The SM-liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagues of the Champions Hockey League and currently allocated five spots - the maximum number - based on success in previous editions. It was created in 1975 to replace the SM-sarja, which was fundamentally an amateur league. The SM-liiga is not directly overseen by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, but the league and association have an agreement of cooperation. SM is a common abbreviation for Suomen mestaruus, "Finnish championship".
Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi, commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history in the top tier of Finnish football. The club's home ground is the 10,770-seat Bolt Arena, where they have played since 2000.
Niklas Oskar Bäckström is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender and current goaltending coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets. He played ten seasons for the Minnesota Wild and Calgary Flames in the National Hockey League (NHL), during which he won both the William M. Jennings Trophy and Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award. He also has won both Urpo Ylönen trophy and Jari Kurri trophy twice. Bäckström is a Swedish-speaking Finn, but also speaks Finnish.
Ville Sakari Peltonen is a Finnish ice hockey coach and a former professional ice hockey forward.
Teemu Laakso is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman. He began and finished his career with HIFK of the Liiga.
Joseph Scott Finley is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He played twenty-one games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders between 2011 and 2013. The rest of his career, which lasted from 2009 to 2018, was spent in the minor leagues and ended with three seasons with HIFK in the Finnish Liiga. Finley was selected by the Washington Capitals 27th overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.
Siim Liivik is an Estonian-Finnish professional ice hockey winger for EC KAC of the Austrian Hockey League (EBEL).
HIFK is a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland that plays in the Liiga, the sport's top-level league in Finland. The team plays at Helsinki Ice Hall.
Mikael Antero Granlund is a Finnish professional ice hockey centre and alternate captain for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played professionally in Finland with Oulun Kärpät and HIFK of the SM-liiga and the Minnesota Wild of the NHL. He was selected by the Wild as the ninth overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
Corey Alan Elkins is an American professional ice hockey center who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He was most recently under contract to the Grizzlys Wolfsburg of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).
Joonas Rask is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward. He is currently playing with Luleå HF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He played 2 games in the National Hockey League with the Nashville Predators during the 2012–13 season. He is the younger brother of former goaltender Tuukka Rask.
Roope Talaja is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward. He currently plays for Porin Ässät in the Finnish Liiga.
Jere Sallinen is a Finnish professional ice hockey winger who is currently playing with EHC Biel of the National League (NL). He was originally selected by the Minnesota Wild in the 6th round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. His older brother Tomi also plays professional hockey in Europe.
Lennart Petrell is a Finnish professional ice hockey player, currently playing for HIFK of the Finnish Liiga.
Yohann Auvitu is a French professional ice hockey defenceman for Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).
Iiro Pakarinen is a Finnish professional ice hockey player for HIFK of the Finnish elite league (SM-Liiga). Pakarinen previously played in the Finnish Liiga with KalPa and HIFK, Kontinental Hockey League with Jokerit, Metallurg Magnitogorsk and Barys Nur-Sultan. Pakarinen also played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Edmonton Oilers.
The Lahti Pelicans are a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the Liiga. Founded in 1996, they play in the city of Lahti at Isku Arena. The team is co-owned by former National Hockey League (NHL) goaltender Pasi Nurminen and Formula One racecar driver Valtteri Bottas.
HIFK Fotboll or IFK Helsingfors is an association football section of HIFK, a sports club based in Helsinki, Finland. The men's football team competes in the highest tier of Finnish football, Veikkausliiga. Their home ground is the Bolt Arena.
Miro Heiskanen is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman and alternate captain for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). Ranked in the top ten eligible European skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau, Heiskanen was picked third overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft by the Stars.
Naisten Mestis is the second-highest women's ice hockey league in Finland. The league was founded as Naisten I-divisioona in 1985 by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association when the number of teams playing in the Naisten SM-sarja was limited. It was renamed Naisten Mestis prior to the 2012-13 season.
