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 season, and the 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 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 2018–2019 season in the Suomi-sarja. In the 2019–2020 season, the Blues women's representative team also moved to Kiekko-Espoo.

History

Establishment and first seasons (1984–1998)

The club was established in February 1984 as Kiekko-Espoo and played their first season in 1984–85 in the Finnish Second Division. In 1988, they achieved promotion to the Finnish First Division and in 1992, they celebrated their promotion to the SM-liiga by beating Joensuun Kiekkopojat with a 3–2 series win in a best-of-five format. Tero Lehterä scored the winning goal and Jere Lehtinen assisted.

Kiekko-Espoo ended its first two seasons in SM-liiga in 11th place out of 12 teams. In the 1994–95 season, the team made the playoffs for the first time, losing to Lukko in quarter-finals. In 1997–98, Kiekko-Espoo caused a huge upset by beating regular season winner TPS in the quarter-finals. Kiekko-Espoo ended the season in fourth place.

Name change, rebrand and bankruptcy (1998–2016)

The following summer, the team name was changed to Espoo Blues. The name came from the dominant colour of their home jersey.

During the 1998–99 season, the team moved to its current home, LänsiAuto Areena (renamed in 2009 to Barona Areena due to sponsorship change). The first seasons in their new home were difficult despite the team signing many big names. The Blues missed the playoffs in 2001 and 2005. In 2002–03, the Blues had their best regular season, finishing in fourth place, only to lose against eventual champion Tappara in overtime of the seventh quarter-final.

The team took a step forward in 2006–07 when they reached the semi-finals for the first time, although they lost against Kärpät in three straight games, and lost the bronze medal game against HPK. During the 2007–08 season, the Blues set a new team record by winning 12 games in a row. They finally ended the regular season in second place and beat local rivals HIFK in the quarter-finals and other local rivals Jokerit in the semi-finals, proceeding to the finals and thus ensuring their first medal ever. The team eventually ended up second after losing in the finals to Kärpät.

In the next season, the team was again second after the regular season, but lost against Kärpät in the semi-finals, as well as the bronze medal game against KalPa. The season also included participation in the Champions Hockey League, where the Blues lost in the semi-finals against eventual champion ZSC Lions of Switzerland. The 2009–10 season was difficult for the team, and the Blues failed to reach the quarter-finals. In 2010–11, the team ended the regular season in ninth place and then beat eighth-placed Kärpät in the wild card round of the playoffs. The team then made history by becoming the first team in the SM-liiga to advance from the wild card round to the semi-finals, eventually beating Ässät in six games. In the semi-finals, the Blues continued their string of upsets and beat regular season winners JYP in five games. In the finals, HIFK swept the series in four games, and the Blues were awarded the silver medal for the second time in team history.

In the 2011–12 season, the Blues finished eighth in the regular season. After beating Lukko in the wild card round, the team faced KalPa in the quarter-finals. The Blues made history again, becoming the first team in SM-liiga history to win the series after being down 0–3. In the semi-finals, the Pelicans beat the Blues 4–1.

After declining ticket income and increasing expenses after a reacquisition by Jääkiekko Espoo Oy in 2012, the Blues were declared bankrupt in March 2016. Their final ranking in the 2015–2016 season was 15th, the lowest in the league.

Continuing the legacy: From the Suomi-sarja to the Liiga (2018–present)

After the collapse of the Espoo Blues and Espoo United, Kiekko-Espoo was established in 2018. The new Kiekko-Espoo played its first season in Suomi-sarja from where it got promoted to Mestis.

Kiekko-Espoo made it to the Mestis finals in the 2021–22 season but lost to Imatran Ketterä in 5 games. The team made to the Metis finals again in the 2022–23, this time defeating Imatran Ketterä to become champions. Kiekko-Espoo will try to enter SM-liiga in the 2024–2025 season, and applied for the license on 30 October 2023. The license for the 2024–25 season got accepted on 20 December 2023. Kiekko-Espoo won the Mestis bronze medal in 2024.

Season by season record

Home arena

Kiekko-Espoo plays their home games in the 1999 built Espoo Metro Areena located in the Tapiola sporting park in Espoo. The arena has a capacity of 6,982.

Honours

Liiga

''The 2018 established Kiekko-Espoo does not claim any achievements before the year 2018.''

Aaro Kivilinna Memorial Trophy ''(7)'': 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

Kanada-malja: Finnish championship ''(2)'': 2008, 2011

Mestis

* Winner ''(1)'' : 2022–23

* Runner-up (1) : 2021–22

* Third place (1) : 2023–24

Finnish Cup

Winner (1): 2022
Runner-up (1): 2021

Junior champions

*A-juniors (20-year-olds) ''(4)'': 1989, 1990, 2009, 2014
*B-juniors (18-year-olds) ''(3)'': 1988, 1993, 2011
*C-juniors (16-year-olds) ''(3)'': 2011, 2012, 2014

Players

Current squad

Updated 21 September 2024

Honored members

List of retired numbers:

Notable alumni

* Peter Ahola
* Tyler Arnason
* Frank Banham
* Timo Blomqvist
* Scott Brower
* Bernd Brückler
* Jan Čaloun
* Mariusz Czerkawski
* Johan Davidsson
* Tom Draper
* Ben Eaves
* Nils Ekman
* Jere Elo
* Joakim Eriksson
* Kari Haakana
* Niklas Hagman
* Santeri Heiskanen
* Timo Hirvonen
* Juha Ikonen
* Otakar Janecký
* Joonas Jääskeläinen
* Jere Karalahti
* Martin Kariya
* Steve Kariya
* Ryan Keller
* Ladislav Kohn
* Krys Kolanos
* Ľubomír Kolník
* Arto Kuki
* Arto Laatikainen
* Jani Lajunen
* Tero Lehterä
* Jere Lehtinen
* Jan Långbacka
* Mikko Lehtonen
* Donald MacLean
* Ryan Malone
* Kent Manderville
* Shawn McEachern
* Kurtis McLean
* Dale McTavish
* Branislav Mezei
* Cory Murphy
* Jarmo Myllys
* Sami Nuutinen
* / Stefan Öhman
* Oskar Osala
* Antti Pihlström
* Esa Pirnes
* Sergei Pryakhin
* Erkki Rajamäki
* Mike Ribeiro
* Nathan Robinson
* Christian Ruuttu
* Ilkka Sinisalo
* Petri Skriko
* Iiro Tarkki
* Petr Ton
* Lauri Tukonen
* Antti Törmänen
* Jiří Vykoukal
* Landon Wilson
* Juha Ylönen

Captains history

;Kiekko-Espoo (1984–1998)
* Jan Långbacka (1992–1994)
* Hannu Järvenpää (1994)
* Peter Ahola (1994–95)
* (1995–96)
* Teemu Sillanpää (1996–97)
* Juha Ikonen (1997–98)

;Espoo Blues
* Juha Ikonen (1998–99)
* Peter Ahola (1999–2001)
* (2001–02)
* Juha Ylönen (2002–03)
* Rami Alanko (2003–2005)
* Timo Hirvonen (2005, stepped down as captain in November 2005)
* (2005–06, replaced Hirvonen as captain mid-season)
* Joakim Eriksson (2006)
* Markku Hurme
Ville Viitaluoma
Erkki Rajamäki
Kent Manderville (2006–07, rotating captaincy)
* Rami Alanko (2007–2009)
* Toni Kähkönen (2009–2012)
* Arto Laatikainen (2012–13)
* Kim Hirschovits (2013–2016)

;Kiekko-Espoo
* Nikke Kettukangas (2018–19)
* Juuso Hämäläinen (2019–20)
* Arto Laatikainen (2020–21)
* Toni Kähkönen (2021–22)
* Miro Keskitalo (2022–2024)

Head coaches

;Kiekko-Espoo (1984–1998)
* Martti Merra (1992–1994, replaced in January)
* (1994, mid-season replacement)
* Harri Rindell (1994–1996)
* (1996–1998, replaced in February)
* Hannu Saintula (1998, mid-season replacement)

;Espoo Blues
* Pekka Rautakallio (1998, replaced in November)
* Hannu Saintula (1998–1999, mid-season replacement)
* (1999–2000, replaced in January)
* (2000, mid-season replacement)
* (2000–01, replaced in September of second season)
* Hannu Kapanen (2001–2003, mid-season replacement, continued in the next season)
* Ted Sator (2003, replaced in October)
* Hannu Virta (2003–04, mid-season replacement, replaced in the October of second season)
* Pekka Rautakallio (2004–05)
* Kari Heikkilä (2005–2007)
* Petri Matikainen (2007–2011)
* Lauri Marjamäki (2011–2013, replaced in February)
* (2013, mid-season replacement)
* Jyrki Aho (2013–2016)

;Kiekko-Espoo
* Mikko Juutilainen (2018–19)
* Kim Hirschovits (2019–20)
* Janne Tuunanen (2020–21)
* Kim Hirschovits (2021–22)
* (2022–2024)
* Jyrki Aho (2024–)

Logo history

File:Kiekko-Espoo_logo_1984–98.jpg, Logo used by Kiekko-Espoo 1984–98
File:Espoo_Blues_logo_1998–2003.png, Logo used by the Espoo Blues 1998–03
File:Espoo_Blues_logo_2003–05.png, Logo used by the Espoo Blues 2003–05
File:Espoo Blues 2005–09.png, Logo used by the Espoo Blues 2005–09
File:Espoo Blues logo 2009–2016.png, Logo used by the Espoo Blues 2009–16
File:Kiekko-Espoo logo 2021.png, Current Kiekko-Espoo logo 2018–

References

{{Mestis

Sport in Espoo
Liiga teams
1984 establishments in Finland
Ice hockey clubs established in 1984
Ice hockey teams in Finland