# 2016–17 Liiga season

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.

## Teams

| Team | City | Head coach | Arena | Capacity | Captain |
| HIFK | Helsinki | Antti Törmänen | Helsingin jäähalli | 8,200 | Arttu Luttinen |
| HPK | Hämeenlinna | Antti Pennanen | Patria-areena | 5,360 | Niko Kapanen |
| Ilves | Tampere | Karri Kivi | Tampereen jäähalli | 7,300 | Tapio Laakso |
| Jukurit | Mikkeli | Risto Dufva | Kalevankankaan jäähalli | 4,200 | Marko Kauppinen |
| JYP | Jyväskylä | Marko Virtanen | Synergia-areena | 4,437 | Juha-Pekka Hytönen |
| KalPa | Kuopio | Pekka Virta | Niiralan monttu | 5,064 | Jussi Timonen |
| KooKoo | Kouvola | Petri Mattila | Lumon arena | 6,200 | Josh Green |
| Kärpät | Oulu | Kai Suikkanen | Oulun Energia Areena | 6,768 | Lasse Kukkonen |
| Lukko | Rauma | Juha Vuori 21 Nov 2016 Kari Heikkilä | Äijänsuo Arena | 5,400 | Janne Niskala |
| Pelicans | Lahti | Petri Matikainen | Isku Areena | 5,530 | Antti Erkinjuntti |
| SaiPa | Lappeenranta | Ari Santanen | Kisapuisto | 4,820 | Ville Koho |
| Sport | Vaasa | Tomek Valtonen | Vaasa Arena | 4,512 | Markus Kankaanperä |
| Tappara | Tampere | Jussi Tapola | Tampereen jäähalli | 7,300 | Jukka Peltola |
| TPS | Turku | Ari-Pekka Selin | HK Arena | 11,820 | Tomi Kallio |
| Ässät | Pori | Jyrki Aho | Porin jäähalli | 6,300 | Matti Kuparinen |

## Regular season

The top six teams advance directly to the quarter-finals, while teams placing 7th through 10th play in the wild-card round for the final two spots. The SM-liiga is a closed league and there is no relegation.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final Result |
| 1 | Tappara | 60 | 34 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 185 | 129 | +56 | 127 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 2 | TPS | 60 | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 167 | 123 | +44 | 114 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 3 | KalPa | 60 | 28 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 168 | 140 | +28 | 112 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 4 | JYP | 60 | 28 | 9 | 9 | 14 | 160 | 123 | +37 | 111 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 5 | HPK | 60 | 23 | 12 | 5 | 20 | 153 | 136 | +17 | 98 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 6 | Pelicans | 60 | 23 | 8 | 8 | 21 | 157 | 150 | +7 | 93 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 7 | Ässät | 60 | 24 | 7 | 4 | 25 | 128 | 142 | −14 | 90 | Advance to Wild-card round |
| 8 | Kärpät | 60 | 22 | 9 | 6 | 23 | 147 | 136 | +11 | 90 | Advance to Wild-card round |
| 9 | HIFK | 60 | 22 | 8 | 5 | 25 | 138 | 140 | −2 | 87 | Advance to Wild-card round |
| 10 | Ilves | 60 | 21 | 6 | 7 | 26 | 143 | 146 | −3 | 82 | Advance to Wild-card round |
| 11 | Jukurit | 60 | 20 | 4 | 8 | 28 | 128 | 141 | −13 | 76 | |
| 12 | Lukko | 60 | 17 | 6 | 8 | 29 | 151 | 177 | −26 | 71 | |
| 13 | KooKoo | 60 | 15 | 7 | 11 | 27 | 137 | 173 | −36 | 70 | |
| 14 | Sport | 60 | 16 | 5 | 11 | 28 | 128 | 169 | −41 | 69 | |
| 15 | SaiPa | 60 | 14 | 5 | 8 | 33 | 116 | 181 | −65 | 60 | |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) 3-point wins 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points.

## Playoffs
### Bracket

| Wild-card round (best-of-3) | Wild-card round (best-of-3) | Wild-card round (best-of-3) | Quarter-finals (best-of-7) | Quarter-finals (best-of-7) | Quarter-finals (best-of-7) | Semi-finals (best-of-7) | Semi-finals (best-of-7) | Semi-finals (best-of-7) | Finals (best-of-7) | Finals (best-of-7) | Finals (best-of-7) |
| | | | 1 | Tappara | 4 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Ässät | 1 | 10 | Ilves | 3 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Ilves | 2 | | | | 1 | Tappara | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | 9 | HIFK | 1 | | | |
| | | | 2 | TPS | 2 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | | | |
| | | | 9 | HIFK | 4 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | | | |
| | | | | | | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | 1 | Tappara | 4 |
| | | | | | | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | 3 | KalPa | 2 |
| | | | 3 | KalPa | 4 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) |
| 8 | Kärpät | 0 | 6 | Pelicans | 1 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) |
| 9 | HIFK | 2 | | | | 3 | KalPa | 4 | Bronze medal game | Bronze medal game | Bronze medal game |
| | | | | | | 4 | JYP | 3 |
| | | | 4 | JYP | 4 | | | | 4 | JYP | 1 |
| | | | 5 | HPK | 3 | | | | 9 | HIFK | 0 |

### Wild card round (best-of-three)
#### (7) Ässät vs. (10) Ilves

Ilves wins the series 2-1.

#### (8) Kärpät vs. (9) HIFK

HIFK wins the series 2-0.

### Quarterfinals (best-of-seven)
#### (1) Tappara vs. (10) Ilves

Tappara wins the series 4-3.

#### (2) TPS vs. (9) HIFK

HIFK wins the series 4-2.

#### (3) KalPa vs. (6) Pelicans

KalPa wins the series 4-1.

#### (4) JYP vs. (5) HPK

JYP wins the series 4-3.

### Semifinals (best-of-seven)
#### (1) Tappara vs. (9) HIFK

Tappara wins the series 4-1.

#### (3) KalPa vs. (4) JYP

KalPa wins the series 4–3.

### Finals (best-of-seven)

Tappara wins the finals 4–2.

## Final rankings

| | Tappara |
| | KalPa |
| | JYP |
| 4 | HIFK |
| 5 | TPS |
| 6 | HPK |
| 7 | Pelicans |
| 8 | Ilves |
| 9 | Ässät |
| 10 | Kärpät |
| 11 | Jukurit |
| 12 | Lukko |
| 13 | KooKoo |
| 14 | Sport |
| 15 | SaiPa |