Kiekko-Espoo Naiset are an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team in the

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 rebr ...

. They play in the

Tapiola Tapiola (; ) is a district of the municipality of Espoo on the south coast of Finland, and is one of the major urban centres of Espoo. It is located in the western part of Helsinki capital region. The name ''Tapiola'' is derived from ''Tapio (spi ...

district of

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 Helsi ...

, 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 The Aurora Borealis Cup () is the trophy awarded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the victorious team of the Auroraliiga playoffs, the Finnish Champion in women's ice hockey. Project Christopher Shapardanov, Canadian Ambassador to Fin ...

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 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 Mesti ...

, a representative

ringette Ringette is a winter team sport played on an ice rink using ice hockey skates, straight sticks with drag-tips, and a blue, rubber, pneumatic ring designed for use on ice surfaces. While the sport was originally created exclusively for female c ...

team in the Ringeten SM-sarja, and active sections in

minor Minor may refer to: Common meanings * Minor (law), a person not under the age of certain legal activities. * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Mathematics * Minor (graph theory), a relation of one graph to an ...

and

junior ice hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from ...

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 as EKS were an impressive showing for the newcomers and each resulted in a bronze medal, one in the 1990–91 season after defeating Ässät and one in the 1991–92 season after defeating

KalPa Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) is a professional ice hockey team which competes in the Finnish Liiga. They play in Kuopio, Finland at the Niiralan monttu, Olvi Areena. Team history Established in 1929 as ''Sortavalan Palloseura'' in Sortavala, the club r ...

. Several EKS players also played for the bronze medal winning Finnish women's national team at the 1992 IIHF World Championship including Liisa Karikoski, Katri-Helena Luomajoki, and

Hanna Teerijoki Hanna Elisabeth Teerijoki (born 15 July 1963) is a Finnish multi-sport athlete and the only European to represent their country on the national team in six different sports. Best known as a bandy and ice hockey player, she won a sum of 26 Finnis ...

Kiekko-Espoo, 1992–1998

In 1992 EKS was renamed Kiekko-Espoo, the same name as its brother-team in the

. The team continued to be held to bronze or lower finishes, qualifying for five bronze medal series in six years and winning four of them (1993, 1994, 1997, 1998).

The Golden Age: Espoo Blues, 1998–2016

The team was renamed Espoo Blues in 1998, continuing the trend of sharing the name of its brother-team in the Liiga, which also renamed

Espoo Blues 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, 20 ...

in that year. The name change unwittingly marked the beginning of a "golden age" for the team. Starting with their first SM-sarja gold medal in 1999, after achieving victory over

JYP Jyväskylä JYP is an ice hockey team playing in the Finnish top division Liiga. They play in Jyväskylä, Finland, at the Synergia-areena, LähiTapiola Areena. History JYP was founded in 1923. First it was the ice hockey section of the sports club ''Jyväsk ...

in the finals, they went on to win a staggering seven consecutive championships (1999–2005) and a total of thirteen championships in eighteen years. The Blues were kept off the SM-sarja medal podium only three times in the 1998–2016 span; in addition to their championship titles, they earned the team's first silver medal in 2009 and two more bronze medals in 2006 and 2016. The Espoo Blues were also strong competitors at international tournaments in this period, earning medals at six IIHF European Women's Champions Cups: three silver medals (

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, 2007-08, 2009-10) and three bronze medals ( 2008-09, 2013–14, 2014–15).

Espoo United, 2016–17

In March 2016 ''Jääkiekko Espoo Oy'', the parent club of both the Espoo Blues of the Naisten Liiga and Espoo Blues of the Liiga, declared bankruptcy with estimated liabilities of approximately €3 million. In response, Jussi Salonoja, a Finnish millionaire and film director who had previously owned the Espoo Blues franchise from 2002–2012, created a new club and organization called ''Espoo United Oy,'' stating that he was "committed to supporting hockey in Espoo." The Espoo Blues men's and women's basketball and ice hockey teams would play for Espoo United. For the 2016–17 season the Espoo United women's ice hockey team played in the Naisten SM-sarja and won silver in the 2017 Finnish Championship. The Espoo United men's team played in the

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 ...

, the league below the premier-level Liiga, where they won bronze in the playoffs. On 15 August 2017 Salonoja announced that the Espoo United was abandoning its women's ice hockey and basketball teams for financial reasons. “The reason is twofold: the men's teams' budgets are far greater than those of women's teams, so their running is more demanding, but on the other hand, he men's teamsare more interesting to sponsors and audiences,” Salonoja said. The future of women's ice hockey team was left uncertain and many possible solutions were proposed, including being acquired by HIFK or merging with Espoo Blues Juniorit (a junior club with strong ties to the franchise).

Espoo Blues part 2, 2017–2019

In September 2017 the

Finnish Ice Hockey Association The Finnish Ice Hockey Association (, ) is the sport governing body, governing body of ice hockey in Finland. Since the late 1980s, Finland has enjoyed a period of success on the international stage and, , the Finland men's national ice hockey t ...

announced that it had supported the creation of an independent association, Ysikoppi ry, to oversee the team and had given its approval for the team to compete in the upcoming 2017–18 season under the name Espoo Blues.

Season-by-season results

''This is a partial list of the most recent seasons completed by the franchise. The team was called the “Espoo Blues” during the 2015–16, 2017–18, and 2018–19 seasons; “Espoo United” in the 2016–17 season, and “Kiekko-Espoo” from the 2019–20 season onward.'' Note: Finish = Rank at end of regular season; GP = Games played; W = Wins (3 points); OTW =

Overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

wins (2 points); OTL = Overtime losses (1 point); L = Losses (0 points); GF =

Goals for The following are statistics commonly tracked in ice hockey. Team statistics * STK – winning or losing streak * GD – ''Goal Difference'' (used as standings tie breaker) * GP – ''Games played'' – Number of games the team has played * W ...

; GA = Goals against; Pts =

Points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

Players and personnel

2024–25 roster

Coaching staff and team personnel * Head coach: Sami Haapanen * Assistant coach: Casimir Öhman * Assistant coach: Emmi Polviander () * Goaltending coach: Risto Jaakkola * Conditioning coach: Viola Kaukonen * Team manager: Riku Eskelinen * Equipment manager: Marko Ahlroth & Jarkko Malm

Team captaincy history

* Katri-Helena Luomajoki, 1997–98 * Essi Sievers, 2007–2009 * Emma Terho (), 2009–2011 * Essi Sievers, 2011–12 * Emma Terho, 2012–2014 * Minttu Tuominen, 2014–2016 * Linda Välimäki, 2016–17 * Minttu Tuominen, 2017–2020 * Annina Rajahuhta, 2020–21 * Minttu Tuominen, 2021–22 * Emmi Rakkolainen, 2022–23 * Reetta Valkjärvi, 2023–

Head coaches

* Johanna Ikonen, 1998–99 * Jari Kalho, 2000–01 * Hannu Saintula, 2001–02 * Jari Peltonen, 2002–2006 * Sami Haapanen, 2008–2011 * Kai Jansson, 2011–2013 * Sami Haapanen, 2013–

Team honours

Finnish Championship

''(17)'': 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

* Runners-up ''(3)'': 2010, 2017,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

* Third Place ''(8)'': 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2006, 2016

IIHF European Women's Champions Cup

* Silver ''(3)'':

, 2007–08, 2009–10 * Bronze ''(3)'': 2008–09, 2013–14, 2014–15

Franchise records and leaders

Players holding franchise records per documentation available from the 1992–93 Naisten SM-sarja season through the conclusion of the 2024–25 Auroraliiga season. Data from the 1990–91 and 1991–92 seasons is incomplete and has not been included.

Single-season records

*Most goals:

Karoliina Rantamäki Karoliina Stina Margaretha Rantamäki (born 23 February 1978) is a Finnish ice hockey forward. She plays in the Auroraliiga with Kiekko-Espoo. Rantamäki holds the all-time career record for games played with the Finnish women's national ice ...

, 39 goals (24 games; 2002–03) *Most assists: Minttu Tuominen, 50 assists (30 games; 2018–19) *Most

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

Michelle Karvinen Michelle Karvinen (born 27 March 1990) is a Danish-Finnish ice hockey player for Frölunda HC Dam of the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) and member of the Finnish national team. Karvinen has been described as "the world's best technical ...

, 81 points (22 games; 2008–09) *Most points,

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

: Minttu Tuominen, 63 points (30 games; 2018–19) *Most

penalty minutes A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penalties ...

: Tea Villilä, 76 PIM (16 games; 2008–09) *Best

save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various Goal (sports), goal-scoring sports that track Save (goaltender), saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse and association football, it is a sta ...

: ''Two goaltenders'', .954 SVS% :*

Noora Räty Noora Helena Räty (born 29 May 1989) is a Finnish ice hockey goaltender and the goaltending coach of Shenzhen KRS in the Chinese Women's Ice Hockey League. She was a founding board member of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association ...

(19 games; 2006–07) :* Isabella Portnoj (19 games; 2013–14) * Best

goals against average Goals against average (GAA), also known as average goals against (AGA), is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on spo ...

: Minja Drufva, 1.20 GAA (12 games; 2021–22) * Most

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

: Jenna Silvonen, 6 shutouts (28 games; 2017–18)

Career records

Only skaters appearing in more than thirty games and goaltenders appearing in more than ten games with Kiekko-Espoo are included. * Most goals: Karoliina Rantamäki, 368 goals (358 games; 1992–2007, 2024–25) * Most assists:

Petra Vaarakallio Petra Maria Paulina Vaarakallio (born 17 June 1975 in Helsinki) is a Finland, Finnish retired ice hockey player and ringette player. She played on the women's ice hockey team for Finland at the 1998 Winter Olympics, and won a bronze medal. Vaarak ...

, 351 assists (286 games; 1992–1994, 1995–2006) * Most points: Karoliina Rantamäki, 672 points (338 games; 1992–2007, 2024–25) * Most points, defenseman: Minttu Tuominen, 409 points (271 games; 2006–2009, 2013–2016, 2017–2020, 2021–22, 2023–2025) * Best points per game: Michelle Karvinen, 3.667 points per game (39 games; 2007–2009) * Most career penalty minutes: Tea Villilä, 455 penalty minutes (261 games; 2008–2010, 2016–2025) * Best save percentage: Isabella Portnoj, .938 SVS% (109 games; 2010–2017 * Best goals against average: Erika Jaskari, 1.66 (25 games; 2017–2021)

All-time scoring leaders

Notable alumnae

* Kati Ahonen, 1996–1999 * Mira Huhta, 2013–2019 * Sanna Kanerva, 1998–2001 * Liisa Karikoski, 1990–1994 * Piia Kotikumpu (), 2000–2009 & 2011–12 * Nelli Laitinen, 2017–2022 *

Linda Leppänen Linda Leppänen née Välimäki (born 31 May 1990) is a Finnish retired ice hockey forward and coach. Representing , she won bronze medals at the Winter Olympic Games in 2010 and 2018 and at the IIHF Women's World Championships in 2015 and 2017 ...

(), 2010–2017 * Pia Lund, 2006–2013 * Katri-Helena Luomajoki, 1990–1994 & 1995–2002 * Sari Marjamäki (), 2003–2007 * Terhi Mertanen, 2001–02, 2008–2011, 2012–13 & 2014–15 * Oona Parviainen, 1999–2010 * Annina Rajahuhta, 2008–09 & 2012–2021 *

, 1992–2007 * Tiia Reima, 2009–2011 * Meeri Räisänen, 2008–2011 *

, 2005–2009 * Maria Saarni (), 1994–2000 * Essi Sievers, 2002–2010 & 2011–2014 * Jenna Silvonen, 2015–2019 & 2022–23 *

, 1991–1994 * Emma Terho (), 1996–2000, 2004–2007 & 2008–2015 * Noora Tulus, 2013–2016 * Satu Tuominen, 2001–2009 *

, 1992–2006 * Päivi Virta (previously Halonen), 1997–2006 *

Marjo Voutilainen Marjo Hannele Voutilainen (born 22 March 1981) is a Finnish retired ice hockey player and current head coach of Ilves Naiset in the Naisten Liiga (NSML). During her playing career, she competed internationally with the Finnish national team, w ...

, 2004–2008 * Heidi Wiik, 1999–2005

International players

* Susanne Ceder, 1998–2000 * Minna Dunder, 1993–94 *

Moeko Fujimoto is a Japanese ice hockey forward and member of the Japan women's national ice hockey team, currently playing with Toyota Cygnus of the Women's Japan Ice Hockey League (WJIHL) and the All-Japan Women's Ice Hockey Championship. International ...

, 2014–15 * Nikola Gápová, 2015–2018 * Sheila Gagnon, 2001–02 & 2008–09 * Jin Fengling, 2005–06 * Marianne Mattila, 1996–1998 * Danielle Rozon, 2017–18 * Sun Rui, 2005–06 * Julia Zielińska, 2019–2024 * Arina Zvezdina, 2011–12

References

External links

* Team information and statistics fro
EliteProspects.com
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(in French) {{Auroraliiga, state=collapsed 1989 establishments in Finland Kiekko-Espoo Naisten Liiga (ice hockey) teams Sport in Espoo