Kiekko-Espoo

Kiekko-Espoo is a Finnish ice hockey club founded in 1984. Kiekko-Espoo men's team plays in the Mestis 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 organization. For Kiekko-Espoo from 1998 to 2016, see Espoo Blues. For the women's team, see Kiekko-Espoo Naiset.
Kiekko-Espoo
NicknameKivikova
CityEspoo
LeagueMestis (men)
Naisten Liiga (women)
Founded1984
Home arenaEspoo Metro Areena
Colours     
Head coachTomas Westerlund (men)
Sami Haapanen (women)
AffiliatesHunters
Jäähonka
Franchise history
1984-1998Kiekko-Espoo
1998-2016Espoo Blues
2018–presentKiekko-Espoo
Championships
Naisten Liiga (women)16 (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2022)

In 2017, Espoon Kiekkoseura and Espoon Palloseura, which split from the Blues's 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 of Kiekko Espoo

On February 15, 1984, Jäähonka, Espoon Palloseura and Espoon Jääklubi merged into Kiekko-Espoo and inherited Jäähonka's place in the 2. Divisioona. K-Espoo's first arena was the Matinkylä Ice Hall.

Espoo Blues (1998–2016)
Main article: Espoo Blues

Kiekko-Espoo's name changed to Espoo Blues in the summer of 1998.[5] The renamed team played the first half of the 1998–1999 season in the Helsinki Ice Hall, because the Matinkylä Ice Hall no longer met the requirements of the SM-liiga. Länsiauto-arena was completed in January 1999 as the new home arena of the Espoo Blues.

The district court of Espoo declared the club's background company Jääkiekko Espoo Oy bankrupt on March 21, 2016. The company's biggest creditors were the Finnish Tax Administration and the pension insurance company Keskinäinen Työeläkevakuutusyhtiö Elo, who had applied for Blues's bankruptcy already in November 2015. In April 2016, the total amount of the club's debts was made public at almost 4 million euros.[6][7] After the bankruptcy decision, the Blues announced that the activities of the club's A-juniors will continue until the end of the current season. Blues's A-juniors played the playoffs of the U20 SM-sarja and the team made it to the finals. In the final, Blues lost to Ilves.[8]

Re-establishment of Kiekko-Espoo

Kiekko-Espoo was re-established in 2018. The new Kiekko-Espoo played its first season in Suomi-sarja[5] Kiekko-Espoo will try to enter Liiga in the 2024–2025 season.[9]

Kiekko-Espoo made it to the Mestis finals in the 2021–22 season but lost to Imatran Ketterä in 5 games.[10]

Honours

Liiga

Runner-up (2) 2007–08, 2010–11[11][lower-alpha 1]

Mestis

Runner-up (1) 2021–22[12][10]

Finnish Cup

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

Notes
  1. 2007–07 and 2010–11 medals were won by the Espoo Blues

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. "Bluesin todellinen velkasumma paljastui - Salonoja vetäytyi pelastusoperaatiosta". www.iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  7. "Se päivä, kun Espoo Blues kuoli". Se päivä, kun Espoo Blues kuoli. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  8. "Nyt se tapahtui: Blues meni konkurssiin!". www.iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  9. 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.
  10. "Imatran Ketterä on jälleen Mestiksen mestari – Kiekko-Espoo kaatui viidessä ottelussa". mtvuutiset.fi (in Finnish). 2022-05-04. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  11. "Blues at eliteprospects.com". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  12. "Kiekko-Espoo at eliteprospects.com". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
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