Marko Kivenmäki

Marko Kivenmäki
Kivenmäki with Ässät in 2008
Born (1975-07-20) 20 July 1975
Turku, Finland
Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight 168 lb (76 kg; 12 st 0 lb)
Position Wing
Shot Left
Played for
Current coach IFK Helsinki
Coached for
  • Porin Ässät U18
  • Porin Ässät U16
  • HC Ässät Pori U20
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 1996–2011
Coaching career 2015–present
Medal record
Representing  Finland
Men's inline hockey
World Championship
2000 Czech Republic

Marko Kivenmäki (born 20 July 1975) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player, best known for playing eleven seasons with Ässät in the SM-liiga.[1] He has served as an assistant coach to IFK Helsinki in the Auroraliiga since 2024.[2]

Ice hockey

Playing career

Originally from Turku, Kivenmäki developed in the minor and junior ice hockey teams of local club HC TPS. Unable to find a place on the TPS team in the SM-liiga, he went to Norway in 1996 to play with Frisk Asker in the Eliteserien (later known as GET-ligaen and EliteHockey Ligaen). During the 1997–98 season, his second in Norway, he ranked second in the league for scoring with 67 points (30 goals+37 assists) across 44 games.

His results in Norway caught the interest of Veli-Pekka Ketola, then head coach of Porin Ässät, and he was recruited to the SM-liiga team. Kivenmäki scored 25 points (9+16) and amassed 94 penalty minutes across 51 games in his first season with Ässät. After two and half seasons with Ässät he was moved to Lukko for the second half of the 2000–01 SM-liiga season.

Most of the 2001–02 season was played with Skellefteå AIK in the Allsvenskan (later called SuperAllsvenskan and HockeyAllsvenskan), Sweden's second-tier national league.[3] The following season, he played 22 games with Frisk Asker in the Norwegian Eliteserien, four games with Ässät in the SM-liiga, one game with the Hull Thunder in the British National League (BNL), and was loaned to Jukurit in the Finnish second-tier national league, the Mestis, for two games.[4]

Rejoining Ässät in 2003,[5] Kivenmäki established himself as a staple of the roster. He ranked second in the league and achieved his SM-liiga career best regular season point record during the 2005–06 season, scoring 53 points (19+34) in 56 games; he was recognized with selection to the 2005–06 SM-liiga All Star Team.[6] His thirteen points in twelve playoff games led all players in the 2006 postseason and helped carry Ässät to the playoff finals where they ultimately lost to HPK and finished as the Finnish Championship silver medalists.

Ässät's fortunes declined after the 2005–06 season but Kivenmäki remained a contributing scorer, scoring above a point-per-game pace in 2006–07 and 2007–08. In the 2008–09 season, his totals dipped to 35 points (11+24) in 57 games – a 0.61 point-per-game rate – but he recovered in the following season to rank sixth in league scoring with 50 points (16+34) in 57 games and a 0.88 point-per-game pace.[7]

Despite his team-leading statistics, Ässät opted not to renew his contract for the 2010–11 season and Kivenmäki signed with the SM-liiga team of his youth club, HC TPS.[8][9] After amassing 362 points (111+251) and 585 penalty minutes in 515 SM-liiga regular season games, Kivenmäki announced his retirement at the end of the 2010–11 season.[10]

Coaching and administrative career

Following his retirement from playing, Kivenmäki served as director of hockey operations to Porin Ässät ry, Ässät's junior affiliate club, during the 2011–12 season.[11]

He joined the coaching team of HC Ässät Pori A, the Ässät junior (under-20) team in the Nuorten SM-liiga (renamed U20 SM-sarja in 2020), as an assistant coach in the 2015–16 season and remained in the role through the 2017–18 season.

In 2021, Kivenmäki was appointed head coach of Porin Ässät U16, the Ässät-affiliated under-16 team in the U16 SM-sarja, and he continued with the team through the 2022–23 season.[12][13] He became head coach of Porin Ässät U18 in the U18 SM-sarja and U18 Mestis in the 2023–24 season and guided the team to its first SM-sarja playoff appearance in five seasons.[14][15]

After moving to the Helsinki metropolitan area in 2024,[16] Kivenmäki made his first foray into women's ice hockey as an assistant coach to IFK Helsinki (HIFK) in the Auroraliiga.[17]

Inline hockey

Kivenmäki also participated in inline hockey at the national championship and international levels. He played in the Rullakiekon SM-liiga ('Inline Hockey Finnish Championship League') with Kiekko-67 in the 2000s.[18]

With the Finnish men's national inline hockey team, Kivenmäki won a gold medal at the 2000 IIHF InLine Hockey World Championship in Hradec Králové and Choceň, Czech Republic.[19]

Personal life

Kivenmäki's son, Otto Kivenmäki (born 2000), was drafted 191st overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft and plays professionally in the Liiga.[20][21]

Kivenmäki has been married twice. He married former Finnish national ice hockey team player and HIFK head coach Saara Kivenmäki (née Tuominen, previously Niemi) in 2025.[22]

References

  1. ^ "Player profile: Marko Kivenmäki". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  2. ^ "Team Staff profile: Marko Kivenmäki". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  3. ^ "Vesa Salo ja Marko Kivenmäki siirtyvät Ruotsiin" [Vesa Salo and Marko Kivenmäki move to Sweden]. Jatkoaika (in Finnish). 1 June 2001. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  4. ^ "Måljeger til Frisk" [Goal-hunter for Frisk]. NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). 30 October 2002. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  5. ^ "Marko Kivenmäki ja Ässät sopimukseen" [Marko Kivenmäki and Ässät reach an agreement]. MTV Uutiset (in Finnish). STT. 13 August 2003. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  6. ^ Biller, Philippe. "Championnat de Finlande de hockey sur glace 2005/06". HockeyArchives.info (in French). Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  7. ^ "Hyllytetty Kivenmäki taas kokoonpanossa" [Benched Kivenmäki is back in the lineup]. Iltalehti (in Finnish). STT. 9 February 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  8. ^ "Marko Kivenmäki ei jatka patapaidassa". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). 26 March 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  9. ^ "Ässien Marko Kivenmäki siirtyy TPS:n riveihin" [Ässät's Marko Kivenmäki joins TPS]. Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). 26 July 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  10. ^ "Player Card - Season 2010-11: TPS #21 Marko Kivenmäki". Liiga (in Finnish). Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  11. ^ "Marko Kivenmäki Ässien seuratoimenjohtajaksi" [Marko Kivenmäki appointed Ässät club executive director]. Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). 19 March 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  12. ^ Piironen, Jose (11 April 2022). "Viikkokatsaus viikolle 15" [Weekly review for week 15]. HC Ässät Pori (in Finnish). Retrieved 18 March 2026. Jo aikaisemmin Ässät on tiedottanut joukkueiden päätoimiset päävalmentajat: U20 – Juha-Matti Kemppainen, U18 – Samuli Marjeta, U16 – Marko Kivenmäki
  13. ^ "Juniorijoukkueiden päätoimiset päävalmentajat jatkavat Ässissä" [The full-time head coaches of the youth teams will continue at Ässät]. Porin Ässät ry (in Finnish). 26 November 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  14. ^ "U18-U16 kesäharjoitusryhmät" [U18-U16 summer training groups]. Porin Ässät ry (in Finnish). 12 April 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  15. ^ Laiho, Harri (7 February 2023). "Ässien nuorten valmentajat nousevat askeleen ylöspäin – porilaisseura on palkkaamassa myös kehitysvalmentajan" [The Ässät youth coaches are taking a step up - the Pori club is also hiring a development coach]. Satakunnan Kansa (in Finnish). Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  16. ^ Laiho, Harri (25 January 2024). "Marko Kivenmäki teki kovan ratkaisun: hän jättää Ässät, Porin ja jääkiekon" [Marko Kivenmäki made a tough decision: he is leaving Ässät, Pori and hockey]. Satakunnan Kansa (in Finnish). Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  17. ^ Tukia, Ari (19 October 2025). "Rakkaus roihuaa" [Love is blazing]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  18. ^ "Rullakiekon SM-kaudesta povataan tasaista" [The Inline Hockey Finnish Championship is expected to be balanced]. Kaleva (in Finnish). STT. 8 May 2002. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  19. ^ Müller, Stephan (15 May 2025). "Inline Hockey World Championships of the IIHF (defunct)" (PDF). Sport-Record.de. p. 7. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  20. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (23 June 2018). "Red Wings draft eight players on second day of 2018 NHL Entry Draft". NHL.com. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  21. ^ Laiho, Harri (14 September 2018). "Isä Ässien kunniagalleriassa, poika peränurkassa – "Sakelle minä sanoinkin, ettei vahingossa kutsu minua faijan lempinimellä"". Satakunnan Kansa (in Finnish). Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  22. ^ Huttunen, Sasha (23 September 2025). "Kun kaksi tunnettua kiekkopersoonaa kohtasi sokkotreffeillä Porissa, kumpikaan ei heti tajunnut, että toinenkin on entinen huippupelaaja" [When two well-known hockey personalities met on a blind date in Pori, neither immediately realized that the other was also a former elite player]. Satakunnan Kansa (in Finnish). Retrieved 18 March 2026.


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