Born on March 2, 1962 in Jyväskylä, Finland. He played forward for Finnish teams JyP HT (Jyväskylä), Kiekkoreipas (Lahti), Ilves (Tampere), TPS (Turku), HPK (Hämeenlinna), Jokerit (Helsinki), and for the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks in the NHL.
SM-Liiga Champion of 1993 and 1995, SM-Liiga Silver medalist in 1990. Four-time SM-liiga All-Star Team member (1983, 1984, 1989, 1990). 1984 Stanley Cup Champion. Totals 710 games, 364 goals and 351 assists in different leagues and countries. Played 161 games in the NHL, scored 38 goals, was credited with 45 assists and had 35 penalty minutes.
Participant of the 1984 and 1992 Olympic Games, 1983, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1995 World Championships, 1987 and 1991 Canada Cup. 1995 world champion.
Started coaching in the 1997/98 season. In 2002, led Jokerit to SM-Liiga champion’s title. In 2005, Finnish national team coached by Summanen, finished second in the World Cup.
Was hired as Avangard head coach in 2010 before the playoffs. Omsk lost the series against Neftekhimik and got eliminated.
In the 2010/11 season, Avangard coached by Summanen finished first in the regular season for the first time in club’s history. The team was 9 points ahead of the second-place finisher Ufa Salavat Yulaev and won the Continental Cup. Avangard had an 18-game winning streak and played solid and exciting hockey. But in the playoffs, the Summanen’s team broke hearts of many fans being eliminated in the second round.
In the decisive game against Magnitogorsk in Omsk, Avangard scored no goals for the first time in the season, lost 0-2 and got eliminated from Gagarin Cup playoffs. Avangard played that game without Summanen behind the bench, who was suddenly relieved of his duties on the same day. After leaving Avangard, Summanen was a coaching consultant with Kiekko-Vantaa (Finland).
On December 15, 2011, the Finnish specialist was again appointed head coach of the Omsk club and replaced Rostislav Cada. The Finnish coach managed to return Avangard’s offensive style in a short space of time. The team reached the finals and were just one step away from gold medals, leading the series 3-1, but then lost three games in a row.
In the summer, Summanen signed one-year extension, but unexpectedly, the coach made an official request to bring the contract to an early termination.
In 2014, Raimo Summanen stepped behind the bench for Avangard again. In the regular season, the team finished fourth in the East, and got eliminated in the second round of the playoffs.
Every time when joining the team, Summanen inspired the team to battle hard. Seeing the team playing hockey the coach believed in, the fans were sure that Avangard would never give up. Summanen’s temperament was his redeeming feature. Following his emotions on the bench during a game and in everyday life was very exciting.
Our hockey history is replete with examples where foreign coaches returned to Russia. But Summanen is in a league of his own in terms of a great amount of fans’ adoration and returning three times to the same club. He remained committed to coaching our team.
The second coming of the Finnish coach was for sure the most successful one. He managed to build a modern close-knit team, which reached the finals at breakneck speed. There weren’t too many big names on the team, but coached by the explosive Finn, Avangard battled hard against Moscow Dynamo and everything was decided by one goal in Game 7. In addition to giving the hope for winning the championship, Summanen ensured the progress of local young players, including Buffalo WJC champions Kalinin and Pivtsakin.