Greyhound

The racing gait of the greyhound is a double suspension gallop, in which all four feet are off the ground twice during each full stride. Notable players who have moved on to the NHL:. As a result, greyhounds have a small "divot" in their back, set just behind their shoulder blades. Coaches. An additional peculiarity of greyhounds is that they have a hinged spine, which is unique in the animal world. Forwards. Veterinary blood services often use greyhounds as universal blood donors. Defensemen.

As red blood cells carry oxygen to the lungs, this characteristic help the breed's speed. Goaltenders. Greyhounds have higher levels of red blood cells than do other breeds. Other achievements:. A female may have an elevated risk of cancer if she was administered hormones during her racing career. Personal awards by SM-sarja and SM-liiga:. Greyhounds have much less fat than other dogs, and therefore can not metabolize anesthesia as quickly. Other awards for the club:.

Greyhounds demonstrate unusual blood chemistry, which can be misread by veterinarians not familiar with the breed; this can result in an incorrect diagnosis. 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. Due to the unique physiology and anatomy of greyhounds, a veterinarian who understands the issues relevant to the breed is generally needed when the dogs need treatment, particularly when anaesthesia is required. 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. Some retired racing greyhounds have injuries that may follow them for the remainder of their lives. The last departure occurred just one day before regular season play started, when goaltender Tim Thomas signed with the Boston Bruins. Most greyhounds finish racing between two and five years of age. 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.

There are several reasons why some greyhounds never race:. After the NHL lockout. However, not all National Greyhound Association registered dogs race. The two teams faced off in the finals, with Jokerit losing three games to one and having to settle for the silver. The vast majority of greyhounds are bred for racing, leading registered American Kennel Club dogs about 150:1, and as such each dog is issued a Bertillon card, which measures 56 distinct identifying traits, and the Bertillon number is tattooed on the dog's ear, so as to ensure that the dog who races is in fact the dog it is claimed to be. 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. In 2005, an epidemic of respiratory failure killed dozens of dogs and left over 1200 quarantined in the U.S., particularly in Massachusetts, Colorado, Iowa and Rhode Island. 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.

Accidents and disease are also common killers among racing greyhounds. As the NHL lockout was extended, Jokerit hired Brian Campbell, and Ossi Väänänen returned to his hometown team from the Colorado Avalanches in December. Previously, in the United States over 20,000 retired greyhounds a year were killed; recent estimates still number in the thousands, with about 90% of National Greyhound Association-registered animals either being adopted, or returned for breeding purposes (according to the industry numbers upwards of 2000 dogs are still killed annually)^[3]. 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. These groups began taking greyhounds from the racetracks when they could no longer compete and placing them in adoptive homes. Another important Jokerit acquisition was goalie Tim Thomas from the Boston Bruins organization. The early groups were formed in large part out of a sense of concern about the treatment of the dogs while living on the track. Metropolit became a firm fan favorite, and many were sorry to see him leave the Finnish league after the 2004-05 season.

In the late 20th century several Greyhound adoption groups were formed. 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. See main article at Greyhound racing. The 2002-03 and 03-04 seasons yielded no medals for Jokerit. During the early 1920s, modern greyhound racing was introduced into the United States and introduced into United Kingdom and Ireland in 1926. Jokerit won their sixth Finnish championship in 2002. Until the early twentieth century, greyhounds were principally bred and trained for coursing. 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 common sense of these words is 'to shine; bright'. To the next millennium. "gryja" 'to dawn', "gryjandi" 'morning twilight', Old Irish "grian" 'sun', Old Church Slavonic "zorja" 'morning twilight, brightness'. 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). "gray", Old High German "gris" 'grey, old', Old Icelandic "griss" 'piglet, pig', Old Icld. 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. Subsequent words have been derived from the indoeuropean root *g'her- 'shine, twinkle': Eng. 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.

441-442) the English name "greyhound" does not mean "a gray dog/hound", but simply "a fair dog". 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. According to Pokorny's Indogermanisches Woerterbuch (p. Ownership was reformed into Jokerit HC Oyj, a public limited company. Its origin does not appear to have any common root with the modern word "grey" for colour, and indeed the greyhound is seen with a wide variety of coats. His efforts yielded Jokerit their own home venue Hartwall Areena in 1997 - first such privately owned in Europe. "Hund" is traced to the modern "hound", but the meaning of "grig" is undetermined, other than in reference to dogs in Old English and Norse. Harkimo further converted the club from semi-professionalism towards his ideal of professional sports entertainment, which was unmistakably adopted from NHL.

The name "greyhound" is generally believed to come from the Old English grighund. 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. It is believed that they (or at least similarly-named dogs) were introduced to England in the 5th and 6th centuries BC from Celtic mainland Europe. 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. Historically, these sight hounds have been used primarily for hunting in the open where their keen eyesight is a distinct advantage. Thus, they were able to reinforce the team with first class talent. ^{[1] [2]}. In a few years, Jokerit were the wealthiest Finnish sports club.

Analyses of DNA reported in 2004, however, suggest that the greyhound is not closely related to these breeds, but is a close relative to herding dogs. 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. Popularly, the breed's origin is believed to be traced to ancient Egypt, where a bas-relief depicting a smooth-coated Saluki (Persian Greyhound) or Sloughi was found in a tomb built in 4000 BC. 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). However, as greyhounds have a body fat of around 16%, compared to an average of 25% in other canines, overdoing their exercise can be detrimental to their health. In 1991 an investor withdrew and board member Harry Harkimo got credentials to a double majority of shares. An adult greyhound will stay healthy and happy with a daily walk of as little as 20 to 30 minutes. The Harkimo era.

They enjoy walking and running outside. 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. Greyhounds can live in an urban setting but require moderate exercise on a regular basis. The team, reinforced with the junior champions, orchestrated a quick promotion back to the top level, now called SM-liiga. Most companion greyhounds are kept on a leash because their hunting background has instilled a strong desire to chase things. Kalervo Kummola, who played the leading role assembling the company, sat in its board up to 2002. Most greyhounds that live as pets are adopted after they retire from racing. They established Jokeri-Hockey Oy and became the first limited company based sports club in Finland.

They do not have undercoats and therefore are less likely to trigger people's dog allergies (greyhounds are sometimes incorrectly referred to as "hypoallergenic"). Now that the club was spiced with such promising, new willing owners turned up to save them. Their talents include sighting and hunting. 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. Greyhounds are generally loyal, tractable dogs with developed intellects, although their territorial instinct is weak and they make poor guard dogs. 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. They can get along well with children and family pets (often including cats). Jokerit faced the imminent relegation in 1987.

Greyhounds can make good pets because of their mild and affectionate character. Few others, apart from the longtime goaltender Rauli Sohlman, remained. Greyhounds are often referred to as "Forty-five mile an hour couch potatoes.". 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. Most are quiet, gentle animals. 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. They are sprinters, and although they love running, do not require extensive exercise once they leave the track. However, the management ran into unexpected financial problems, and success soon withered.

Although greyhounds are extremely fast dogs, they are not high-energy dogs. They had a near-perfect season, losing only the 1983 finals extremely narrowly - and bitterly - to local rivals. There are approximately thirty recognized color forms, of which variations of white, brindle, fawn, black, red, blue, and grey can appear uniquely or in combination. Having signed mainly outcasts of other clubs, they suddenly hit jackpot: Soviet Union's national team defenceman Nikolai Makarov was transferred to Jokerit. Greyhounds have very short hair, which is easy to maintain. Under new management, the club didn't instantly shake off its wobbliness, but then they peaked for one season. Females tend to be smaller with shoulder heights ranging from 68 to 71 cm (27 to 28 inches) and weights from 27 to 31 kg (50 to 75 pounds). New owners, Jokeriklubin Tuki Ry, were a conventional association supervised by its board.

Male dogs are usually 71 to 76 cm (28 to 30 inches) tall at the withers and weigh around 29 to 36 kg (65 to 90 pounds). 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. . With Mäkinen's controversial manner of management added to these, the club turned into a center of turbulence. They are one of the fastest land mammals; their combination of long, powerful legs, deep chests and aerodynamic build allows them to reach speeds of up to 72 km/h (45 mph). Success slowly declined and Jokerit had to qualify against relegation several times. The Greyhound is a breed of dog used for hunting and racing. He started downsizing the team's budget by methodically replacing departing stars with junior players.

. Despite winning Finnish championship silver in 1971 and gold in 1973, Jokerit didn't develop financially profitable for Mäkinen. None of these rides operate today. 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. Greyhound was the name of several roller coasters in the United States and Canada. 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. There is an indoor football team based in West Virginia called the Ohio Valley Greyhounds. This became the trademark of Jokerit that stuck all the way to the late 1990s.

Marie, Ontario, Canada is called the Greyhounds. He guided the team, with success, towards a play that demanded technique and clever tactics. The OHL hockey team in Sault Ste. Lampainen, however, reckoned physical play unsuitable for the line-up at hand (consider nallipyssyketju). The Greyhound is the mascot of the Assumption College sports teams. SM-sarja underwent a tactical revolution as physical, mean play became a means to success. The dog is bred for showing instead of racing. In 1969, IIHF had loosened amateur rules by permitting bodychecking anywhere in the rink (old rules allowed bodychecking only in defensive end).

The dog is not raised in a country where racing is popular. Other mentionworthy reinforcements, that came later, were forward Jouko Öystilä and defenceman Timo Saari, and finally, head coach Matti Lampainen. The dog does not have the required temperament. Among them were the national team regulars defenceman Ilpo Koskela with forwards Henry Leppä and Timo Sutinen, whose relationship with the club lasted long. The dog has physical defects. Immediately after the promotion was secured, Mäkinen began an aggressive acquisition of star players. The dog is too slow. Promotion to the highest level, SM-sarja, took place two years later.

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. 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. Mäkinen did not intend his new club to loiter in the lower series. Their home venue was Helsingin jäähalli.

The insignia, winking jester, was adapted from jokers of various card decks and drawn by graphic designer Jorma Hinkka. The club's sole owner Mäkinen chose to wield sovereign power, becoming in practice also the board and managing director. Officially Jokerit were established on October 27th 1967 at their constitutional meeting. 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.

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. Early history. . They play in Helsinki, Finland at the Hartwall Areena.

Jokerit are an ice hockey team in the Finnish SM-liiga. 91 Otakar Janecky. 24 Waltteri Immonen. 5 Esa Tikkanen.

Sean Bergenheim (Jokerit 2001-2004; New York Islanders 1st round pick in the 2002 draft, #22 overall). Ossi Väänänen (Jokerit 1996-2000; Phoenix Coyotes 2nd round pick in the 1998 draft, #43 overall). Kari Lehtonen (Jokerit 1999-2003; Atlanta Thrashers 1st round pick in the 2002 draft, #2 overall). Teemu Selänne (Jokerit 1988-92; Winnipeg Jets 1st round pick in the 1988 draft, #10 overall).

Jari Kurri (Jokerit 1977-80; Edmonton Oilers 4th round pick in the 1980 draft, #69 overall). forward Glen Metropolit (2003-05). forward Petri Varis (1993-97, 1999-2002, 2003-05). forward Juha Lind (1990-97, 98-99, 2004-05).

Sami Helenius (2003-04). Juha Lind (1991-99, 2004-2005). Petri Varis (September-November 2005). Marko Jantunen (November 2005-).

94 - Teemu Kuusisto. 72 - Roman Vopat. 61 - Tommi Oksa. 44 - Riku Rahikainen.

39 - Jesse Uronen (juniors). 38 - Arto Kuki. 30 - Esa Kivistö. 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