Espoo Blues

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Blues
Blues
League SM-liiga
Founded 1984
History Kiekko-Espoo
1984 - 1998
Blues
1998 - present
Arena LänsiAuto Areena
City Espoo, Finland
Team Colors Blue, white, yellow
General Manager {{{generalmanager}}}
Head Coach Kari Heikkilä
Team Captain Kent Manderville (rotating)

The Blues are an ice hockey team in the SM-liiga. They play in Espoo, Finland at the LänsiAuto Areena.

Contents

[edit] Facts

Founded: 1984
Arena: LänsiAuto Areena (capacity 7,036)
Uniform colours: Blue, white, yellow
Logo design: A stylized letter B is shown on a shield bearing the Espoo name.
League championships won: 0

[edit] 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 the SM-liiga. The club and the team changed their name in 1998. The name came from the dominant colour of their home jersey. The full name of the club is Blues Hockey Oy.

[edit] Notable Players

[edit] Current Squad

As of February 2, 2007

Goaltenders


Defencemen

  • 2 - Juha Gustafsson
  • 3 - Santeri Heiskanen
  • 6 - Mikael Kurki
  • 8 - Kimmo Pikkarainen
  • 14 - Tuomas Eskelinen
  • 15 - Patrik Lostedt
  • 22 - Juha Alén
  • 34 - Ismo Kuoppala
  • 38 - Jari Korhonen
  • 42 - Arto Laatikainen
  • 44 - Kimmo Peltonen
  • 80 - Samuli Suhonen

Forwards

  • 10 - Matti Uusivirta
  • 12 - Joni Töykkälä
  • 13 - Markku Hurme
  • 16 - Johannes Alanen
  • 17 - Ladislav Kohn
  • 18 - Erkki Rajamäki
  • 19 - Mikko Lehtonen
  • 20 - Pentti Nöyränen
  • 21 - Tero Koskiranta
  • 23 - Joni Finell
  • 26 - Jari Tolsa (1)
  • 28 - Semir Ben-Amor
  • 29 - Carlo Grünn
  • 39 - Ville Viitaluoma
  • 40 - Jaakko Uhlbäck
  • 48 - Kent Manderville
  • 52 - Camilo Miettinen
  • 75 - Martin Kariya
  • 78 - Kari Kalto
  • 85 - Toni Kähkönen


(1) Tolsa has dual citizenship of Sweden and Finland so he doesn't count as a foreigner in the team.

[edit] 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-present, replaced Hirvonen as captain mid-season)
  • Markku Hurme, Ville Viitaluoma, Erkki Rajamäki, Kent Manderville (2006-07, rotating captaincy)

[edit] 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 to date)

[edit] Not to be Forgotten

[edit] Retired Numbers

  • 33 Timo Hirvonen

[edit] External links


 
Ice hockey in Finland
Flag of Finland
SM-liiga teams : Ässät | Blues | HIFK | HPK | Ilves | Jokerit | JYP | KalPa | Kärpät | Lukko | Pelicans | SaiPa | Tappara | TPS
Trophies and awards: Kultainen kypärä | Kalevi Numminen trophy | Jarmo Wasama memorial trophy | Matti Keinonen trophy | Raimo Kilpiö trophy | Urpo Ylönen trophy | Pekka Rautakallio trophy | Aarne Honkavaara trophy | Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy | Lasse Oksanen trophy | Jari Kurri trophy
Former teams : FPS | Jokipojat | KooKoo | Koo-Vee | Sport | TuTo
Other leagues and teams : Mestis | Suomi-sarja | Finnish national men's ice hockey team | Finnish national women's ice hockey team