Kiekko-Espoo


Kiekko-Espoo Naiset is the representative women's ice hockey team of the hockey club Kiekko-Espoo based in Espoo, Finland. They compete in the Naisten Liiga, the premier women's ice hockey league in Finland, where they are the winningest team in league history. The team has been known as Espoon Kiekkoseura , Espoo Blues, Espoo United, and Kiekko-Espoo during its tenure in the Naisten Liiga; at least one Finnish Championship medal was won under each name.

History

EKS, 1990–1992

The team entered Naisten SM-sarja in the 1990-91 season with the name EKS. The two seasons played as EKS were an impressive showing for the newcomers and resulted in a bronze medal each, one in the 1990-91 season after defeating Ässät and one in the 1991-92 season after defeating KalPa.
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.

Kiekko-Espoo, 1992–1998

In 1992 EKS was renamed Kiekko-Espoo, the same name as its brother-team in the Liiga. The team continued to be held to bronze or lower finishes, making it to five bronze medal series in six years and winning four of them.

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 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 in the finals, they went on to win a staggering seven consecutive championships and a total of 13 championships in 18 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 and three bronze medals.

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, 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, are 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.

Espoo Blues part 2, 2017–2019

In September 2017 the Finnish Ice Hockey Association 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.

Players and personnel

2020–21 roster

Updated 22 June 2020

2020–21 coaching staff

Updated 22 June 2020

Finnish Championship

This is a partial list of the last five 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” in the 2019–20 season.
Note: Finish = Rank at end of regular season; GP = Games played; W = Wins ; OTW = Overtime wins ; OTL = Overtime losses ; L = Losses ; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
Source: Finnish Ice Hockey Association

Franchise records and leaders

Single-season records

The top-ten point-scorers in franchise history.
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; = current Kiekko-Espoo player; Bold indicates franchise record
PlayerPosGPGAPtsP/G
F3383552846391.891
F2862803516312.206
W2061762193951.917
C1511741863602.384
D2081082053131.505
F2231191432621.175
F1951011382391.226
D262541732270.866
W2411101042140.888
D250711171880.752

Source: Elite Prospects

Notable alumni

Years active with Kiekko-Espoo listed with players' names.