- Espoo Blues
SM-liiga Team
team_name = Blues
bg_color = #272A3E
text_color = white
logo_
league =SM-liiga
founded =1984
history = Kiekko-Espoo1984 -1998
Blues1998 - present
arena =LänsiAuto Areena (capacity 7,036)
city =Espoo ,Finland
colors = Blue, white, yellow
headcoach =Petri Matikainen
teamcaptain =Rami Alanko The Blues are an
ice hockey team in theSM-liiga . They play inEspoo ,Finland at theLänsiAuto Areena .Team History
The club was established in February
1984 as Kiekko-Espoo and played their first season in 1984-1985 in the Finnish Second Division. In 1988 they achieved promotion to the Finnish First Division and in 1992 celebrated their promotion to theSM-liiga by beating Joensuun Kiekkopojat with wins 3-2 in best-of-five-series.Kiekko-Espoo ended its first two seasons in SM-liiga in 11th place within 12 teams. In 1994-95 season team made playoffs for the first time, losing to
Lukko in quarter-finals. In 1997-98 season Kiekko-Espoo caused huge upset by beating regular season winner TPS in quarter-finals. Kiekko-Espoo ended the season in fourth place. In the next summer, team name was changed. The name came from the dominant colour of their home jersey.During the 1998-99 season, team moved to its current home,
LänsiAuto Areena . The first seasons in their new home were difficult despite team signing many big names. Blues missed the playoffs in 2001 and 2005. In 2002-03 season Blues had its best regular season until that day with fourth place, only to lose against eventual championsTappara in overtime of the seventh quarter-final.The team took step forward in 2006-07 when they reached the semi-finals for the first time in nine years, although they lost against Kärpät straight in three games and bronze medal game against
HPK . During 2007-08 Blues set a new team record by winning 12 games in a row. They finally ended the regular season in 2nd place and beatHIFK in quarter-finals andJokerit in semi-finals, proceeding to the finals and thus ensuring the first medal in franchise history. The team eventually ended up second after losing the finals to Kärpät.Roster for 2008-09 season
Team Captains (SM-liiga)
*
Jan Långbacka (1992-94)
*Hannu Järvenpää (1994)
*Peter Ahola (1994-95)
*Jarmo Muukkonen (1995-96)
*Teemu Sillanpää (1996-97)
*Juha Ikonen (1997-99)
*Peter Ahola (1999-2001)
*Valeri Krykov (2001-02)
*Juha Ylönen (2002-03)
*Rami Alanko (2003-05)
*Timo Hirvonen (2005, stepped down as captain in November 2005)
*Markku Hurme (2005-2006, replaced Hirvonen as captain mid-season)
*Joakim Eriksson (2006)
*Markku Hurme ,Ville Viitaluoma ,Erkki Rajamäki ,Kent Manderville (2006-07, rotating captaincy)
*Rami Alanko (2007 to date)Head coaches (SM-liiga)
*
Martti Merra (1992-94, replaced in January)
*Hannu Saintula (1994, mid-season replacement)
*Harri Rindell (1994-96)
*Håkan Nygren (1996-98, replaced in February)
*Hannu Saintula (1998, mid-season replacement)
*Pekka Rautakallio (1998, replaced in November)
*Hannu Saintula (1998-99, mid-season replacement)
*Jukka Holtari (1999-2000, replaced in January)
*Jari Härkälä (2000, mid-season replacement)
*Timo Tuomi (2000-01, replaced in September of second season)
*Hannu Kapanen (2001-03, mid-season replacement, continued in the next season)
*Ted Sator (2003, replaced in October)
*Hannu Virta (2003-04, mid-season replacement, replaced in the October of second season)
*Pekka Rautakallio (2004-05)
*Kari Heikkilä (2005-07)
*Petri Matikainen (2007 to date)Not to be Forgotten
*
Peter Ahola (juniors-1989, 1994-1995, 1999-2001)
*Juha Ikonen (juniors-1990, January 1993-1999)
*Tommy Kiviaho (juniors-1991, 1992-1993, 1998-2000)
*Jere Lehtinen (juniors-1993)
*Tero Lehterä (juniors-1994, 1997-1998, 2001-2002)
*Timo Hirvonen (juniors-2003, 2005-2006, junior coach 2006 to date)
*Kari Haakana (juniors-1992, 1993-1998, 2004-November 2005)
*Mariusz Czerkawski (1994-95 NHL lockout )
*Ilkka Sinisalo (January 1995-1996, in organization 1996-1999)
*Jiri Vykoukal (1998-2003)
*Arto Laatikainen (juniors-2008)
*Arto Kuki (1993-2000, 2007-2008)
*Jan Caloun (2001-2004)
*Mike Ribeiro (2004-05 NHL lockout )
*Mikko Lehtonen (juniors-2008)
*Bernd Brückler (January 2006 to date)Retired Numbers
*33
Timo Hirvonen External links
* [http://www.blues.fi Blues official web site]
* [http://www.espooblues.net Blues unofficial web site]
* [http://www.bluesfanclub.net Blues official fan club]
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