# 2012–13 SM-liiga season

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.

## Teams

| Team | City | Head coach | Arena | Capacity | Captain |
| Ässät | Pori | Karri Kivi | Porin jäähalli | 6,481 | Ville Uusitalo |
| Blues | Espoo | Mikko Saarinen‡ | Barona Areena | 6,798 | Arto Laatikainen |
| HIFK | Helsinki | Raimo Summanen‡ | Helsingin jäähalli | 8,200 | Ville Peltonen |
| HPK | Hämeenlinna | Ari-Pekka Selin | Ritarihalli | 5,360 | Ville Viitaluoma |
| Ilves | Tampere | Tuomas Tuokkola‡ | Tampereen jäähalli | 7,600 | Erkki Rajamäki |
| Jokerit | Helsinki | Tomi Lämsä | Hartwall Areena | 13,349 | Ossi Väänänen |
| JYP | Jyväskylä | Jyrki Aho | Synergia-areena | 4,500 | Éric Perrin |
| KalPa | Kuopio | Jari Laukkanen | Niiralan monttu | 5,004 | Sami Kapanen |
| Kärpät | Oulu | Hannu Aravirta | Oulun Energia Areena | 6,768 | Ilkka Mikkola |
| Lukko | Rauma | Risto Dufva | Äijänsuo Arena | 5,400 | Otto Honkaheimo |
| Pelicans | Lahti | Kai Suikkanen | Isku Areena | 5,534 | Tommi Paakkolanvaara |
| SaiPa | Lappeenranta | Pekka Tirkkonen | Kisapuisto | 4,825 | Ville Koho |
| Tappara | Tampere | Jukka Rautakorpi | Tampereen jäähalli | 7,600 | Tuukka Mäntylä |
| TPS | Turku | Juha Pajuoja‡ | HK Arena | 11,820 | Ville Vahalahti |
* Head coaches marked with ‡ took their jobs mid-season.

## Regular season

Each team played four times against every other team (twice home and twice away), getting to 52 games. Additionally, the teams were divided to two groups, where teams would play one extra game. One group included Ässät, Blues, HIFK, Jokerit, Kärpät, Lukko and TPS, while other had HPK, Ilves, JYP, KalPa, Pelicans, SaiPa and Tappara.
Additionally, there were two games where teams could choose the opponents. These were played back-to-back in January and the choices were made in December, with team with lowest point total to that date was able to choose first. These pairs were: Pelicans-Ilves, TPS-Lukko, Ässät-Blues, HIFK-HPK, Tappara-Jokerit, Kärpät-KalPa and SaiPa-JYP.
The Top 10 made the playoffs, with the top six advancing straight to the quarter-finals, and teams between 7th and 10th positions playing wild card round for the final two spots. The last-placed team Ilves had to play best-of-seven series against Mestis winner Jukurit.
| Team | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | +/− | P |
| Jokerit | 60 | 28 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 168 | 136 | +32 | 111 |
| Tappara | 60 | 29 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 178 | 145 | +33 | 108 |
| JYP | 60 | 28 | 5 | 9 | 18 | 161 | 142 | +19 | 103 |
| Ässät | 60 | 27 | 8 | 5 | 20 | 160 | 130 | +30 | 102 |
| KalPa | 60 | 24 | 9 | 7 | 20 | 172 | 145 | +27 | 97 |
| HPK | 60 | 20 | 12 | 12 | 16 | 157 | 144 | +13 | 96 |
| Kärpät | 60 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 22 | 172 | 150 | +22 | 93 |
| HIFK | 60 | 26 | 3 | 7 | 24 | 153 | 163 | -10 | 91 |
| SaiPa | 60 | 23 | 7 | 6 | 24 | 162 | 173 | -11 | 89 |
| Lukko | 60 | 24 | 3 | 8 | 25 | 151 | 170 | -19 | 86 |
| Pelicans | 60 | 22 | 7 | 3 | 28 | 163 | 180 | -17 | 83 |
| Blues | 60 | 21 | 6 | 5 | 28 | 151 | 164 | -13 | 80 |
| TPS | 60 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 28 | 144 | 182 | -38 | 64 |
| Ilves | 60 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 35 | 124 | 193 | -69 | 57 |

## Playoffs
### Wild card round (best-of-three)

Kärpät-Lukko 1-2
    Kärpät-Lukko 4-5
    Lukko-Kärpät 2-4
    Kärpät-Lukko 2-3 (OT)
HIFK-SaiPa 2-1
    HIFK-SaiPa 2-3 (OT)
    SaiPa-HIFK 2-3 (OT)
    HIFK-SaiPa 5-2

### Quarterfinals (best-of-seven)

Jokerit-Lukko 2-4
    Jokerit-Lukko 3-0
    Lukko-Jokerit 5-2
    Jokerit-Lukko 3-4 (OT)
    Lukko-Jokerit 2-1
    Jokerit-Lukko 5-2
    Lukko-Jokerit 3-1
Tappara-HIFK 4-1
    Tappara-HIFK 3-1
    HIFK-Tappara 1-4
    Tappara-HIFK 3-2
    HIFK-Tappara 3-2
    Tappara-HIFK 3-1
JYP-HPK 4-1
    JYP-HPK 3-1
    HPK-JYP 3-2
    JYP-HPK 4-2
    HPK-JYP 2-3 (OT)
    JYP-HPK 5-1
Ässät-KalPa 4-1
    Ässät-KalPa 2-1
    KalPa-Ässät 0-2
    Ässät-KalPa 5-2
    KalPa-Ässät 5-0
    Ässät-KalPa 3-0

### Semifinals (best-of-seven)

Tappara-Lukko 4-0
    Tappara-Lukko 3-2 (OT)
    Lukko-Tappara 3-4 (OT)
    Tappara-Lukko 3-0
    Lukko-Tappara 0-5
JYP-Ässät 1-4
    JYP-Ässät 3-4 (OT)
    Ässät-JYP 2-0
    JYP-Ässät 1-4
    Ässät-JYP 1-2
    JYP-Ässät 0-1

### Bronze-medal game

    JYP-Lukko 2-0

### Finals (best-of-seven)

Tappara-Ässät 2-4
    Tappara-Ässät 2-1
    Ässät-Tappara 5-1
    Tappara-Ässät 3-2
    Ässät-Tappara 4-0
    Tappara-Ässät 1-2 (OT)
    Ässät-Tappara 3-2

## Relegation (best-of-seven)

Ilves-Jukurit 4-1
    Ilves-Jukurit 2-0
    Jukurit-Ilves 1-3
    Ilves-Jukurit 2-1 (OT)
    Jukurit-Ilves 7-4
    Ilves-Jukurit 4-2