The SM-liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English, 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".
Kiekko-Espoo Naiset are an ice hockey team in the Naisten Liiga. They play in the Tapiola district of Espoo, Finland at the harjoitusareena of the Tapiolan urheilupuisto. The team was founded as Espoon Kiekkoseura (EKS) in 1989 and has also been known as Espoo Blues Naiset and Espoo United Naiset during its tenure in the Naisten Liiga. Kiekko-Espoo have won the Aurora Borealis Cup as the Finnish Champions in women's ice hockey sixteen times, six more wins than any other team in league history; at least one Finnish Championship medal was won under each of the four names.
Marko Jantunen is a Finnish ice hockey forward. He was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft as their 11th round pick, 239th overall.
Sami "Helge" Helenius is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman who played predominantly in the SM-liiga and National Hockey League. He most recently was in a coaching role with Haukat of the Suomi-sarja.
Mestis is the second-highest men's ice hockey league in Finland. The league was established by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 2000 to replace the I-divisioona. It had initially been the highest hockey league in Finland that could be reached through playing merits alone; the SM-liiga was closed in 2000. After the 2004–05 season, KalPa was promoted to the SM-liiga, and the Liiga was re-opened in the 2008–09 season. Vaasan Sport was promoted in 2014–15, KooKoo was promoted in 2015–16, and Jukurit was promoted in 2016–17. Mestis, however, is an open league, with promotion and relegation between it and Suomi-sarja. However there will be no relegation during the 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kim Michael Hirschovits-Gerz is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward and current sports manager of Kiekko-Espoo in the Mestis. During his playing career, he skated in the Finnish Liiga with HIFK, Jokerit, the Espoo Blues, and Oulun Kärpät; in the Swedish Elitserien with Timrå IK and Luleå HF; and in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod and Dinamo Minsk. Hirschovits was drafted by the New York Rangers as their sixth-round pick, 194th overall, in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.
SM-Sarja was the top level of ice hockey in Finland from 1928 to 1975. SM-sarja is a common abbreviation for Suomen mestaruussarja, "Finnish Championship Series".
Erkki Juhani Laine was a Finnish professional ice hockey forward. A two time Olympian, he won a silver medal with the Finnish national team at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. He is the Lahti Pelicans franchise top all-time career point earner and goal scorer.
Noora Helena Räty is a Finnish ice hockey goaltender, currently playing in the Naisten Liiga (NSML) with HPK Kiekkonaiset. She is affiliated with the Minnesota chapter of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) and is a founding member of the organization's board.
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.
Meeri Räisänen is a Finnish ice hockey goaltender and member of the Finnish national ice hockey team, currently playing in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) with the Connecticut Whale. As a member of the Finnish national team, she won Olympic bronze medals in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2018 Winter Olympics and the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics, World Championship bronze medals in 2015 and 2021, and was named to the World Championship All-Star Team in 2015 and 2016.
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.
Ella Viitasuo is a Finnish ice hockey player and member of the Finnish national team, currently signed with HV71 Dam of the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) for the 2022–23 season.
Ice hockey is the most popular sport in Finland in terms of television viewership and game attendance figures. It is third most popular sport in participation amongst children. As of 2020, approximately 1.3% of the Finnish population was registered with the International Ice Hockey Federation, ranking Finland second in the world for percentage of population participating in ice hockey and the highest percentage of any country outside of North America.
Satu Kiipeli is a Finnish ice hockey defenceman and coach, currently serving as assistant coach to Oulun Kärpät Akatemia in the Naisten Mestis. During her career with the Finnish national team, she represented Finland in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and at the IIHF Women's World Championships in 2001 and 2005.
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.
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.
Essi Sievers née Hallvar is a Finnish retired ice hockey defenceman. She played 91 international matches with the Finnish national team and won bronze at the 2011 IIHF Women's World Championship. Sievers competed at the elite club level for 15 seasons; she played 14 seasons in the Finnish Naisten SM-sarja and one season in the German Women's Ice Hockey Bundesliga (DFEL).
Santeri Immonen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman and current assistant coach of SaiPa of the Liiga.
Kiekko-Espoo is a Finnish ice hockey club founded in 1984. Kiekko-Espoo men's team plays in the Mestis and the women's team plays in the Naisten Liiga. Kiekko-Espoo's junior teams play at national league levels in U16, U18 and U20 juniors. The junior teams of Espoo Blues and Kiekko-Espoo played under Kiekko-Espoo Juniorit ry until 2014.
Finland
