# 2015–16 Liiga season

The 2015–16 SM-liiga season was the 41st 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 |
| Blues | Espoo | Jyrki Aho | Barona Areena | 7,017 | Jari Sailio |
| HIFK | Helsinki | Antti Törmänen | Helsingin jäähalli | 8,200 | Arttu Luttinen |
| HPK | Hämeenlinna | Pasi Arvonen | Patria-areena | 5,360 | Riku Hahl |
| Ilves | Tampere | Tuomas Toukkola | Tampereen jäähalli | 7,300 | Sami Sandell |
| JYP | Jyväskylä | Marko Virtanen | Synergia-areena | 4,437 | Tuomas Pihlman |
| KalPa | Kuopio | Pekka Virta | Niiralan monttu | 5,064 | Mikko Jokela |
| KooKoo | Kouvola | Petri Mattila | Lumon arena | 6,000 | Ari Vallin |
| Kärpät | Oulu | Lauri Marjamäki | Oulun Energia Areena | 6,780 | Lasse Kukkonen |
| Lukko | Rauma | Risto Dufva | Äijänsuo Arena | 5,400 | Ilkka Mikkola |
| Pelicans | Lahti | Petri Matikainen | Isku Areena | 5,530 | Antti Erkinjuntti |
| SaiPa | Lappeenranta | Pekka Tirkkonen | Kisapuisto | 4,820 | Ville Koho |
| Sport | Vaasa | Tomek Valtonen | Vaasa Arena | 4,512 | Mikko Pukka |
| Tappara | Tampere | Jussi Tapola | Tampereen jäähalli | 7,300 | Jukka Peltola |
| TPS | Turku | Ari-Pekka Selin | HK Arena | 11,820 | Tomi Kallio |
| Ässät | Pori | Pekka Rautakallio | Porin jäähalli | 6,097 | Juha Kiilholma |

## Regular season

Top six advanced straight to quarter-finals, while teams between 7th and 10th positions played wild card round for the final two spots. The SM-liiga is a closed series and thus there is no relegation.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final Result |
| 1 | HIFK | 60 | 37 | 6 | 4 | 13 | 186 | 131 | +55 | 127 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Kärpät | 60 | 33 | 6 | 8 | 13 | 178 | 126 | +52 | 119 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 3 | Tappara | 60 | 26 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 177 | 136 | +41 | 110 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 4 | JYP | 60 | 29 | 7 | 5 | 19 | 156 | 139 | +17 | 106 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 5 | SaiPa | 60 | 27 | 5 | 8 | 20 | 178 | 146 | +32 | 99 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 6 | Lukko | 60 | 24 | 9 | 4 | 23 | 154 | 132 | +22 | 94 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 7 | TPS | 60 | 23 | 6 | 9 | 22 | 150 | 152 | −2 | 90 | Advance to Wild-card round |
| 8 | KalPa | 60 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 22 | 129 | 127 | +2 | 90 | Advance to Wild-card round |
| 9 | Pelicans | 60 | 24 | 4 | 7 | 25 | 145 | 171 | −26 | 87 | Advance to Wild-card round |
| 10 | Sport | 60 | 20 | 7 | 9 | 24 | 153 | 156 | −3 | 83 | Advance to Wild-card round |
| 11 | KooKoo | 60 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 24 | 129 | 159 | −30 | 78 | |
| 12 | Ässät | 60 | 20 | 5 | 7 | 28 | 143 | 162 | −19 | 77 | |
| 13 | HPK | 60 | 18 | 5 | 4 | 33 | 125 | 168 | −43 | 68 | |
| 14 | Ilves | 60 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 34 | 124 | 163 | −39 | 63 | |
| 15 | Blues | 60 | 13 | 6 | 8 | 33 | 108 | 168 | −60 | 59 | |
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 | HIFK | 4 | | | | | | |
| 7 | TPS | 2 | 9 | Pelicans | 2 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Sport | 0 | | | | 1 | HIFK | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | JYP | 2 | | | |
| | | | 2 | Kärpät | 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 | 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) | | | |
| | | | | | | (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 | HIFK | 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) | 3 | Tappara | 4 |
| | | | 3 | 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) |
| 8 | KalPa | 1 | 6 | Lukko | 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 | Pelicans | 2 | | | | 2 | Kärpät | 3 | Bronze medal game | Bronze medal game | Bronze medal game |
| | | | | | | 3 | Tappara | 4 |
| | | | 4 | JYP | 4 | | | | 2 | Kärpät | 1 |
| | | | 5 | SaiPa | 2 | | | | 4 | JYP | 0 |

### Wild card round (best-of-three)
#### (7) TPS vs. (10) Sport

TPS wins the series 2–0.

#### (8) KalPa vs. (9) Pelicans

Pelicans wins the series 2–1.

### Quarterfinals (best-of-seven)
#### (1) HIFK vs. (9) Pelicans

HIFK wins the series 4–2.

#### (2) Kärpät vs. (7) TPS

Kärpät wins the series 4–2.

#### (3) Tappara vs. (6) Lukko

Tappara wins the series 4–1.

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

JYP wins the series 4–2.

### Semifinals (best-of-seven)
#### (1) HIFK vs. (4) JYP

HIFK wins the series 4–2.

#### (2) Kärpät vs. (3) Tappara

Tappara wins the series 4–3.

### Finals (best-of-seven)

Tappara wins the finals 4–2.

## Final rankings

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