Kiekko-Espoo Naiset

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. 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.
=== 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).
=== 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, [the men's teams] 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 (a junior club with strong ties to the franchise).
=== 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.
== 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	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season 	Post season results
Season 	League 	Finish 	GP 	W 	OTW 	OTL 	L 	GF 	GA 	Pts 	Top scorer 	Post season results
2015–16	Naisten SM-sarja	2nd 	28 	19 	3 	1 	5 	162 	67 	64 	L. Välimäki 70 (31+39) 	Won bronze medal, 1–0 (Kärpät)
2016–17	Naisten SM-sarja	2nd 	28 	17 	3 	1 	7 	109 	68 	58 	L. Välimäki 60 (29+31) 	Lost final, 2–3 (Kärpät)
2017–18	Naisten Liiga 	3rd 	30 	16 	2 	4 	8 	125 	74 	56 	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 	A. Rajahuhta 66 (36+30) 	Won Championship, 3–0 (Ilves)
2019–20	Naisten Liiga 	1st 	30 	20 	3 	2 	5 	145 	60 	68 	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 	N. Laitinen 37 (13+24) 	Won Championship, 3–1 (KalPa)
2021–22	Naisten Liiga 	1st 	30 	27 	1 	0 	2 	182 	44 	83 	E. Holopainen 56 (29+27) 	Won Championship, 3–2 (HIFK)
2022–23	Naisten Liiga 	3rd 	36 	23 	2 	1 	10 	142 	70 	74 	A. Montonen 42 (21+21) 	Lost final, 0–3 (HIFK)
2023–24	Naisten Liiga 	1st 	32 	24 	2 	3 	3 	168 	66 	79 	E. Nuutinen 63 (28+35) 	Lost final, 1–3 (HIFK)
== Team honours ==
=== Finnish Championship ===
* Aurora Borealis Cup (16): 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2022
* Runners-up (3): 2010, 2017, 2023, 2024
* Third Place (8): 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2006, 2016
===IIHF European Women's Champions Cup===
* Silver (3): 2005, 2007–08, 2009–10
* Bronze (3): 2008–09, 2013–14, 2014–15
== References ==
== External links ==
* Team information and statistics from EliteProspects.com and EuroHockey.com and HockeyArchives.info (in French)
Category:Ice hockey teams in Finland