive acquisition of star players. One Century class vessel. Promotion to the highest level, SM-sarja, took place two years later.

Three Powell River class ships. With him, Pentti Hiiros and Timo Kyntölä would form nallipyssyketju ("cap gun line", referring to their lack of height - Hiiros was the tallest at 172 cm) until 1975, when the latter retired. Two Intermediate class vessels. Even though dramatic changes in the line-up did not appear directly, only a few players from Töölön Vesa saw prolonged employment: Timo Turunen would be the most distinguished, remaining even today as the club's all-time goal scoring leader. Built in the 1960s, these ferries have only been stretched to increase their capacity, except for the MV Queen of New Westminster, which was only lifted. Mäkinen did not intend his new club to loiter in the lower series. Three Burnaby class. Their home venue was Helsingin jäähalli.

Built in the 1960s, these ferries have been stretched and lifted to increase their capacity. The insignia, winking jester, was adapted from jokers of various card decks and drawn by graphic designer Jorma Hinkka. Three V class. The club's sole owner Mäkinen chose to wield sovereign power, becoming in practice also the board and managing director. Five C class, double-ended ferries. Officially Jokerit were established on October 27th 1967 at their constitutional meeting. Three Super C class, Currently in the design stage. Master-builder Aimo Mäkinen seized the opportunity to establish a semi-professional sports club of his own, and for the price of half of Vesa's ice hockey debts the new ice hockey club inherited everything, including junior players and the vacant position in second highest Finnish series, Suomen sarja.

Two S class or "superferries", the largest in the fleet. Jokerit would not exist without the debts-incurred ice hockey branch of Töölön Vesa amateur sports club, who were faced with having to discontinue their resource-demanding ice hockey activities in 1967. Route 40 - Discovery Coast: Port Hardy to Bella Coola (with stops at Bella Bella, Shearwater, Ocean Falls and Klemtu). Early history. Route 30 - Mid-Island Express (Highway 19): Nanaimo (via Duke Point) to Tsawwassen. . Route 26 - Skidegate Inlet: Skidegate (on Graham Island) to Alliford Bay (on Moresby Island). They play in Helsinki, Finland at the Hartwall Areena.

Route 25 - Broughton Strait: Port McNeill to Alert Bay (on Cormorant Island) and Sointula (on Malcolm Island). Jokerit are an ice hockey team in the Finnish SM-liiga. Route 24 - Sutil Channel: Quadra Island (via Heriot Bay) to Cortes Island (via Whaletown). 91 Otakar Janecky. Route 23 - Discovery Passage: Campbell River to Quadra Island (via Quathiaski Cove). 24 Waltteri Immonen. Route 22 - Lambert Channel: Denman Island (via Gravelly Bay) to Hornby Island (via Shingle Spit). 5 Esa Tikkanen.

Route 21 - Baynes Sound: Buckley Bay to Denman Island (via Metcalf Bay). Sean Bergenheim (Jokerit 2001-2004; New York Islanders 1st round pick in the 2002 draft, #22 overall). Route 20 - North Stuart Channel: Chemainus to Thetis and Kuper Islands. Ossi Väänänen (Jokerit 1996-2000; Phoenix Coyotes 2nd round pick in the 1998 draft, #43 overall). Route 19 - Northumberland Channel: Nanaimo Harbour to Gabriola Island (via Descanso Bay). Kari Lehtonen (Jokerit 1999-2003; Atlanta Thrashers 1st round pick in the 2002 draft, #2 overall). Route 18 - Malaspina Strait: Powell River to Texada Island (via Blubber Bay). Teemu Selänne (Jokerit 1988-92; Winnipeg Jets 1st round pick in the 1988 draft, #10 overall).

Route 17 - Georgia Strait North: Powell River (via Westview) to Comox (via Little River). Jari Kurri (Jokerit 1977-80; Edmonton Oilers 4th round pick in the 1980 draft, #69 overall). Route 13 - Thornbrough Channel: Langdale to Gambier Island and Keats Island (passengers only). forward Glen Metropolit (2003-05). Route 12 - Saanich Inlet: Brentwood Bay to Mill Bay. forward Petri Varis (1993-97, 1999-2002, 2003-05). Route 11 - Hecate Strait (Highway 16): Prince Rupert to Queen Charlotte Islands (via Skidegate). forward Juha Lind (1990-97, 98-99, 2004-05).

Route 10 - Inside Passage: Port Hardy to Prince Rupert. Sami Helenius (2003-04). Route 9 - Active Pass Shuttle: Tsawwassen to Saltspring Island and the Outer Gulf Islands (listed above in route 5). Juha Lind (1991-99, 2004-2005). Route 8 - Queen Charlotte Channel: Horseshoe Bay to Bowen Island (via Snug Cove). Petri Varis (September-November 2005). Route 7 - Jervis Inlet (Highway 101): Earls Cove to Saltery Bay. Marko Jantunen (November 2005-).

Route 6 - South Stuart Channel: Crofton to Saltspring Island (at Vesuvius). 94 - Teemu Kuusisto. Route 5 - Swanson Channel: Swartz Bay to the Outer Gulf Islands (Galiano, Mayne, Pender, and Saturna Islands). 72 - Roman Vopat. Route 4 - Satellite Channel: Swartz Bay to Saltspring Island (at Fulford Harbour). 61 - Tommi Oksa. Route 3 - Howe Sound: Langdale to Horseshoe Bay. 44 - Riku Rahikainen.

Route 2 - Georgia Strait Central (Highway 1): Nanaimo (via Departure Bay) to Horseshoe Bay. 39 - Jesse Uronen (juniors). Route 1 - Georgia Strait South (Highway 17): Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen. 38 - Arto Kuki. Seattle Times story. 30 - Esa Kivistö. CBC story. 23 - Petri Varis.

22 - Tommi Santala. 20 - Petri Pakaslahti. 18 - Ilari Filppula. 16 - Toni Dahlman.

15 - Arto Koivisto. 13 - Hannes Hyvönen. 11 - Tomek Valtonen. 9 - Tony Virta (injured).

77 - Martti Järventie. 61 - Tero Konttinen. 40 - Sami Lepistö. 26 - Jan Latvala.

25 - Kari Martikainen. 21 - Kevin Kantee. 14 - Ville Uusitalo. 12 - Markus Kankaanperä.

7 - Mikko Kalteva. 4 - Samuli Jalkanen. 63 - Tom Askey. 29 - Steve Passmore.

35 - Joonas Hallikainen. 34 - Niko Hovinen (juniors). In the 2004-05 season, Tim Thomas broke the SM-liiga shutout record with 15 shutouts during the regular season. Best coach (since 1978): Reijo Ruotsalainen 1983, Raimo Summanen 2002.

Best plus/minus (since 1978): Arto Sirviö 1984, Waltteri Immonen 1992, Erik Hämäläinen 1993, Petri Varis 1996. Gentleman player (since 1954): Jari Kapanen 1975, Teemu Selänne 1991, Keijo Säilynoja 1992, Waltteri Immonen 1996, Ville Peltonen 2003. Most goals in regular season: Timo Turunen 1973 and 1974 (shared), Teemu Selänne 1992, Petri Varis 1997, Pasi Saarela 1999. Most points in regular season: Timo Turunen 1973, Timo Sutinen 1974 and 1975, Petri Varis 1997 and 2001.

Best defenceman (since 1978): Nikolai Makarov 1983, Erik Hämäläinen 1993, Mika Strömberg 1996. Best goaltender (since 1978): Rauli Sohlman 1983, Ari Sulander 1996, Kari Lehtonen 2002 and 2003. Best player (Kultainen kypärä, since 1987): Teemu Selänne 1991, Tim Thomas 2005. Aaro Kivilinnan muistopalkinto (best Finnish club age classes combined, since 1973): 1976, 1996, 1997 (shared), 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003.

three times silver and four times bronze. C-juniors (16-year-olds) 1976, 1977, 1978, 1997, 2000