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Kiekko-Espoo
Kiekko-Espoo is a Finnish professional ice hockey club founded in 2018 as a continuation of the Kiekko-Espoo team originally founded in 1984. Kiekko-Espoo men's team plays in the Liiga, where they were promoted for the 2024–25 Liiga season, 2024–25 season, and the Kiekko-Espoo Naiset, women's team plays in the Auroraliiga, where they hold the most championships of any club. Kiekko-Espoo's junior teams play at national league levels in U16, U18 and U20 juniors. The junior teams of Espoo Blues and Kiekko-Espoo played under Kiekko-Espoo Juniorit ry until 2014. In 2017, and , which split from the Espoo Blues junior organization, launched their own junior representative team and founded Kiekko-Espoo ry. The team plays in U16, U18 and U20 junior leagues under the name Kiekko-Espoo. When Espoo United (ice hockey), Espoo United collapsed in the spring of 2018, the organization decided to also establish a representative team for adults in Kiekko-Espoo. It started playing in the 2018 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Auroraliiga
The is the national premier league for women's ice hockey in Finland. Founded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association as the Naisten Suomen mestaruus, SM-sarja (NSMs; ) in 1982, it was known as the Naisten Liiga (NSML;) from 2017 until being rebranded as Auroraliiga in 2024. The league comprises approximately 225 players across nine teams. Kiekko-Espoo Naiset, Kiekko-Espoo has been the dominating force of the Auroraliiga in the 21st century, winning seventeen Finnish Championships from 1999 to 2025. Ilves Naiset, Tampereen Ilves is the second most successful club in the league's history, with ten championship titles. Ilves are the only organization to have iced a team in every season since the league's inception. A majority of teams in Auroraliiga share their names with men's professional teams in the Liiga or Mestis – HIFK (ice hockey), HIFK, HPK, Ilves, KalPa, Kiekko-Espoo, Oulun Kärpät, Kärpät, Lukko, RoKi, HC TPS, TPS – but the women's teams have historically received ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kiekko-Espoo Naiset
Kiekko-Espoo Naiset are an ice hockey team in the Auroraliiga. They play in the Tapiola district of Espoo, Finland at the () of the Tapiolan urheilupuisto. The team was founded as Espoon Kiekkoseura (EKS) in 1989 and has also been known as Espoo Blues Naiset and Espoo United Naiset during its tenure in the Auroraliiga. Kiekko-Espoo have won the Aurora Borealis Cup as the Finnish Champions in women's ice hockey seventeen times, seven more wins than any other team in league history; at least one Finnish Championship medal (gold, silver, or bronze) was won under each of the four names. The parent club, Kiekko-Espoo Oy, also has a representative men's ice hockey team in the Liiga, a representative ringette team in the Ringeten SM-sarja, and active sections in minor and junior ice hockey and youth ringette. History EKS, 1990–1992 The team entered Naisten SM-sarja (now Naisten Liiga) in the 1990–91 season under the name Espoon Kiekkoseura or EKS. The two seasons played ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tero Lehterä
Tero Juhani Lehterä (born 21 April 1972) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player who played the majority of his career in the SM-liiga. He played for Tappara, Jokerit, HPK, and Espoo Blues. He also had stints in Elitserien, the IHL, Russia, Switzerland and Germany. He also won a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics and World Championship with Finland's 1995 Ice Hockey World Championships team. Lehterä switched into coaching after retiring his hockey career. He has been the head coach of SaiPa of the Finnish Liiga. He has also coached several Espoo Blues junior teams and worked as an assistant coach for Blues' first team during the 2015-16 season. He was supposed to become the head coach of Blues, but the team went bankrupt in 2016. He has also worked as a hockey analyst for tv channels MTV3 and Nelonen. During the 2022/23 season in Hockeyallsvenskan he took over as headcoach for Västerås IK after the team had a rough start-mid season which hadn't met th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2024–25 Liiga Season
The 2024–25 Liiga season is the 50th season of the Liiga, the top level of Finnish ice hockey since 1975. The Liiga expanded to 16 teams for the season with the addition of Kiekko-Espoo. The league also brought back the relegation to the Mestis and a reformed playoff system and new divisions that decide the number of games teams play against each other. Format The regular season started in September 2024. Due to the addition of Kiekko-Espoo, the previous amount of 450 matches was increased to 480 matches total in the regular season. Each team played 60 matches, and all teams were divided into four groups. As usual, the series was on break in November for a week and a half while the national teams played in the Euro Hockey Tour. The Christmas break lasted 5–7 days, depending on the team, with the exception of Kärpät, which participated on the 26th–31 December in the Spengler Cup in Switzerland. For other teams, the Christmas break ended on Saint Stephen's day, 26 Decemb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liiga
The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mestis. The winner of the Liiga playoffs is awarded the Kanada-malja at the end of each season. Teams from the Liiga participate in the International Ice Hockey Federation, IIHF's annual Champions Hockey League (CHL), competing for the European Trophy. Participation is based on the strength of the various leagues in Europe (excluding the European/Asian Kontinental Hockey League). The Liiga was established in 1975 to replace the former SM-sarja, which was fundamentally an amateur competition. The Liiga is not directly overseen by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, but the league and association have an Contract, agreement of cooperation. SM is a common abbreviation for ''Finnish Champion, Suomen mestaruus'', "Finnish Champion". History The SM ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mestis
Mestis (from , meaning 'Championship series', stylized as MEST1S) is the second-highest men's ice hockey league in Finland. The league was established by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 2000 to replace the I-divisioona ('First Division'). Being promoted to SM-liiga is possible if a Mestis team beats a SM-liiga club in the qualification series and matches all the criteria set by the SM-liiga. Mestis, however, is an open league where relegation and promotion are possible with the 3rd league, Suomi-sarja. Mestis is also the highest league governed by the FIHA. History In the years 2000–2008, it was not practically possible for Mestis teams to get promoted to the SM-liiga, which was closed in 2000, but it was possible to drop down to the Suomi-sarja instead. However, KalPa was promoted to the SM-liiga in the spring of 2005, when the number of teams in the league was increased from 13 to 14 teams. For the 2008–2009 season, the SM-liiga qualifiers were brought bac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kim Hirschovits
Kim Michael Hirschovits-Gerz (born 9 May 1982) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward and sports manager of Kiekko-Espoo in the Mestis. During his playing career, he skated in the Finnish Liiga (called SM-liiga until 2013) with HIFK, Jokerit, the Espoo Blues, and Oulun Kärpät; in the Swedish Elitserien with Timrå IK and Luleå HF; and in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod and Dinamo Minsk. Hirschovits was drafted by the New York Rangers as their sixth-round pick, 194th overall, in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. Following his retirement in 2019, Hirschovits stepped into role as sports manager Kiekko-Espoo. He also served as the team's head coach during the 2019–20 season and 2021–22 season. Playing career Hirschovits started his professional playing career with HIFK in the 2000–01 SM-liiga season, but his career took off in the 2005–06 season, when he scored 40 points. Hirschovits then created controversy by signing with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jokerit
Helsingin Jokerit (, English: Joker (playing card), Jokers or Jesters of Helsinki) is a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland, which competes in Mestis. Jokerit plays its home games at the Helsinki Ice Hall and Helsinki Halli in Helsinki. Founded in 1967, the team has a rich history of success, having secured six league championships as a prominent member of the Finnish Liiga, SM-liiga in the years 1972–73 SM-sarja season, 1973, 1991–92 SM-liiga season, 1992, 1993–94 SM-liiga season, 1994, 1995–96 SM-liiga season, 1996, 1996–97 SM-liiga season, 1997, and 2001–02 SM-liiga season, 2002. Additionally, Jokerit has three European championships to its name, having triumphed in the IIHF European Cup in 1994 IIHF European Cup, 1994 and 1995 IIHF European Cup, 1995, as well as the IIHF Continental Cup in 2002–03 IIHF Continental Cup, 2003. Starting in the 2014–15 KHL season, 2014–15 season, Jokerit became part of the Bobrov Division of the Kontinental H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Espoo
Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, which has approximately million inhabitants. Espoo is on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland and borders Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi. The city includes the Enclave and exclave, enclave of Kauniainen. Espoo covers an area of . Espoo is a bilingual municipality with Finnish language, Finnish and Swedish language, Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of Finnish speakers, Swedish speakers, and speakers of other languages, well above the national average. Espoo was settled in the Prehistory, Prehistoric Era, with evidence of human settlements dating back 8,000 years. However, the population disappeared during the early Iron Age. During the Middle Ages, Early Mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Espoo Metro Areena
Espoo Metro Areena (known from 1999 to January 2009 as LänsiAuto Areena, and from 2009 to October 2015 as Barona Areena) is an arena in the Tapiola District of Espoo, Finland. The arena is part of the '' Tapiolan Urheilupuisto'' (Tapiola Sports Park). It was inaugurated in 1999 and holds 6,982 people for ice-hockey games or up to 8,000 for concerts. Events Espoo Metro Areena has been primarily used for ice hockey and it was the home arena of Liiga team Espoo Blues from 1999 to 2016 and of Espoo United of the Mestis from 2016 until the franchise was dissolved in 2018. Kiekko-Espoo moved to the arena in 2019. The 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship of ice hockey took place at the arena. The arena hosted ''Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu'', Finland's national selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest, in 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2018. The arena served as the leading venue for the 2022 World Ringette Championships. The 2023 European Figure Skating Championships were hosted at th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
