Sakari Kostilainen
| Sakari Kostilainen | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
December 2, 2006 | ||
| Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Weight | 82 kg (181 lb; 12 st 13 lb) | ||
| Position | Left wing | ||
| Shoots | Left | ||
| Liiga team | HC Ässät Pori | ||
| Playing career | 2025–present | ||
Sakari Kostilainen is a Finnish ice hockey player who represents HC Ässät of the Finnish Liiga. He plays as a left winger.
Career
Kostilainen's youth club is Jokerit Helsinki. He won the 2021–22 U16 Finnish Championship and the 2023–24 U18 Finnish Championship with the club.[1] For the 2024–2025 season, Kostilainen moved to the HC Ässät U20 team.[2] He was the team's top goal scorer with 19 goals and the second-best point scorer with 36 points.[3]
In April 2025, Kostilainen signed a two-year professional Liiga contract with the HC Ässät.[4] During the 2025–26 preseason, he got media attention in his first games with the senior team by sticking his tongue out at Tappara's bench and antagonizing opponents in the final match of the Tampere Cup.[5] Kostilainen began his season with the U20 team. He made his Liiga debut in the seventh round of the regular season on 27 September 2025 against JYP.[6] Kostilainen was assigned to the left wing of the Ässät fourth line alongside Patrik Juhola and Feetu Knihti.[7] He scored the first goal of his Liiga career in a Satakunnan derby away match against rivals Lukko on 24 January 2026.[8]
Playing style
Kostilainen is known as an agitator and physical player despite his smaller size. He has been compared to Brad Marchand, from whom he also gets his jersey number 63.[5]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2023–24 | Jokerit | U20 SM-sarja | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2024–25 | Ässät | U20 SM-sarja | 44 | 19 | 17 | 36 | 38 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| U20 SM-sarja totals | 54 | 22 | 19 | 41 | 44 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||||
References
- ^ "Sakari Kostilainen". Eliteprospects. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
- ^ Laiho, Harri (10 April 2024). "Ässät värväsi kaksi mestaria Helsingistä". Satakunnan Kansa (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 January 2026.
- ^ "Ässät U20 2024-2025". Eliteprospects. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
- ^ Laiho, Harri (17 April 2025). "Ässät julkaisi ennätyspelaajan ja viiden muun sopimukset – joukossa myös yksi uusi nimi". Satakunnan Kansa (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 January 2026.
- ^ a b Laiho, Harri (9 August 2025). "Ässien 18-vuotias tulokas haluaa vastustajien tietävän, kuka hän on – Tämän takia hän näytti kieltään Tapparan vaihtopenkille". Satakunnan Kansa (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 January 2026.
- ^ Kiviniemi, Konsta (27 September 2025). "Ilves haastaa mestarin ilman ruotsalaistähtiään, Tampereella kärppäikonin pojan debyytti – katso ensimmäisen täyden kierroksen kokoonpanot tästä". Jatkoaika (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 January 2026.
- ^ "Liiga.fi | Kausi 2025-26 | Ässät – JYP | 27.9.2025 | Kokoonpanot". liiga.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 January 2026.
- ^ Mäkeläinen, Kimmo (24 January 2026). "Ässien taskuraketti nautiskeli täysin rinnoin Lukon kaatamisesta – "Nyt en kiroile"". Satakunnan Kansa (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 January 2026.