Kiekko-Espoo Naiset

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Kiekko-Espoo Naiset
Kiekko-Espoo logo 2021.png
City: Espoo, Finland
League: Auroraliiga
Founded: 1989
Home Arena: Tapiolan harjoitusareena
Colors: Navy, gold, blue
              
Affiliate(s): Kiekko-Espoo Akatemia
Kiekko-Espoo Challenger
Franchise history
1989–1992: Espoon Kiekkoseura (EKS)
1992–1998: Kiekko-Espoo
1998–2016: Espoo Blues
2016–17: Espoo United
2017–2019: Espoo Blues
2019–: Kiekko-Espoo
Kiekko-Espoo players in 2021

Kiekko-Espoo Naiset are an ice hockey team in the Auroraliiga. They play in the Tapiola district of Espoo, Finland at the harjoitusareena of the Tapiolan urheilupuisto.[1] 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 as the Finnish Champions in women's ice hockey sixteen times, six 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, a representative ringette team in the Ringeten SM-sarja, and active sections in minor and junior ice hockey 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.

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.[2]

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, 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 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 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, 2007-08, 2009-10) and three bronze medals (2008-09, 2013–14, 2014–15).[3]

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.[4] 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,[5] stating that he was "committed to supporting hockey in Espoo."[6] 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.[7] “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, [the men's teams] are more interesting to sponsors and audiences,” Salonoja said.[8][9]

The future of women's ice hockey team was left uncertain and many possible solutions were proposed, including being acquired by HIFK[10] or merging with Espoo Blues Juniorit (a junior club with strong ties to the franchise).[8]

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.[11][12]

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.

Season League Regular season Post season results
Finish GP W OTW OTL L GF GA Pts Top scorer
2015–16 Naisten SM-sarja 2nd 28 19 3 1 5 162 67 64 Flag of Finland L. Välimäki 70 (31+39) 1 Won bronze medal, 1–0 (Kärpät)
2016–17 Naisten SM-sarja 2nd 28 17 3 1 7 109 68 58 Flag of Finland L. Välimäki 60 (29+31) 1 Lost final, 2–3 (Kärpät)
2017–18 Naisten Liiga 3rd 30 16 2 4 8 125 74 56 Flag of Finland E. Rakkolainen 27 (16+11) 4th: Lost bronze medal, 0–1 (Kuortane)
2018–19 Naisten Liiga 1st 30 23 1 0 6 164 58 71 Flag of Finland A. Rajahuhta 66 (36+30) 1 Won Championship, 3–0 (Ilves)
2019–20 Naisten Liiga 1st 30 20 3 2 5 145 60 68 Flag of Finland E. Rakkolainen 42 (13+29) Won semi-final, 3–0 (Team Kuortane);
Finals cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 Naisten Liiga 1st 27 21 1 0 5 124 46 65 Flag of Finland N. Laitinen 37 (13+24) 1 Won Championship, 3–1 (KalPa)
2021–22 Naisten Liiga 1st 30 27 1 0 2 182 44 83 Flag of Finland E. Holopainen 56 (29+27) 1 Won Championship, 3–2 (HIFK)
2022–23 Naisten Liiga 3rd 36 23 2 1 10 142 70 74 Flag of Finland A. Montonen 42 (21+21) 1 Lost final, 0–3 (HIFK)
2023–24 Naisten Liiga 1st 32 24 2 3 3 168 66 79 Flag of Finland E. Nuutinen 63 (28+35) 1 Lost final, 1–3 (HIFK)

Source(s): Finnish Ice Hockey Association[13][14][15][16][17]

Team honours

Finnish Championship

  • 1 Aurora Borealis Cup (16): 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2022
  • 1 Runners-up (3): 2010, 2017, 2023, 2024
  • 1 Third Place (8): 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2006, 2016

IIHF European Women's Champions Cup

References

  1. ↑ Foster, Meredith (2019-03-26). "The Espoo Blues are the 2019 Aurora Borealis Cup Champions". https://www.theicegarden.com/2019/3/26/18281837/the-espoo-blues-are-the-2019-aurora-borealis-cup-champions-finnish-womens-hockey. 
  2. ↑ "Historia" (in fi). https://www.kiekko-espoonaiset.fi/historia/. 
  3. ↑ "Espoo Blues Women - In English". 2012. http://www.bluesnaiset.fi/in-english. 
  4. ↑ Hiitelä, Juha. "Konkurssipesä myöntää: Bluesin tilanteeseen ei ratkaisua", Ilta-Sanomat, 2016-04-12. (fi) 
  5. ↑ Lempinen, Marko. "Nyt se on varmaa: Jussi Salonoja perusti uuden seuran – "Lähetän hakupaperit tänään"", Ilta-Sanomat, 2016-04-28. (fi) 
  6. ↑ "Espoo Unitedin konkurssista tuli virallista", Ilta-Sanomat, 2018-05-04. (fi) 
  7. ↑ "Espoo United Cuts Women's Basketball & Ice Hockey Teams" (in en-GB). 2017-08-15. https://newsnowfinland.fi/sport/espoo-united-cuts-womens-basketball-ice-hockey-teams. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Jussi Salonojalta raju ratkaisu: Espoo United hylkää naisjoukkueet", Ilta-Sanomat, 2017-08-15. (fi) “Syy kaksijakoinen: miesten joukkueiden budjetit ovat selvästi suuremmat kuin naisten joukkueissa, eli niiden toiminnan pyörittäminen on vaativampaa, mutta toisaalta juuri ne kiinnostavat sponsoreita ja yleisöä enemmän, Salonoja sanoo.” 
  9. ↑ Foster, Meredith. "Espoo United women's team folds one month before puck drop", The Ice Garden, 2017-08-17. 
  10. ↑ "HIFK on kiinnostunut Salonojan hylkäämästä Espoo Unitedin naisjoukkueesta", Yle, 2017-08-15. (fi) 
  11. ↑ "Espoo Unitedin sarjapaikka Naisten Liigassa Ysikoppi ry:lle" (in fi-fi). 2017-09-04. https://leijonat.fi/index.php/sarjat/naisten-liiga/kausi-2017-18/item/22061-espoo-unitedin-sarjapaikka-naisten-liigassa-ysikoppi-ry-lle. 
  12. ↑ Saarinen, Joska. "Espoo Unitedin hylkäämä joukkue sai tarvittavat rahat kasaan: "Kumppaneita on sen verran, että uskallamme lähteä kauteen"", Yle, 2017-09-04. (fi) 
  13. ↑ "2015–16 Naisten SM-sarja playoff" (in fi) (.xls). March 2016. http://www.tilastopalvelu.fi/ih/helpers/dwlGames.php?dwl=1&season=2016&stgid=3365&teamid=0&districtid=0&gamedays=4&dog=2016-02-17. 
  14. ↑ "2016–17 Naisten SM-sarja playoff" (in fi). March 2017. http://www.tilastopalvelu.fi/ih/serie/?season=2017&lid=73&did=9&stgid=4934. 
  15. ↑ "2017–18 Naisten Liiga pudotuspelit" (in fi). March 2018. http://www.tilastopalvelu.fi/ih/serie/?season=2018&lid=73&did=9&stgid=6679. 
  16. ↑ "2018–19 Naisten Liiga pudotuspelit" (in fi). March 2019. http://www.tilastopalvelu.fi/ih/serie/?season=2019&lid=73&did=9&stgid=6679. 
  17. ↑ "2019–20 Naisten Liiga pudotuspelit" (in fi). March 2020. http://www.tilastopalvelu.fi/ih/serie/?season=2020&lid=73&did=9&stgid=6679. 

External links

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