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".
There was variable number of teams playing for the Finnish championship during the time of SM-sarja. The lowest number of participating teams was during the 1935 SM-sarja season when there was 3 teams. The most common number of participating teams was 12.
Since 1944-45 SM-sarja season there was relegations for lowest-ranking teams of each season. In the relegations the lowest-ranking teams either faced the winner of the 1. Divisioona (1st Division) or was straightly relegated from SM-sarja.
History
Anssi Koskinen as the host of the Tamvision´s hockey television show Lätkäruutu, 1964
The first SM-sarja season took place in 1928. The first championship was competed as a cup. Viipurin Reipas was the winning team and they became the first Finnish ice hockey champions. SM-sarja was cancelled in 1930 because of bad winter in Finland. SM-sarja was also cancelled in 1940, 1942 and during the 1944 season because of the Winter War and the Continuation War
SM-sarja was played in amateur principles so the clubs were not supposed to pay their players beyond compensation for lost wages. However, as ice hockey evolved in Finland some teams started to be handled like Businesses. In the 1960s, two leading Finnish household machine factories UPO and Rosenlew established their own ice hockey teams, Upon Pallo and Rosenlewin Urheilijat-38. These teams were run by the money of the owning companies and the players were bought from the neighbouring teams. This would be the first steps towards professionalism.
By the 1970s the concept of amateur ice hockey was turning out of date as there was commercials on players uniforms and bigger money involved in teams and in 1975 SM-sarja played its last season and was replaced by SM-liiga (Finnish Championship League) for 1976 season.
The last team to win the Finnish championship under SM-sarja was Tappara.
Formats
Between 1928 and 1933 SM-sarja Championship was contested under Cup rules.
After 1933 SM-sarja was contested as a league. In 1951 SM-sarja was divided to 2 groups and the Play Offs were introduced.
The SM-sarja moved back to one group play in 1959 though the two group-system returned for 1965–66 SM-sarja season.
SM-sarja Teams
Viipurin Reipas was first Finnish Champions in 1928TBK (Tammerfors Bollklubb) in 1945Ilves against HJK in 1949
Until 1955 the Winner of the SM-sarja received the Aaro Kivilinna memorial award. After 1955 the winner was given the Kanada-malja ("Canada Cup") as the official rotating award of SM-sarja.
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".
Tampereen Tappara is a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the SM-liiga. They play at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland. The team has won 19 Finnish league championships, which makes them the most successful club in Finland. The team continued the traditions of the Tammerfors Bollklub.
Porin Ässät, officially named Hockey Club Ässät Pori and colloquially known as Pata, is a professional ice hockey club based in Pori, Finland. It competes in the SM-liiga, the highest-ranking league of ice hockey in Finland. Since 1971, Ässät has played its games in the Isomäki Ice Hall.
The 2010–11 SM-liiga season was the 36th season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. The title was won by HIFK who defeated Espoo Blues in the finals. The title was 7th in team history.
The 1982–83 SM-liiga season was the eighth season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland. 10 teams participated in the league, and HIFK Helsinki won the championship.
The 1983–84 SM-liiga season was the ninth season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland. 10 teams participated in the league, and Tappara Tampere won the championship.
The 1989–90 SM-liiga season was the 15th season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland. 12 teams participated in the league, and TPS Turku won the championship.
The 1996–97 SM-liiga season was the 22nd season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland. 12 teams participated in the league, and Jokerit Helsinki won the championship.
The 2011–12 SM-liiga season was the 37th season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. The title was won by JYP Jyväskylä who defeated Pelicans Lahti in the finals. The title was 2nd in team history.
The 2012–13 SM-liiga season was the 38th season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. The title was won by Ässät Pori who defeated Tappara Tampere in the finals.
The 2015–16 SM-liiga season was the 41st season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975.
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 2016–17 SM-liiga season was the 42nd season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975.
The 2017–18 SM-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.
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.
eLiiga was a Finnish esports league that was played in the NHL video game series. The teams competing in the tournament were real ice hockey teams that play in the Liiga, the top-tier league of Finland. The league was hosted by Liiga and Telia. Only the top-eight teams could make it into the playoffs. The playoffs were played in a best-of-three series, but the final was played in a best-of-five series.
The history of the Porin Ässät starts in 1925, when Porin Palloilijat was established, even though PoPa is often considered as a separate club from Ässät.
Porin Kärpät was a multi-sport club based in Pori, Finland. The club was founded in 1932, and disestablished in 1960, but was re-established again in 1990 and disestablished in 2011. Kärpät had sections in ice hockey, football, bandy, rinkball, handball, and basketball.
Suomen sarja was the second-level league in men's ice hockey in Finland from 1935 to 1974.
The 1967–68 Porin Ässät season was the club's inaugural season. Ässät had been formed after a merger with Porin Karhut and RU-38 in June 1967 and would compete in the top-tier of ice hockey in Finland, the SM-sarja. Ässät inherited Karhut's place in the 1967 Finnish Cup, which it won after beating SaPKo 7–0 in the final. Ässät also inherited RU-38's place in the IIHF European Cup, as RU-38 had won the Finnish Championship 1967.
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