Tartu Välk 494 is a professional ice hockey team based in Tartu, Estonia. The team competes in the Meistriliiga, the highest league in Estonia. The team plays its home games at the Lõunakeskus Ice Hall.
History Tartu Välk 494 was founded in April 1994, and the team won their first Meistriliiga Championship in 1997. Since then, team have gone on to win the league a further 14 times, with the most recent victory coming in 2025. In addition, they have twice won the now-defunct Estonian Cup, in 1997 and 1998.
By performing well in the Meistriliiga, Välk 494 have subsequently represented Estonia in continental competition on several occasions, initially during the 1997–98 IIHF Continental Cup where they finished 3rd in the group, after suffering losses to Latvian side Juniors Riga and the Ukrainian Sokil Kyiv, but they did manage a victory over Romanian outfit SC Miercurea Ciuc. They played in the Continental Cup the following year, finishing 2nd in their group having beaten HK Vojvodina and KHK Crvena zvezda, both Yugoslavian teams, but suffering a heavy loss to Ukrainian side HC Berkut-Kyiv. The 2009–10 Cup saw Välk 494 represent Estonia once again, beating the Lithuanian side SC Energija in Overtime, whilst suffering heavy losses against Kazakhstan's Saryarka Karaganda and KS Cracovia Kraków of Poland. Välk 494 would once again participate in the 2011–12 edition, comfortably beating Turkish side Başkent Yıldızları, before being beaten themselves by White Caps Turnhout of Belgium.
In 2020 Välk 494 took place in the inaugural Baltic Hockey League, a competition made up of two teams from each of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. They finished top of their group after beating Kaunas Hockey, however, their final game against HK Mogo was cancelled after 4 of the Välk 494 squad tested positive for COVID-19. Despite this, both Välk 494 and HK Mogo qualified for the final round, as both teams had already beaten the Lithuanian team. The finals of the tournament are scheduled to take place in February 2021, having been postponed from December 2020 to several HK Mogo players contracting the virus.
Name Välk is the Estonian word for lightning, whilst the 494 in the team name refers to the month and year the club was founded. From their inception through to 2007 the team was known as Tartu Välk 494, before changing their name to Tartu Kalev-Välk. This moniker lasted until 2018, when the team reverted to the Välk 494 brand.
Roster Updated December 30, 2024. GoaltendersNumberPlayerCatchesAcquiredPlace of Birth 1Ervins Muštukovs- 2022Riga, Latvia30Kristjan Särki- 2022Tartu, Estonia31Daniil Seppenen- 2023Narva, Estonia33Juri BahturinL 2019Tartu, Estonia DefencemenNumberPlayerShootsPositionAcquiredPlace of Birth 2Matvei Kalamees-D 2024Tartu, Estonia9Andrejs Bogdanovs-D 2024Riga, Latvia17Anatoli JakovlevLD 2010Narva, Estonia18Georgijs Pujacs-D 2024Riga, Latvia26Taavi AhmanLD 2021Tartu, Estonia71Aleksejs Popovs -D 2022Riga, Latvia79Didzis Jansons-D 2023Riga, Latvia88Aleksanders Galkins -D 2024Daugavpils, Latvia99Ilja Simagin -D 2021Narva, Estonia ForwardsNumberPlayerShootsPositionAcquiredPlace of Birth 5Mihail Polzunov-F 2024Tartu, Estonia11Nikita Zantmans-F 2022Riga, Latvia12Dmitri KuznetsovLF 2017Tartu, Estonia16Otar SakhokiaLF 2021Tartu, Estonia19Harri KollLF 2019Jõhvi, Estonia27Aleksander Bogdanov-F 2023Narva, Estonia38Marcos Timmusk-F 2023Tartu, Estonia 77Vassili TitarenkoRF 2004Kohtla-Järve, Estonia78Andrei Solovjov-F 2023Tartu, Estonia87Oleksii Voitsekhovskyi LF 2018Kyiv, Ukraine92Kirills Tambijevs-F 2022Riga, Latvia95Olev Kork-F 2013Tartu, Estonia
Honours Meistriliiga Championships: 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2025
Estonian Cup: 1997 & 1998
References
External links
eestihoki.ee