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Raimo Ilmari Helminen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. He is often called "Raipe" or "Maestro" by his fans. He is the world record holder for most international games played by a hockey player, as well as for tied for being the hockey player in the most Olympic Games, and his 26 seasons as a professional is one of the longest careers in professional hockey history. In the 2022-2023 season he is serving as the assistant coach of Ilves.
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 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".
JYP is an ice hockey team playing in the Finnish top division Liiga. They play in Jyväskylä, Finland, at the LähiTapiola Areena.
Oulun Kärpät is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Oulu and playing in the top-tier Finnish Liiga. Kärpät have won the Finnish championship title eight times, and is the most successful Finnish ice hockey team in the 21st century.
Rauman Lukko is a Finnish sports club based in Rauma, Finland, best known for its men’s professional ice hockey team. The club was founded as Rauma Woodin Lukko in 1936. The representative team currently plays in the Finnish Liiga, the premier men’s professional ice hockey league in Finland. They play their home games in the Äijänsuo Arena, which has a capacity of 5,400 spectators. Lukko won the SM-sarja in 1963 and won the Liiga championship in 2021. The club also has a top-tier women’s representative ice hockey team, which plays in the Naisten Liiga, and a top-tier women’s representative pesäpallo team, which plays in the Superpesis.
TUTO Hockey is a Finnish ice hockey team based at the Kupittaan jäähalli. Established in 1929, TUTO plays in Turku, Finland, and is one of two clubs in that city. The Full name of the club is TUTO Hockey. They play in the second highest ice hockey league in Finland, Mestis, having been relegated out of SM-liiga in 1996.
Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) is a professional ice hockey team which competes in the Finnish Liiga. They play in Kuopio, Finland at the Olvi Areena.
Ville Juhani Nieminen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward who played over 400 games in the National Hockey League.
Marko Kristian Kiprusoff is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman. He is currently an assistant junior coach in Finnish hockey club TPS.
Antti Markus Miettinen is a Finnish ice hockey coach and former professional forward, who last played professionally with HPK of the Liiga. He had previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets.
Lasse Juhani Kukkonen is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman. He last played for Oulun Kärpät of the Finnish Liiga. Earlier in his career, he had a four-year stint in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers. After his career in ice hockey, Kukkonen is working as a lecturer and trainer specialising in mental coaching and leadership.
Jani Petteri Hurme is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 76 games in the National Hockey League with the Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers between 2000 and 2003. He also played several seasons in the Finnish SM-liiga during his career, which lasted from 1993 to 2011. He was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the third round of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft with the 58th overall pick. Internationally Hurme played for the Finnish national team at the 2002 Winter Olympics and the 2003 World Championship.
Hannu Juhani Kamppuri is a former professional ice hockey goaltender. Kamppuri was an accomplished SM-liiga goaltender, where he played from 1975 to 1990, and was one of the first Finnish goaltenders to compete in the National Hockey League, where he played 13 games for the New Jersey Devils during the 1984–85 season. He also appeared in net for the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association for 2 games during the 1978–79 season.
Mikkelin Jukurit is a professional ice hockey team in Liiga, the top tier Finnish ice hockey league. They play in Mikkeli, Finland, at the Kalevankankaan jäähalli. The team has won 7 Mestis championships.
Juuso Hietanen is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman for HPK of the Liiga.
Sami Vatanen is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman for Genève-Servette HC of the National League (NL). He was drafted in the fourth round, 106th overall, by the Anaheim Ducks at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, and played in NHL for the Anaheim Ducks, New Jersey Devils, Carolina Hurricanes and Dallas Stars. He previously played in his native Finland for JYP, where he won the 2012 SM-liiga Championship. in 2023 Vatanen won the Swiss NL championship with Genève-Servette.
The U20 SM-sarja is the premier junior men’s ice hockey league in Finland. It was previously known as the A-nuorten SM-sarja during 1945 to 1991 and the Nuorten SM-liiga during 1991 to 2020. The league was founded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 1945 and a Finnish Champion in men’s under-20 ice hockey has been named annually since the league’s inaugural season – with the exception of the 2019–20 season, in which the playoffs were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eighteen to twenty teams compete in the U20 SM-sarja regular season, which is played in a preliminary ranking stage followed by a divisional or group stage.
The 2017–18 Liiga season was the 43rd season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. Tappara was the season as a defending champion. This season included a record number of matches played on Fridays and Saturdays. In autumn, there was a national team break from 5 November until 13 November.
Naisten Liiga, also called the Naisten SM-liiga (NSML) and Jääkiekon naisten SM-liiga, is the elite league for women's ice hockey in Finland. Founded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association as the Naisten SM-sarja in 1982, it was so known until being rebranded as the Naisten Liiga in 2017. The league comprises approximately 250 players across ten teams.
The 2021–22 Liiga season was the 47th season of the Liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975.
