2023–24 SM-liiga
LeagueSM-liiga
SportIce hockey
Defending championsTappara (2022–23)
DurationSeptember 2023 – April 2024
Number of games60
Number of teams15
TV partner(s)Telia
C More
Regular season
Playoffs

The 2023–24 SM-liiga season is the 49th season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since its formation in 1975.

Format

The regular season started on Tuesday, September 12 2023, with a match between Rauman Lukko and Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho in Rauma. The match was the only one of the day. As in previous seasons, 450 matches will be played in the regular season, 60 for each team. There are 25 full rounds of seven matches played, 16 of which are on Saturdays. A little more than half of the regular season, 262 matches, are played on Fridays and Saturdays. Most weekday games are played on Wednesdays (98). There were a total of 106 game days in the regular season, i.e. eight less than in the previous season.[1]

As usual, the series is on break in November for a week and a half while the national teams play in the Euro Hockey Tour. The Christmas break lasts 5–7 days, depending on the team, with the exception of KalPa, which participates on the 26th–31st of December in the Spengler Cup in Switzerland.[2] For other teams, the Christmas break ends on Saint Stephen's day, December 26. The regular season ends on Tuesday, March 12 2024.[1]

Teams

Team City Head coach Arena Capacity Captain
HIFK Helsinki Ville Peltonen Helsingin jäähalli 8,200 Ilari Melart
HPK Hämeenlinna Maso Lehtonen Pohjantähti Areena 5,360 Juuso Hietanen
Ilves Tampere Antti Pennanen Nokia Arena 12,700 Niklas Friman
Jukurit Mikkeli Olli Jokinen Ikioma Areena 4,200 Pekka Jormakka
JYP Jyväskylä Jukka Rautakorpi LähiTapiola Areena 4,437 Robert Rooba
KalPa Kuopio Petri Karjalainen Olvi Areena 5,300 Tuomas Kiiskinen
KooKoo Kouvola Olli Salo Lumon Areena 5,950 Otto Paajanen
Kärpät Oulu Lauri Marjamäki Oulun Energia Areena 6,300 Atte Ohtamaa
Lukko Rauma Tomi Lämsä Kivikylän Areena 4,500 Julius Mattila
Pelicans Lahti Tommi Niemelä Isku Areena 4,403 Miika Roine
SaiPa Lappeenranta Ville Hämäläinen Lappeenrannan jäähalli 4,820 Miska Siikonen
Sport Vaasa Risto Dufva Vaasan Sähkö Areena 5,185 Sebastian Stålberg
Tappara Tampere Rikard Grönborg Nokia Arena 12,700 Otto Rauhala
TPS Turku Tommi Miettinen Gatorade Center 10,500 Juhani Jasu
Ässät Pori Jere Härkälä Enersense Areena 6,150 Jesse Joensuu

Regular season standings

Top six advance straight to the quarter-finals, while teams between 7th and 10th positions play a wild card round for the final two spots. The SM-liiga is a closed series and thus there is no relegation to the Mestis.

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Final Result
1 Tappara 15 10 3 0 2 57 34 +23 36 Advance to Quarterfinals
2 Ilves 16 8 1 3 4 49 41 +8 29
3 Ässät 15 7 3 2 3 45 32 +13 29
4 HIFK 15 6 4 3 2 46 33 +13 29
5 Lukko 17 7 1 1 8 41 45 4 24
6 TPS 17 3 7 0 7 39 42 3 23
7 Sport 15 6 1 2 6 42 37 +5 22 Advance to Wild-card round
8 Kärpät 14 6 1 2 5 36 37 1 22
9 KooKoo 17 5 2 2 8 43 53 10 21
10 Pelicans 16 5 1 3 7 41 49 8 20
11 Jukurit 14 5 0 4 5 39 36 +3 19
12 HPK 16 5 1 2 8 35 46 11 19
13 JYP 13 4 3 1 5 36 36 0 19
14 KalPa 14 4 2 2 6 35 44 9 18
15 SaiPa 14 2 1 4 7 31 50 19 12
Updated to match(es) played on 26 October 2023. Source:

[3]

Statistics

Scoring leaders

The following shows the top ten players leading the league in points.[4]

Player Team GP G A Pts +/– PIM
Finland Jerry Turkulainen JYP 13 7 13 20 +3 6
Finland Anton Levtchi Tappara 15 6 14 20 +2 2
Finland Sami Niku JYP 13 6 12 18 +4 8
Finland Sebastian Repo Lukko 17 10 7 17 +1 8
Finland Kristian Vesalainen HIFK 15 8 9 17 +9 4
Finland Oula Palve Ilves 16 4 11 15 +4 8
United States Ryan Lasch Pelicans 15 0 15 15 -3 8
Finland Matias Mäntykivi Ilves 16 7 7 14 +10 6
Canada Reid Gardiner JYP 13 4 10 14 0 4
United States Carter Camper Tappara 15 3 11 14 +8 2


Broadcast rights

For the 2023–2024 season, Telia had transferred the television rights of the SM-liiga to MTV, which it owns. Telia had acquired the broadcast rights starting from the 2018–2019 season, and with the new agreement MTV has the rights until the end of the 2026–2027 season. MTV pays more than 90 million euros for television rights over four seasons, and the company has admitted that the operation is loss-making.[5] The broadcasts are produced by MTV and during the season games can be seen live from C More, Discovery+, DNA, Elisa Viihde, MTV and Telia.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 "Kauden 2023–24 otteluohjelma tarjoaa huippuhetkiä koko runkosarjan ajalle". liiga.fi. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  2. "KalPa mukaan Spengler Cupiin!". kalpa.fi. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  3. "Joukkuetilastot | Runkosarja 2022-2023 | Tilastot | Liiga". Liiga.fi. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  4. "Player stats". Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  5. "Telia siirsi kaikessa hiljaisuudessa kymmenien miljoonien eurojen tappiolliset Liiga-oikeudet MTV:lle – pian MTV aloitti muutosneuvottelut". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). 2023-09-14. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  6. "Katso, mistä näet jääkiekon Liigaa halvimmalla – samalla lähetyksellä eri suoratoistopalveluissa täysin eri hinta". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
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