The team is co-owned by (among others) former National Hockey League (NHL) goaltender Pasi Nurminen and Formula One racecar driver Valtteri Bottas.

After Vyborg was taken from Finland by Soviet Union during World War II, the club relocated to Lahti where it continued under its original name until renamed to Lahden Reipas.

Their sole playoff appearance came in 1981–82 when they finished sixth and lost to eventual champions Tappara 2–0 in the opening round.

The 1989–90 season was a success on the ice as the team finished second in the First Division and earned promotion to SM-liiga by beating KooKoo in the playoffs 3–1.

First, Šindel suffered a season-ending injury and shortly after, Válek was banned until November for hitting a referee in Turku.

However, a season-ending six-game unbeaten streak and a replay win against Tappara was enough to lift the team into tenth place and out of relegation playoffs.

Other notable departures were forwards Tommy Kiviaho and Jyrki Poikolainen and defencemen Teemu Sillanpää and Jarmo Jokilahti.

Poor finances limited the summer signings, but former crowd favourite Oldřich Válek returned after his two-year spell in Norway.

On relegation series Reipas finished last, marking the end of a four-year spell in the top flight.

The following season saw the return of veteran defenceman Kari Eloranta from Rögle BK and a slight improvement on ice as the team finished sixth.

"Pelican" was adopted as the team mascot and the traditional colours of white, orange and black were abandoned in favour of green and yellow.

The playoffs were a different story, as Pelicans swept both Hermes and Sport in three games while Kärpät were eliminated by TuTo in the first round.

Despite adding much needed veteran presence to the team, the 2000–01 season started slowly and by late November, the Pelicans was placed second-to-last, just few points ahead of Ässät.

After the successful 2001–02 season, six of the ten leading scorers and head coach Kari Eloranta left the team.

[6] He was replaced by his assistant coach, Petteri Sihvonen, who led the team to just five regulation time wins in 41 games.

Dwindling attendance and dire financial straits led to the wholesale of key players during the season and finally in February 2004, the club applied for debt restructuring.

In April 2005, finally saw the arrival of new ownership led by Pasi Nurminen, who had played 16 games for the Pelicans during the season due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout.

Despite stronger financial situation, the team continued to under perform and on October 26, 2005, Kauppi was fired after recording just 2 wins in 16 games.

[10] He was first replaced by general manager Ilkka Kaarna and on January 7, 2006, by former Finland national team head coach Hannu Aravirta.

The Pelicans finished tenth and recorded their first ever playoff series win by beating TPS in the preliminary round 2–0.

The season would also prove to be the last for many veteran players such as Marko Jantunen, Erik Kakko and Toni Koivunen.

The start of the 2010–11 season saw the team struggling under the guidance of Toivola despite a number of high-profile summer signings such as NHL veteran Mike York, Dwight Helminen, Matias Loppi and defenceman Jyri Marttinen.

A late- season acquisition,[25] Smoleňák scored the game-winning goal also in Game 7 as the Pelicans won 3–2 and advanced to semi-finals for the first time in club history.

The Pelicans started the series with a 2–0 home win, but lost the following four games as JYP won their second championship in three years.

[30] Pelicans' summer signings included two former NHL first-round draft picks: centres Angelo Esposito[31] and Ryan O'Marra,[32] journeyman winger Lee Goren[33] and defenceman Danny Richmond.

[41] Another turnaround followed and just six regulation time losses in 25 final games were enough to land the team eighth place, which guaranteed a return to playoffs after a one-year absence.

The team struggled with injuries throughout the season and when being out of playoff contention by February, key players like centres Tyler Redenbach and Tommi Paakkolanvaara and wingers Michal Řepík and Jordan Smotherman were released in order to cut financial losses.

NHL veteran Ryan Potulny led the team in scoring with 36 points while Juha Leimu's 18 goals were a league-high for defencemen.

[59] Alongside Kaski, Pelicans suffered notable departures as key players such as Jesse Saarinen, Mikko Kousa and Hynek Zohorna left the team.

For the full season-by-season history, see List of SM-liiga seasons Other awards for the club: Tatra Cup Updated 8 February 2025[65]