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 Mestis, where they have won one championship (2022–23), and the women's team plays in the Naisten Liiga. Kiekko-Espoo's junior teams play at national league levels in U16, U18 and U20 juniors.[1] The junior teams of Espoo Blues and Kiekko-Espoo played under Kiekko-Espoo Juniorit ry until 2014.[2]

This article is about the Kiekko-Espoo men's team. For the women's team, see Kiekko-Espoo Naiset.
Kiekko-Espoo
NicknameKivikova
CityEspoo, Finland
LeagueMestis
Founded1984 (1984)
Home arenaEspoo Metro Areena
(capacity: 6,982)
Colours     
Head coachTomas Westerlund
AffiliatesHunters
Jäähonka
Franchise history
1984–1998Kiekko-Espoo
1998–2016Espoo Blues
2018–presentKiekko-Espoo
Championships
Mestis1: 2022–23

In 2017, Espoon Kiekkoseura and Espoon Palloseura, which split from the Espoo Blues junior organization, launched their own junior representative team and founded Kiekko-Espoo ry.[3] 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.[4]

History

Establishment and first seasons

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 and rebrand
Blues met Kärpät in the 2008 SM-liiga final series.

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

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[5] 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.[6] 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 Liiga in the 2024–2025 season.[7]

Home arena
Espoo Metro Areena from the inside.
Main article: Espoo Metro Areena

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

Mestis

1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner (1): 2022–23

2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up (1) 2021–22[8][6]

Finnish Cup

1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner (1): 2022
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up (1): 2021

Liiga

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

1st place, gold medalist(s) Aaro Kivilinna Memorial Trophy (7): 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

2nd place, silver medalist(s) Kanada-malja: Finnish championship (2): 2008, 2011

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

Honored members

List of retired numbers:

Kiekko-Espoo retired numbers
No. Player Position Tenure Date of retirement References
10 Jere Lehtinen LW 1990–1993 30th September 2014 [9]
33 Timo Hirvonen LW 1990–2003

2005–2006 (player) 2011–2015 (coach)

 6th March 2007 [10]

Notable alumni
Stefan Öhman with the Espoo Blues carrying the golden helmet in 2010.

Captains history
Kim Hirschovits wearing the captain's "C" with the Espoo Blues.
Toni Kähkönen as the Blues captain.

As Kiekko-Espoo (1984–1998)

As Espoo Blues

As Kiekko-Espoo

Head coaches

As Kiekko-Espoo (1984–1998)

  • Finland Martti Merra (1992–1994, replaced in January)
  • Finland Hannu Saintula (fi) (1994, mid-season replacement)
  • Finland Harri Rindell (1994–1996)
  • Sweden Håkan Nygren (sv) (1996–1998, replaced in February)
  • Finland Hannu Saintula (1998, mid-season replacement)

As Espoo Blues

As Kiekko-Espoo

  • Finland Mikko Juutilainen (2018–2019)
  • Finland Kim Hirschovits (2019–2020)
  • Finland Janne Tuunanen (2020–2021)
  • Finland Kim Hirschovits (2021–2022)
  • Finland Tomas Westerlund (2022–2023)

Logo history
  • Logo used by Kiekko-Espoo 1984–98
    Logo used by Kiekko-Espoo 1984–98
  • Logo used by the Espoo Blues 1998–03
    Logo used by the Espoo Blues 1998–03
  • Logo used by the Espoo Blues 2003–05
    Logo used by the Espoo Blues 2003–05
  • Logo used by the Espoo Blues 2005–09
    Logo used by the Espoo Blues 2005–09
  • Logo used by the Espoo Blues 2009–16
    Logo used by the Espoo Blues 2009–16

References
  1. "Kiekko-Espoo seuran esittely".
  2. "YTJ - Yritys- ja yhteisötietojärjestelmä - Yrityshaku". tietopalvelu.ytj.fi. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  3. "Kiekko-Espoo tekee paluun kaukaloon EKS:n ja EPS:n junnujen edariseurana". Länsiväylä (in Finnish). 2017-11-21. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  4. "Naiskiekon menestynein seura Blues historiaa – Kiekko-Espoo palaa Naisten liigaan". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). 2019-04-25. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  5. Koivunen, Tommi (2018-05-26). "Kiekko-Espoo palaa kiekkokartalle – entinen SM-liigatähti aikoo pelata ja manageroida!". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  6. "Imatran Ketterä on jälleen Mestiksen mestari – Kiekko-Espoo kaatui viidessä ottelussa". mtvuutiset.fi (in Finnish). 2022-05-04. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  7. Kostiainen, Jari (2022-09-01). "SM-liigan uusi Jokerit-päätös selkeyttää Kiekko-Espoon tilannetta – "Espoo on tehnyt paljon työtä vuosien ajan", kommentoi liigapomo". Länsiväylä (in Finnish). Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  8. "Kiekko-Espoo at eliteprospects.com". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  9. "Paidan jäädytys herkisti Jere Lehtisen - katso video". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). 2014-09-30. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  10. "Blues ei unohda menneisyyttään". Jatkoaika.com - Kaikki jääkiekosta (in Finnish). 2007-03-02. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
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