Walking Tour Traces Tampere’s Hidden Hockey Heritage from Koulukatu to Pyynikki

Local guides Riitta and Helka are leading a walking tour around Koulukatu and Pyynikki this autumn that highlights Tampere’s early ice‑hockey sites. It's a compact route packed with history.

The route threads past Koulukatu’s old rinks and the Pyynikki stairs, tracing the spots where Ilves, Tappara and other local clubs played before Hakametsä opened in 1965. They point out a bronze plaque marking Finland’s first artificial ice rink, opened in 1956, and recall the opening match between Ilves and KooVee, when local hero Räshid “Räskä” Hakimsan scored the first goal. The tour stops at the so‑called “Granny’s pitch,” now home to padel courts overlooking Pyhäjärvi, and passes the Jugend building De Gamlas Hem.

Riitta and Helka sketch the wider origins: Niilo Tammisalo founded Ilves in 1931 and helped popularize ice hockey terminology in the 1920s. Generations of Tampere residents still use the city’s hills and stairs as informal training grounds, a tradition they say helped shape players from local legends to NHL captain Aleksander Barkov. The pair laugh about the “Granny” nickname but insist its roots predate televised coaches like Timo Jutila, and they invite visitors to follow in their footsteps to the sport’s local beginnings.