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".
Ilves is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Tampere Deck Arena.
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.
Tappara is a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the Liiga. They play at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland. The team has won 19 Finnish league championships. The team continued the traditions of TBK, who won three national championships in a row in 1953, 1954 and 1955.
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.
Juhani Jorma Kalevi Wahlsten was a Finnish professional ice hockey player and ice hockey coach who worked as an exercise and gymnastics teacher in Finland. He was also known by the nickname "Juuso". He also established and helped guide the early development of ringette in Finland, the first European country to do so.
The 1943–1944 SM-sarja season was stopped mid-season cause of the Continuation War.
Tampereen Palloilijat or TaPa is a Finnish football club, based in Tampere. In the past club also played ice hockey, they participated to first ever finnish championship in 1928. In 1931 they won finnish ice hockey championship.
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".
Anne Helin is a Finnish retired ice hockey player and former member of the Finnish national ice hockey team. Representing Finland, she won a bronze medal in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, three IIHF Women's World Championship bronze medals at the tournaments in 2008, 2009, and 2011, and a silver medal in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2011 Winter Universiade in Erzurum, Turkey.
FC Kontu is a football club from Helsinki, Finland. It serves Kontula in East Helsinki and the immediately surrounding area. The club was formed in 1967 under the name Kontulan Urheilijat, the name being changed in 1994. The men's football first team currently plays in the Kolmonen and their home ground is at the Kontulan liikuntapuisto. The club also run a Ladies team that play at the same level in Women's Football.
The 1950–51 SM-sarja season was the 20th season of the SM-sarja, the top level of ice hockey in Finland. 10 teams participated in the league, and Ilves Tampere won the championship.
The 1953–54 SM-sarja season was the 23rd season of the SM-sarja, the top level of ice hockey in Finland. 10 teams participated in the league, and TBK Tampere won the championship.
Rosenlewin Urheilijat-38, RU-38 for short, was a sports club based in Pori, Finland. It was founded in 1938 by the W. Rosenlew Company. The club was best known by its football and ice hockey sections. In 1967 RU-38 merged with another local club, Karhut, forming a new club named Ässät.
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.
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.
HIFK Naiset, also known by the nickname Stadin Gimmat, are an ice hockey team in the Naisten Liiga. They play in the Pirkkola district of Helsinki, at the Pirkkola Ice Hall. As the representative women's ice hockey team of the Helsinki-based multi-sport club HIFK, the team is closely affiliated with the HIFK men's ice hockey team of the Liiga.
Kim Ahlroos is a Finnish retired professional ice hockey winger who played in Finland and throughout Europe.
The 1982–83 Naisten SM-sarja season was the first season of the Naisten SM-sarja, the premier league of women's ice hockey in Finland. The inaugural Finnish Champions in women's ice hockey were HJK Helsinki, winners of the 1983 Naisten SM-sarja final tournament. Finnish Championship silver was won by Ilves Tampere and bronze by EVU Vantaa.
Helsingin Jääkiekkoklubi or HJK for short is an ice hockey club located in Helsinki, Finland. The team was formed in 1972 when the ice hockey departmend of Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi was disestablished, but they are considered as different clubs as HJK does not claim any of the previous championships. Nowadays the club mainly focuses on their junior teams, but the men's team still plays in the 3. Divisioona.
