Current season, competition or edition: 2023–24 Liiga season | |
Formerly | SM-sarja (1933–1975) SM-liiga (1975–2013) |
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Sport | Ice hockey |
Founded | 1975 |
First season | 1975–76 |
CEO | Mikko Pulkkinen |
Motto | Se on totta (It's for real) |
No. of teams | 16 |
Country | Finland |
Most recent champion(s) | Tappara (13th title) (2023–24) |
Most titles | Tappara (13 titles) |
TV partner(s) | Telia Company, TV5 |
Level on pyramid | Level 1 |
Relegation to | Mestis |
International cup(s) | Champions Hockey League |
Related competitions | Naisten Liiga |
Official website | Liiga.fi |
The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), 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".
The SM-liiga is a competition of 16 teams and it has relegation and promotion between the second highest league, the Mestis.[1][2]
Teams from the SM-liiga participate in the IIHF's annual Champions Hockey League (CHL), competing for the European Trophy. Participation is based on the strength of the various leagues in Europe (excluding the European/Asian Kontinental Hockey League). Going into the 2023–24 CHL season, the SM-liiga was ranked the No. 3 league in Europe, allowing them to send their top four teams to compete in the CHL.[3]