Trustee Spotlight: Viktor Finnilä

We’re back after a little break from our regular season end of year celebrations. For those of you who missed it, we had our annual Awards Ceremony and our annual Alumni Game. Next week we’ll have a catch up on that, but for this week we’ll get back to our regular programming: our weekly Spotlight! 

This week is a special one, one of our absolute favorite Dragons: a Trustee, Coach, and another record holder, Viktor Finnilä . 

Vik joined the team back in 2019 and has done something that no other Dragon has done, he played on all three of our teams, the A, B and C teams (back before the UoL Student Union dissolved and we had the funding for three teams). Finnilä managed to rack up 58 points (31 goals and 27 assists) in only two (non-wacky COVID) seasons and also donned the C as Captain for the 2019-2020 undefeated season.

After playing for the Dragons, Vik has stayed involved with the team in a number of ways, making him a vital part of the health and survival of the Dragons' legacy.  He stayed involved with the team through our wacky and wild COVID seasons, where he both played and then coached the team. At the start of those years, Vik was integral to many of the social aspects of the team, pulling people out of our COVID cages and making us social and alive again.  Alongside his ability to get people together, Vik worked with Samuel Zdatny (another Trustee) to coach the team and took over the head coach mantle in 2024 when we won the National League Championship in a 5-3 win over the Nottingham Mavericks.

Since then, Vik joined the Board of The London Ice Hockey Trust, one of our sister charities that is designed to take the place of the University of London funding.  He’s been working hard to help rebuild the Dragons legacy and has brought in some of the largest donations for the club (Donate Here, even £5 helps!) and even sponsored the awards for the Award Ceremony this year.  Most recently, alongside Trustees Kalle Uusitalo and Samuel Zdatny, supported by Thom Norris, he was a commentator in one (and hopefully many more) of our games this year (which you can watch on YouTube).

For our regular readers, you know what’s up next, a little ride down hockey history road. You’ll also notice our very obvious trend in our hockey history section. Vik started playing hockey around the age of two on the outdoor rinks of Helsinki with his Dad and friends. Finnilä told us that it was something he did every winter, back in the day when they had proper -15/-20 degree winters in Helsinki.  Hockey has always been a large part of the Finnilä family with a multi-generational loyalty to the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (HIFK Hockey) team.

Vik continued to play a few seasons of hockey with Espoon Jääklubi (EJK). Although he loved hockey and had great friends on the team, his real passion was Tennis.  He set aside his hockey-heavy schedule but never stopped playing in the outdoor rink season. This took Vik to the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Southeastern 1A Division where he competed in the Southern Conference Trophy Championship for King's College London. Finnilä was also the Social Secretary for the Tennis team, which makes sense considering his friendly demeanor, positive attitude, and never-ending energy to spend time with his friends.

A note to our readers: We’ve mentioned this a few times but there’s another common thread to a lot of our players.  Most of our players are high level athletes in other sports, like Vik, many played Tennis, Lacrosse, Roller Hockey, Football, Cross Country, and other sports, sometimes keeping hockey as a secondary sport.

Kings College London is where Vik obtained his undergraduate degree, a BSc (Honours) in Business Administration and Management. During his degree, Vik was also a member of the investment banking society and it’s where he found his home with the Dragons!

Since his graduation from King’s, Vik has been living in London and working for MCF Corporate Finance, a leading corporate finance, M&A, and debt advisory firm with a Northern European Focus.  They have offices in Germany, Finland, Sweden, and the UK with cross-border transactions firmly embedded in their DNA. Vik started as an Investment Banking Analyst Intern at MCF back in 2020 and is now the Investment Banking Vice President focusing on industrial transactions.

We’ve learned from Vik that his involvement in the Dragons often helps in conversations with his Nordic clients who are often surprised to learn how active the ice hockey scene is in the UK. Working in finance requires many of the same skills it takes to be part of the Dragons, high intensity, being a team player, competitiveness, and a desire to win are all attributes Vik was able to translate into his everyday work.  Not only that, his magnetic personality has brought out a couple of other recreational players from MCF or friends who support the club.

Outside of work, Vik is involved in a wide range of activities, both sporting and philanthropic. He still comes out to play with us for the occasional Saturday evening scrimmage and played at our most recent Alumni Game.  He also attended the Alumni Tournament in Amsterdam last year (organized by Trustee Kalle Uusitalo).  It’s one of Vik’s most memorable moments since leaving the Dragons where he got to connect with Dragons from different eras and even discovered a former Dragons had worked with his firm in their current role, a great example of how networking with the team extends beyond the rink!

Vik is also a member of the Cumberland Lawn Tennis Club and plays for the Sunday league football team AFC Camden.  Being a part of a team and staying active through sport is how Vik likes to spend his time outside work.

One last bit about Vik, and one of the most important, is his philanthropic side.  We mentioned above that he’s helped us raise money to keep the Dragons alive (we gotta link our donation page one more time), but he’s also worked to raise money for a few other causes.

He worked with Blood Cancer UK on several occasions, most notably raising funds when he ran the London Marathon in 2024 where he ran an impressive 10:50 mile and finished  at 4:44:03. Vik also organized one of the most memorable and heartfelt events in Hyde Park, his Midsummer “Fun”draiser to support cancer research while introducing international friends to a Nordic tradition.  Finally, he supported the work of the Dan Maskell Tennis Trust through events organized by the East India Club Tennis Section.

Vik has been a fantastic supporter of the Dragons from start to finish and we’re happy to have him on board with us as we revitalize the Dragons’ Legacy.  For those interested in networking or getting in contact with Vik, he’s happy to catch up or have a coffee with any current or future Dragons who want to discuss a career in finance.

MCF is hiring for multiple positions across their offices, and he suggests you check their open positions on the MCF webpage.

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At the bottom of every article we'll also include links to all of our web pages and our forms. As always, please help us in our journey to reinvigorate the Dragons after UoL cut all sports!

• If you were on the Dragons, please help us keep in touch with our Alumni Contact Update form!