Naisten Liiga (ice hockey)

Naisten Liiga (Women's League), also called the Naisten SM-liiga (NSML) or Jääkiekon naisten SM-liiga (Women’s Ice Hockey Finnish Championship League), is the elite league for Finnish women's ice hockey. Until 2017, it was called the Naisten SM-sarja (Women’s Finnish Championship Series).[1][2] The league has 12 total teams between two divisions and is organized by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association.

This article is about the Finnish women's ice hockey league. For the Finnish women's football league previously called the Naisten Liiga, see Kansallinen Liiga.

Naisten Liiga
Most recent season or competition:
2019–20 Naisten Liiga season
FormerlyNaisten SM-sarja
1982–2017
SportIce hockey
Founded1982
Inaugural seasonas Naisten SM-sarja,
1982–83
as Naisten Liiga,
2017–18
AdministratorFinnish Ice Hockey Association
No. of teams10 in Preliminary Series
12 in Divisional Series
Country Finland
Most recent
champion(s)		Kiekko-Espoo
(2019)
Most titlesKiekko-Espoo (14)
TV partner(s)Ruutu
Fanseat
Relegation toNaisten Mestis
Domestic cup(s)Aurora Borealis Cup
International cup(s)European Women's Champions Cup
Official websiteleijonat.fi

Kiekko-Espoo (previously “Espoo Blues” and “Espoo United”) has dominated Naisten Liiga in the 21st century, winning 14 Finnish Championships from 1999 to 2019.[3] Ilves is the second most successful club, with 10 championship titles, and are the only organization to have iced a team in every season since the league’s inception.

The majority of teams in Naisten Liiga share their names with men's Liiga teams (HIFK, HPK, Ilves, KalPa, Kärpät, Lukko, TPS, and Sport) but the women's teams have historically received few resources and limited promotion from the affiliated men's clubs.[4] In recent years progress has been made in building better relationships between the men’s and women’s teams; most men’s clubs now provide some support to their women’s counterparts by advertising games together or helping secure sponsorships.[5][6]

Teams

2020–2021 season
Location of teams in the Naisten Liiga.
Team name Team full name Location Home venue Joined

Liiga

HIFK Stadin Gimmat or HIFK Naiset Helsinki Helsingin jäähalli 2019
HPK Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho Kiekkonaiset Hämeenlinna Metritriski Areena 2009
Ilves Tampereen Ilves Naiset Tampere Tesoman jäähalli 1982
KalPa Kalevan Pallo Naiset Kuopio Olvi Areena 2010
Kiekko-Espoo Kiekko-Espoo Naiset Espoo Tapiolan harjoitussaree 1990
Kärpät Oulun Kärpät Naiset Oulu Oulun Energia Areena 1994
Lukko Rauman Lukko Naiset Rauma Kivikylän Areena 2016
RoKi Rovaniemen Kiekko Rovaniemi Lappi Areena 2019
Sport Vaasan Sport Naiset Vaasa Vaasan Sähkö Arena 2018
Team Kuortane Team Kuortane Kuortane Kuortaneen jäähalli 2010
TPS Turun Palloseura Naiset Turku Marli Areena 2018

Naisten Liiga teams, previously known by different name(s)

  • Kiekko-Espoo: EKS (Espoon Kiekkoseura) 1990–1992[7]; Espoo Blues 1998–2016 & 2017–2019;[8] Espoo United 2016–2017[9]
  • Team Kuortane: Team Oriflame/Team Oriflame Kuortane 2010–2014[10]

Past participants

Sources: [11][12]

Format

Season format

The season format of the Naisten Liiga has changed many times over the league’s history. The format described here was introduced for the 2019–20 season.[13]

Preliminary series

The preliminary series (Finnish: Alkusarja) is played as a double round-robin plus a two-game Opening Weekend Tournament; each of the ten teams plays a total of twenty matches. Points awarded by match outcome: three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime win, one point for an overtime loss, and no points/zero points for a regulation loss. The points earned in the opening series determine which division a team will be sorted for the continuation of the season.

Divisional series

In the divisional series, the teams are grouped into two divisions of six teams. Each division is played as a double round-robin, each team plays a total of ten games. The top six ranked teams from the preliminary series qualify for the Upper Division (Finnish: Ylempi jatkosarja). Upper Division teams are guaranteed placement in the playoffs; the points earned in the ten divisional series games are added to the point totals from the preliminary series and used to establish the teams' playoff berths, from first to sixth. Only points earned in the Upper Division series are considered when determining the recipients of the Marianne Ihalainen Award, for most regular season points earned, and the Tiia Reima Award, for most regular season goals scored.

The bottom four teams from the preliminary series move on to the Lower Division (Finnish: Alempi jatkosarja), where they are joined by the top two teams from the Cross-Qualifiers (Finnish: Ristiinkarsinta) of the Naisten Mestis, the league directly below Naisten Liiga. The Lower Division teams compete for the seventh and eighth seed positions in the playoffs; only the top two ranked teams from the Lower Division earn placement in the playoffs. Unlike the in Upper Division, all Lower Division teams start the divisional series with zero points, only points earned in the series are considered when the teams are ranked.

Qualifying series

The Lower Division teams ranked third through sixth continue on to the qualifying series (Finnish: Karsintasarja). The points earned in the six qualifying series games are added to the points totals from the Lower Division series. The two teams with the highest point totals qualify for the following Naisten Liiga season, the two lower ranked teams are relegated to the Naisten Mestis for the following season.

Game format

A regulation game is sixty minutes in length, played over three 20-minute periods. In the event of a tie at the end of regulation time the winner is decided by a five-minute-length, three-skaters-per-side overtime period. If the game remains tied after the overtime period, the teams proceed to a shootout, in which each team designates three skaters to take penalty shots, one at a time, against the opposing goaltender. Teams alternate shots and each team takes one shot per round. The winner is the team with more goals after three rounds or the team that amasses an unreachable advantage before the third round. If the shootout is tied after three rounds, tie-breaker rounds are played one at a time until there is a winner.

Champions

All-time medal count

     – team currently in league

Team
Kiekko-Espoo[a]1428
Tampereen Ilves10126
Oulun Kärpät377
Keravan Shakers341
JYP Jyväskaylä[b]340
Helsingin Jääkiekkoklubi (HJK)211
Etelä-Vantaan Urheilijat (EVU)151
Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho (HPK)114
Itä-Helsingin Kiekko (IHK)010
HIFK/Stadin Gimmat002
Kalevan Pallo (KalPa)003
Saimaan Pallo (SaiPa)001
Vaasan Sport001
Team Kuortane001

[a] Includes record of Espoo Blues, Espoo United, and EKS (Espoon Kiekkoseura)

[b] Includes record of JyP HT

Sources: [14][15][16]

Women's Finnish Champions by season
Season Champion Finalist Bronze
1982-83HJK HelsinkiIlves TampereEVU Vantaa
1983-84HJK HelsinkiEVU VantaaIlves Tampere
1984-85Ilves TampereEVU VantaaHJK Helsinki
1985-86Ilves TampereHJK HelsinkiVaasan Sport
1986-87Ilves TampereEVU VantaaKeravan Shakers
1987-88Ilves TampereEVU VantaaHIFK Helsinki
1988-89EVU VantaaIlves TampereHIFK Helsinki
1989-90Ilves TampereEVU VantaaSaiPa Lappeenranta
1990-91Ilves TampereKeravan ShakersEKS Espoo†
1991-92Ilves TampereKeravan ShakersEKS Espoo†
1992-93Ilves TampereKeravan ShakersKiekko-Espoo
1993-94Keravan ShakersIlves TampereKiekko-Espoo
1994-95Keravan ShakersIlves TampereKalPa Kuopio
1995-96Keravan ShakersOulun KärpätKalPa Kuopio
1996-97JyP HT Jyväskylä *Keravan ShakersKiekko-Espoo
1997-98JYP JyväskyläOulun KärpätKiekko-Espoo
1998-99Espoo Blues†JYP JyväskyläIlves Tampere
1999-2000Espoo Blues†Oulun KärpätIlves Tampere
2000–01Espoo Blues†Oulun KärpätIlves Tampere
2001–02Espoo Blues†IHK HelsinkiOulun Kärpät
2002–03Espoo Blues†Oulun KärpätIlves Tampere
2003–04Espoo Blues†Ilves TampereOulun Kärpät
2004–05Espoo Blues†Ilves TampereOulun Kärpät
2005–06Ilves TampereOulun KärpätEspoo Blues†
2006–07Espoo Blues†Oulun KärpätIHK Helsinki
2007–08Espoo Blues†Ilves TampereOulun Kärpät
2008–09Espoo Blues†Ilves TampereHPK Hämeenlinna
2009–10Ilves TampereEspoo Blues†HPK Hämeenlinna
2010–11HPK HämeenlinnaIlves TampereOulun Kärpät
2011–12Oulun KärpätIlves TampereHPK Hämeenlinna
2012–13Espoo Blues†JYP Jyväskylä Oulun Kärpät
2013–14Espoo Blues†JYP Jyväskylä HPK Hämeenlinna
2014–15Espoo Blues†JYP Jyväskylä Ilves Tampere
2015–16JYP Jyväskylä HPK HämeenlinnaEspoo Blues†
2016–17Oulun KärpätEspoo United†KalPa Kuopio
2017–18Oulun KärpätIlves TampereTeam Kuortane
2018–19Espoo Blues†Ilves TampereOulun Kärpät
2019–20‡ Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.

* Included in record of JYP

† Included in record of Kiekko-Espoo

‡ The 2019–20 Naisten Liiga season was cancelled by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association on 12 March 2020, citing public health concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The Aurora Borealis Cup Finnish Championship finals between Kiekko-Espoo and KalPa and the Finnish Championship Bronze Medal games between Team Kuortane and Kärpät were scheduled to begin on 14 March 2020. With the cancellation of the season, no Finnish Championship medals were awarded for the 2019–20 season.[17]

Sources: [14][15][16][18]

See also

References
  1. Foster, Meredith (21 March 2017). "Finnish Women's Hockey League Unveils New Name, Logo". The Ice Garden. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  2. Finnish Ice Hockey Association, ed. (21 March 2017). "Naisten SM-sarja historiaan - Ensi kaudella pelataan Naisten Liigaa". leijonat.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  3. Foster, Meredith (26 March 2019). "The Espoo Blues are the 2019 Aurora Borealis Cup Champions". The Ice Garden. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  4. Foster, Meredith (24 March 2017). "Women's Pro Hockey in Finland Tries to Get More Spotlight". The Victory Press. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  5. Aykroyd, Lucas (29 March 2019). "Women's Worlds media round-table". International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  6. Teiskonlahti, Kirsi (11 September 2018). "Naiskiekon arvostus on kasvanut, mutta ihannetilanteeseen on Suomessa vielä pitkä matka – kehitys vaatii hurmosta ja SM-liigaseurojen apua" [Appreciation for women's hockey has increased but it is far from an ideal situation in Finland - development will require funds and assistance from Liiga clubs] (in Finnish). YLE Sport. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  7. "HISTORIA: Kiekko-Espoo Naiset" (in Finnish). Kiekko-Espoo Naiset. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  8. Foster, Meredith (30 April 2019). "Kiekko-Espoo absorb Espoo Blues, rejoin top tier". The Ice Garden. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  9. Foster, Meredith (4 September 2017). "Blue Monday: Blues Espoo join Naisten Liiga". The Ice Garden. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  10. Ikonen, Petteri (14 September 2014). "Naisten SM // Team Kuortane: "Vahvuuksia ovat maalivahtipeli ja tiivis viisikkopelaaminen"" [Women’s Finnish Championship // Team Kuortane: “Strengths include goaltending and a strong five-player game”] (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  11. Hunter, Andria (2008). "Finnish Women's Hockey League Results: 1990-91 to 1994-95". whockey.com. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  12. Aaltonen, Juha, ed. (2019). Jääkiekkokirja: Suomen Jääkiekkoliiton ja Liigan Virallinen Kausijulkaisu 2019–2020 [The Ice Hockey Book: The Finnish Ice Hockey Association and Liiga Official Guide & Record Book 2019–2020] (PDF) (in Finnish). Layout by Joonas Ahola. Jääkiekon SM-liiga Oy & Suomen Jääkiekkoliito. Annamedia Oy. ISSN 0784-3321. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  13. "Sarjatoiminta: Sarjojen pelaamistavat miehet, naiset ja A–C nuoret: Kaavio Naisten Sarjat 19-20" (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association. June 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  14. "Liiga (W)". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  15. "Compétitions nationales: Finlande hockey féminin 1997-98 to 2014-15". Hockey Archives (in French). Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  16. "Naisten Liiga details". eurohockey.com. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  17. Mennander, Pasi (12 March 2020). "Koronavirus lopettaa Jääkiekkoliiton alaisten sarjojen kauden". leijonat.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  18. Salmela, Sari; Pelkonen, Johanna (2008). "SM-sarjan historiaa vuosilta 1982 - 2008" [History of the SM-sarja from 1982 to 2008]. leijonat.fi (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
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