# 2009–10 SM-liiga season

The 2009–10 SM-liiga season was the 35th season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. TPS won the Kanada-malja and Ilari Filppula from TPS won the Jari Kurri trophy. In the regular season, JYP finished atop the league, Jori Lehterä led the league in points and assists, and three players – Jukka Hentunen, Jonas Enlund, and Juhamatti Aaltonen – tied for the league lead in goals.

## Teams

| Team | City | Head coach | Arena | Capacity | Captain |
| Ässät | Pori | Pekka Rautakallio | Porin jäähalli | 6,481 | Matti Kuparinen |
| Blues | Espoo | Petri Matikainen | Barona Areena | 6,798 | Toni Kähkönen |
| HIFK | Helsinki | Kari Jalonen | Helsingin jäähalli | 8,200 | Kim Hirschovits |
| HPK | Hämeenlinna | Jukka Rautakorpi | Patria-areena | 5,360 | Jukka Laamanen |
| Ilves | Tampere | Juha Pajuoja* | Tampereen jäähalli | 7,600 | Pasi Määttänen |
| Jokerit | Helsinki | Hannu Jortikka* | Hartwall Areena | 13,506 | Antti-Jussi Niemi |
| JYP | Jyväskylä | Risto Dufva | Jyväskylän jäähalli | 4,618 | Juha-Pekka Hytönen |
| KalPa | Kuopio | Pekka Virta | Niiralan monttu | 5,224 | Sami Kapanen |
| Kärpät | Oulu | Mikko Haapakoski* | Oulun Energia Areena | 6,614 | Ilkka Mikkola |
| Lukko | Rauma | Rauli Urama | Äijänsuo Arena | 5,400 | Antti Laaksonen |
| Pelicans | Lahti | Mika Toivola | Isku Areena | 4,910 | Erik Kakko |
| SaiPa | Lappeenranta | Ari-Pekka Selin | Kisapuisto | 4,847 | Ville Koho |
| Tappara | Tampere | Mikko Saarinen | Tampereen jäähalli | 7,600 | Janne Ojanen |
| TPS | Turku | Kai Suikkanen | Turkuhalli | 11,800 | Aki Berg |
* Head coaches with asterisk replaced original coaches mid-season.

## Regular season

| Team | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | +/− | P |
| JYP | 58 | 31 | 6 | 6 | 15 | 173 | 132 | +41 | 111 |
| KalPa | 58 | 31 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 164 | 135 | +29 | 109 |
| Lukko | 58 | 30 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 178 | 136 | +42 | 107 |
| HIFK | 58 | 30 | 6 | 2 | 20 | 185 | 152 | +33 | 104 |
| HPK | 58 | 26 | 3 | 7 | 22 | 153 | 154 | −1 | 91 |
| TPS | 58 | 25 | 6 | 2 | 25 | 169 | 169 | 0 | 89 |
| Tappara | 58 | 24 | 4 | 6 | 24 | 181 | 181 | 0 | 86 |
| Blues | 58 | 19 | 9 | 7 | 23 | 145 | 155 | −10 | 82 |
| Kärpät | 58 | 21 | 7 | 4 | 26 | 150 | 163 | −13 | 81 |
| Jokerit | 58 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 28 | 144 | 157 | −13 | 78 |
| SaiPa | 58 | 20 | 6 | 5 | 27 | 154 | 176 | −22 | 77 |
| Pelicans | 58 | 18 | 6 | 7 | 27 | 166 | 197 | −31 | 73 |
| Ässät | 58 | 18 | 7 | 4 | 29 | 151 | 170 | −19 | 72 |
| Ilves | 58 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 34 | 155 | 191 | −36 | 58 |

## Playoffs

| Wild Card Round | Wild Card Round | Wild Card Round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| | | | 1 | JYP | 4 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Tappara | 2 | 9 | Karpat | 3 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Jokerit | 1 | | | | 1 | JYP | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | | 6 | TPS | 4 | | | |
| | | | 2 | 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) | | | |
| | | | 7 | Tappara | 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) | | | |
| | | | | | | (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) | 6 | TPS | 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) | 5 | HPK | 1 |
| | | | 3 | Lukko | 0 | (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 | Blues | 1 | 6 | TPS | 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) | | | |
| 9 | Karpat | 2 | | | | 2 | KalPa | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | HPK | 4 | | | |
| | | | 4 | HIFK | 2 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | HPK | 4 | | | | | | |