Liiga

Liiga

Full name	Jääkiekon SM-liiga
Current season	Liiga 2019/20
sport	ice Hockey
Association	Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto
League foundation	1975
Teams	15th
Country countries	Finland
Title holder	HPK
Record champions	Turun Palloseura (TPS) (10)
TV partner	Nelonen Pro 1 , Nelonen Pro 2
Website	www.liiga.fi
↓ Mestis

The Liiga (until 2013 SM-liiga ) is the top Finnish ice hockey league . It was founded in 1975 as SM-liiga to replace the amateur league SM-sarja . In 2013 it was renamed Liiga for marketing reasons. "SM", which was part of the name until 2013, is an abbreviation for suomenmestaruus (German: Finnish championship). The Liiga works together with the Finnish ice hockey association Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto .

There are currently 15 teams playing in the league. In 2000, the league was initially closed, so no team could relegate to a lower division or be promoted from a lower division without the approval of the committee. In July 2007 it was decided to reopen the league from the 2009/10 season so that teams from the Mestis , the second highest Finnish ice hockey league, could move up again more easily. The mode consisted of a best-of-seven series between the last of the Liiga and the winner of the Mestis. In 2013, however, the relegation system was abolished. Since then, teams have been able to apply for the Liiga, provided they meet certain economic criteria. Due to the change from Jokerit to the KHL and the bankruptcy of Espoo Blues , Sport , KooKoo and Jukurit have since been included in the Liiga.

mode

A season in the Liiga is divided into the main season and the play-offs . During the main season, each team must play four times against every other team in the league and two or four additional times against a locally nearby team. Each game consists of 3 times 20 minutes. If there is a tie after regular time, five minutes of overtime will be played. The first goal in overtime decides the game for the team that scored the goal. In the event that a winner is still not found after overtime, the game will be decided by a shootout .

Scoring: A victory in the main season is rewarded with three points, a victory after overtime or penalty shootout is worth two points and a defeat after overtime or penalty shootout is worth one point. The teams are sorted by points in the ranking. For teams with the same number of points, the goal difference decides. If the goal difference is also the same, the teams will be sorted according to the goals scored.

The six best teams according to the ranking have qualified directly for the quarter-finals of the play-offs. Places seven to ten will play among themselves in best-of-three mode for the two remaining places in the quarter-finals. The quarter-finals, the semi-finals and the final will be played in best-of-seven mode. Only one game is played in the round for 3rd place. The respective opponents are put together in such a way that the team that is best placed after the regular season plays against the worst, the second best, the second worst, and so on. The better placed team has home rights in the first game, which changes after each game. As in the main season, a game lasts 3 times 20 minutes. After the regular time, overtimes of 20 minutes are played. The team to score first wins.

Current teams

Jukurit HPK HIFK Ilves Sports JYP KalPa Oulu Lukko Pelicans SaiPa Tappara TPS Ässät KooKoo

Map of all club locations for the 2018/19 season

logo	team	operator	place	Hall	capacity
	HIFK	HIFK Hockey Ab	Helsinki	Helsingin Jäähalli	8,100
	HPK	HPK-Edustusjääkiekko Ry	Hämeenlinna	Ritari-areena	5,500
	Ilves	Ilves-Hockey Oy	Tampere	Tampereen jäähalli	8,070
	Jukurit	Jukurit Hockey Oy	Mikkeli	Ikioma Areena	4,200
	JYP	Jyp Jyväskylä Oy	Jyväskylä	LähiTapiola Areena	4,812
	KalPa	KalPa Hockey Oy	Kuopio	Kuopion jäähalli	5,165
	Kärpät	Oulun Kärpät Oy	Oulu	Oulun Energia Areena	6,614
	KooKoo	KooKoo Hockey Oy	Kouvola	Lumon Areena	6,000
	Lukko	Rauman Lukko Oy	Rauma	Kivikylan Areena	5,400
	Pelicans	Lahden Pelicans Oy	Lahti	Isku Areena	5,098
	SaiPa	Liiga-SaiPa Oy	Lappeenranta	Kisapuisto	5,200
	Sports	Hockey Team Vaasan Sport Oy	Vaasa	Vaasa Areena	4,300
	Tappara	Tamhockey Oy	Tampere	Tampereen jäähalli	8,070
	TPS	HC TPS Turku Oy	Turku	Gatorade Center	11,820
	Ässät	HC Ässät Pori Oy	Pori	Porin jäähalli	6,500

Former teams: (teams that have renamed, been relegated or left the Liiga)

• FoPS were set back in 1977 and are now FPS
• JoKP were relocated back in 1992 and are Jokipojat today
• JyP HT are now Jyp
• Kiekko-Espoo , later Espoo Blues , left the league in 2016 due to the club's bankruptcy
• Viipurin Reipas , Lahden Reipas , Kiekko-Reipas , Hockey-Reipas , Reipas Lahti are former names of the Pelicans
• Rosenlewin Urheilijat-38 and Porin Karhut are former names of Ässät
• Koo-Vee were relocated back in 1980
• TuTo were relocated in 1996
• Jokerit moved to the KHL in 2014

winner

The winner of the play-offs receives the gold medal and the Canada-malja , the trophy of the Liiga. The main season winner receives a trophy called Harry Lindbladin muistopalkinto , which is less valued by the teams than the bronze medal.

Canada malja

year	gold	silver	bronze	peak season
1976	TPS	Tappara	Ässät	TPS
1977	Tappara	TPS	KooVee	Tappara
1978	Ässät	Tappara	TPS	Tappara
1979	Tappara	Ässät	TPS	Ässät
1980	HIFK	Ässät	Kärpät	TPS
1981	Kärpät	Tappara	TPS	Tappara
1982	Tappara	TPS	HIFK	TPS
1983	HIFK	Jokerite	Ilves	Jokerite
1984	Tappara	Ässät	Kärpät	Tappara
1985	Ilves	TPS	Kärpät	TPS
1986	Tappara	HIFK	Kärpät	Tappara
1987	Tappara	Kärpät	HIFK	Kärpät
1988	Tappara	Lukko	HIFK	Ilves
1989	TPS	JyP HT	Ilves	TPS
1990	TPS	Ilves	Tappara	TPS
1991	TPS	KalPa	HPK	TPS
1992	Jokerite	JyP HT	HIFK	JyP HT
1993	TPS	HPK	JyP HT	TPS
1994	Jokerite	TPS	Lukko	TPS
1995	TPS	Jokerite	Ässät	Jokerite
1996	Jokerite	TPS	Lukko	Jokerite
1997	Jokerite	TPS	HPK	Jokerite
1998	HIFK	Ilves	Jokerite	TPS
1999	TPS	HIFK	HPK	TPS
2000	TPS	Jokerite	HPK	TPS
2001	TPS	Tappara	Ilves	Jokerite
2002	Jokerite	Tappara	HPK	Tappara
2003	Tappara	Kärpät	HPK	HPK
2004	Kärpät	TPS	HIFK	TPS
2005	Kärpät	Jokerite	HPK	Kärpät
2006	HPK	Ässät	Kärpät	Kärpät
2007	Kärpät	Jokerite	HPK	Kärpät
2008	Kärpät	blues	Tappara	Kärpät
2009	JYP	Kärpät	KalPa	JYP
2010	TPS	HPK	JYP	JYP
2011	HIFK	blues	Lukko	JYP
2012	JYP	Pelicans	Jokerite	KalPa
2013	Ässät	Tappara	JYP	Jokerite
2014	Kärpät	Tappara	Lukko	Kärpät
2015	Kärpät	Tappara	JYP	Kärpät
2016	Tappara	HIFK	Kärpät	HIFK
2017	Tappara	KalPa	JYP	Tappara
2018	Kärpät	Tappara	HIFK	Kärpät
2019	HPK	Kärpät	Tappara	Kärpät

See also : Finnish champions (ice hockey)

trophies

The Liiga awards the following trophies :

• Aarne Honkavaara Trophy - most goals in the main season
• Harry Lindbladin Memorial Trophy - Regular Season Winner
• Jari Kurri Trophy - best player during the playoffs
• Jarmo Wasama Commemorative Trophy - Beginner of the Year
• Kalevi Numminen Trophy - best coach
• Kultainen kypärä - best player, is chosen by the SM-liiga players
• Canada malja - winner of the play-offs
• Lasse Oksanen Trophy - best player during the main season
• Matti-Keinonen-Trophy - most effective player according to the plus / minus statistics
• Pekka Rautakallio trophy - best defender
• Pentti Isotalo Trophy - best linesman
• Raimo Kilpiö trophy - fairest player
• Unto Wiitala trophy - best referee
• Urpo Ylönen Trophy - best goalkeeper
• Veli Pekka Ketola Trophy - most points during the main season

Web links

Commons : Liiga  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Liiga Official Website (Finnish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ eurohockey.com, Liiga preview - A new name, but an old favorite for the Cup , Markus Nisius, September 8, 2013.