K-Vantaa

Vantaa lies just north of Helsinki, inside the same sprawl of the capital region, and for most of the twentieth century its hockey following was split three ways. Vantaan Kiekko, Tikkurilan Jää-Veikot and Vantaa Hockey Team merged in June 1994 into a single elite side, registered two months later under the name Kiekko-Vantaa and known ever since by its nickname Lohikäärme, the Dragon.

The club worked its way up from the Suomi-sarja, winning promotion in 1999–2000 after beating Hyvinkään Ahmat in the play-offs, and the following year became a founding member of Mestis. It reached the league final twice, in 2003 and 2017, and came away with silver both times; the two most recent seasons, 2024–25 and 2025–26, ended in bronze.

The years off the ice were harder. In 2010 the club went through a corporate restructuring after running up €350,000 in unpaid debts, and between 2012 and 2015 it was owned by the South Korean businessman Chung Mong-won. From 2017 to 2019, under a cooperation agreement, Kiekko-Vantaa played in Jokerit's own jersey colours — the two sides still meet regularly in what locals call the Pääkaupunkiseudun derby, the Capital Region derby.

The name most associated with the club is Antti Niemi, who came up through Kiekko-Vantaa's junior ranks before building a long career as an NHL goaltender; his number 39 has since been retired by the club he started with.