Matti WasamaMatti Wasama (b. January 14, 1918, Tampere

Tampere

Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 - d. July 10, 1970, Tampere

Tampere

Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 was a former ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 Forward

Forward (ice hockey)

In ice hockey, a forward is a player position on the ice whose primary responsibility is to score goals. Generally, the forwards try to stay in three different lanes, also known as thirds, of the ice going from goal to goal. It is not mandatory however, to stay in a lane. Staying in a lane aids in...

 who played for Ilves

Ilves

Ilves is a Finnish sports club nowadays mostly known for their youth work. The ice hockey team plays in the SM-liiga at the Tampereen jäähalli in Hakametsä...

. Matti Wasama was the father of Jarmo Wasama

Jarmo Wasama

Jarmo Sakari Wasama was an ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga. He played for Ilves. He was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985. Wasama won two championships , one silver and two bronzes...

, one of the most promising ice hockey Defenders

Defenceman (ice hockey)

Defence in ice hockey is a player position whose primary responsibility is to prevent the opposing team from scoring...

 of his time.

Playing career

Matti Wasama played in SM-liiga

SM-liiga

The SM-liiga is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. As of March 2008, it is ranked by the IIHF as the second strongest league in Europe. It was created in 1975 to replace the SM-sarja, which was fundamentally an amateur league. The SM-liiga is not directly overseen by the Finnish Ice...

 from 1935 to 1946. Wasama won the SM-liiga championship three times while he played for Ilves

Ilves

Ilves is a Finnish sports club nowadays mostly known for their youth work. The ice hockey team plays in the SM-liiga at the Tampereen jäähalli in Hakametsä...

.

Matti Wasama also played for TaPa

Tampereen Palloilijat

-History:TaPa played in the first SM-sarja season. TaPa played a total of 4 seasons in the SM-sarja .The best result for TaPa was the winning of SM-sarja in 1931...

before he retired in 1946.

Death of Jarmo Wasama

Matti Wasama along with his son, Jarmo were driving home when their car suddenly struck a stalled tractor in foggy weather. Matti Wasama sustained heavy injuries while his son died despite attempts to revive him in hospital.

Matti Wasama never got over the accident and was deeply depressed until his death in 1970.