Editing Espoo (section)

===Ice hockey===
[[Espoo Blues]] was a successful hockey club; between 1998 and 2016 it iced a men's hockey team which played at the men's premier [[SM-liiga]] and a women's hockey team which played at the women's premier [[Naisten Liiga (ice hockey)|Naisten SM-sarja]]. The women's team, [[Espoo Blues Naiset]], won 13 Finnish women's championships in the 18-year span (1998–2016), seven of them won consecutively. The men's and women's ice hockey teams were known as Kiekko-Espoo from 1984 to 1998 and 1990 to 1998 respectively.

In spring 2016 ''Jääkiekko Espoo Oy'', the organization which owned the clubs, declared bankruptcy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.is.fi/sm-liiga/art-2000001157282.html|title=Konkurssipesä myöntää: Bluesin tilanteeseen ei ratkaisua|last=Hiitelä|first=Juha|date=12 April 2016|website=Ilta-Sanomat|language=fi|trans-title=The bankrupt organization concedes: Blues situation has no solution|access-date=15 July 2019}}</ref> A new club called [[Espoo United (ice hockey)|Espoo United]] was established to replace Espoo Blues.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.is.fi/mestis/art-2000001168126.html|title=Nyt se on varmaa: Jussi Salonoja perusti uuden seuran – "Lähetän hakupaperit tänään"|last=Lempinen|first=Marko|date=28 April 2016|website=Ilta-Sanomat|language=fi|trans-title=Now it is certain: Jussi Salonoja founded a new club – "I'm submitting league admittance papers today"|access-date=15 July 2019|archive-date=13 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713233341/https://www.is.fi/mestis/art-2000001168126.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Espoo United (ice hockey)|Espoo United's men's ice hockey team]] played at the second highest level [[Mestis]]. The Espoo United women's hockey team played at the highest level, {{lang|fi|[[Naisten Liiga (ice hockey)|Naisten Liiga]]|italic=no}}, and won silver in the 2017 league championships. Espoo United was also active in basketball and the [[Espoo United (basketball)|men's basketball team]] played at the second highest level; the women's basketball team played at the highest level, [[Naisten Korisliiga]].

In August 2017, in what was described as an effort to stabilize the club's tenuous financial situation, Espoo United abandoned its women's teams in both ice hockey and basketball.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.is.fi/jaakiekko/art-2000005326203.html|title=Jussi Salonojalta raju ratkaisu: Espoo United hylkää naisjoukkueet|last1=Oivio|first1=Janne|last2=Lempinen|first2=Marko|date=15 August 2017|website=Ilta-Sanomat|language=fi|trans-title=Jussi Salonoja's drastic solution: Espoo United to abandon women's teams|access-date=15 July 2019|archive-date=13 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713233342/https://www.is.fi/jaakiekko/art-2000005326203.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Espoo United's former women's basketball team quickly acquired transfer to [[Tapiolan Honka]] but the women's ice hockey team was left in an unsustainable situation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theicegarden.com/2017/8/17/16162120/espoon-united-womens-team-folds-one-month-before-puck-drop-naisten-liiga-pyeongchang-jussi-salonoja|title=Espoo United women's team folds one month before puck drop|last=Foster|first=Meredith|date=17 August 2017|website=The Ice Garden|access-date=15 July 2019|archive-date=27 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627194552/https://www.theicegarden.com/2017/8/17/16162120/espoon-united-womens-team-folds-one-month-before-puck-drop-naisten-liiga-pyeongchang-jussi-salonoja|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Finnish Ice Hockey Association]] chose to intervene in September 2017 and created an organization that would allow the team to play under the name Espoo Blues until a better structure could be identified.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theicegarden.com/2017/9/4/16252084/blue-monday-blues-espoo-join-naisten-liiga-naisleijonat-finland|title=Blue Monday: Blues Espoo join Naisten Liiga|last=Foster|first=Meredith|date=4 September 2017|website=The Ice Garden|access-date=15 July 2019}}</ref> In April 2018, despite the dumping of its women's teams, Espoo United declared bankruptcy and its men's teams folded.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.is.fi/mestis/art-2000005667535.html|title=Espoo Unitedin konkurssista tuli virallista|date=4 May 2018|website=Ilta-Sanomat|language=fi|trans-title=Espoo United's bankruptcy becomes official|access-date=15 July 2019|archive-date=13 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713233341/https://www.is.fi/mestis/art-2000005667535.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In April 2019, the women's ice hockey team Espoo Blues merged with ''Kiekko Espoo Oy'', a significant junior hockey club with the largest girls hockey program in the country, to become [[Kiekko-Espoo Naiset]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theicegarden.com/2019/4/30/18523465/kiekko-espoo-absorb-espoo-blues-rejoin-top-tier-naisten-liiga-finland|title=Kiekko-Espoo absorb Espoo Blues, rejoin top tier|last=Foster|first=Meredith|date=30 April 2019|website=The Ice Garden|access-date=15 July 2019|archive-date=27 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627194517/https://www.theicegarden.com/2019/4/30/18523465/kiekko-espoo-absorb-espoo-blues-rejoin-top-tier-naisten-liiga-finland|url-status=live}}</ref> At the time of the merger, the team was the winningest team in Naisten Liiga history with 14 [[Aurora Borealis Cup|Naisten Liiga championships]] and a combined 24 Naisten Liiga championship medals over 29 seasons.