Espoo Blues
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 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.
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[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
- 1
- Antti Härmä - 30
- Bernd Brückler - 31 - Mikko Strömberg
- 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
- 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
- Tommy Kiviaho (juniors-1988, 1989-1992, 1998-2000)
- Kari Haakana (juniors-1990, 1993-1998, 2004-2006)
- Jere Lehtinen (juniors-1993)
- Tero Lehterä (juniors-1994, 1997-98, 2001-02)
- Ilkka Sinisalo (1994-96, in organization 1996-99)
- Peter Ahola (juniors-1989, 1994-95, 1999-2001)
- Juha Ikonen (juniors-1990, 1993-1999)
- Jiri Vykoukal (1998-2003)
- Jan Caloun (2001-04)
- Mike Ribeiro (2004-05 NHL lockout)
- Mariusz Czerkawski (1994-95 NHL lockout)
- Timo Hirvonen (juniors-2003, 2005-2006)
[edit] Retired Numbers
- 33 Timo Hirvonen
[edit] External links
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| 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 | |
