On the positive side, Kärpät's Kari Jalonen was awarded Jarmo Wasama memorial trophy for the best rookie in league after the season.

The team's performance greatly improved, and in the 1979–80 season Kärpät made it to the playoffs where they proved victorious in the bronze medal game.

Tappara started the best-out-of-five series in a strong manner, for instance by winning the third game by a score of 13–2.

During the era of Pentti Matikainen as a head coach, Kärpät remained a championship contender and won bronze medals in three consecutive years (1983–84, 1984–85 and 1985–86).

The next year, Kärpät finally qualified to the SM-liiga by beating Lahti Pelicans in the qualification series.

In 2004–05, Kärpät won the Finnish Championship again when they defeated Jokerit in the finals, winning the best-of-five series 3–1.

They retained the championship title in the 2006–07 season by beating Jokerit in the finals (3–0) and winning all their games in the playoffs.

In the 2007–08 season, the organization won its second consecutive championship title, and the fourth within the last five years, by defeating Espoo Blues in the finals, 4–1.

After a six-year lull, Kärpät returned to the top of Finnish ice hockey under the guidance of Lauri Marjamäki, by winning two consecutive championship titles in the 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons.

In the 2015–16 season Kärpät failed to defend the championship title, but were able to win the bronze medal game.

In the same season, Kärpät finished runners-up in the 2015–16 Champions Hockey League losing 2–1 in the final to Sweden's Frölunda HC.