2017–18 Liiga season

The 2017–18 Liiga season was the 43rd season of the SM-liiga (branded simply as "Liiga"), the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. Tappara was the season as a defending champion. This season included a record number of matches played on Fridays and Saturdays. In autumn, there was a national team break from 5 November until 13 November.
The specialties of the season included, for the first time in Liiga history, double games between KooKoo and Vaasan Sport. Teams met twice in October in consecutive evenings in Kouvola and in February twice in succession in Vaasa. In December, HIFK and Kärpät met in the hockey outdoor show at Kaisaniemi, Helsinki.
In 2018, the Liiga continued on Wednesday, 3 January. Ice hockey at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea's Pyeongchang start with the Finland men's national ice hockey team on February 14, 2018. In Liiga, a full round was played on Saturday 17 February, after which the Olympic Games started. Liiga games resumed on Tuesday, February 27.
Kärpät won the championship by winning Tappara in the final series 4-2.
==Teams==
Team 	City 	Head coach 	Arena 	Capacity	Captain
HIFK 	Helsinki 	Ari-Pekka Selin 	Helsingin jäähalli 	 	Lennart Petrell
HPK 	Hämeenlinna 	Antti Pennanen 	Patria-areena 	 	Otto Paajanen
Ilves 	Tampere 	Karri Kivi 	Tampereen jäähalli 	 	Tapio Laakso
Jukurit 	Mikkeli 	Risto Dufva 	Kalevankankaan jäähalli	 	Miika Roine
JYP 	 	Marko Virtanen 	Synergia-areena 	 	Juha-Pekka Hytönen
KalPa 	Kuopio 	Sami Kapanen 	Niiralan monttu 	 	Tommi Jokinen
KooKoo 	Kouvola 	Tuomas Tuokkola 	Lumon arena 	 	Toni Kähkönen
Kärpät 	Oulu 	Mikko Manner 	Oulun Energia Areena 	 	Lasse Kukkonen
Lukko 	Rauma 	Pekka Virta 	Äijänsuo Arena 	 	Janne Niskala
Pelicans	Lahti 	Petri Matikainen 	Isku Areena 	 	Stefan Lassen
SaiPa 	Lappeenranta	Tero Lehterä 	Kisapuisto 	 	Ville Koho
Sport 	Vaasa 	Tomek Valtonen 	Vaasa Arena 	 	Markus Kankaanperä
Tappara 	Tampere 	Jukka Rautakorpi 	Tampereen jäähalli 	 	Jukka Peltola
TPS 	Turku 	Kalle Kaskinen 	HK Arena 	 	Tomi Kallio
 	Pori 	Jyrki Aho14 Jan 2018Mikael Kotkaniemi	Porin jäähalli 	 	Matti Kuparinen
==Regular season==
Top six advance straight to quarter-finals, while teams between 7th and 10th positions play wild card round for the final two spots. The Liiga is a closed series and thus there is no relegation.
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) 3-point wins 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Head-to-head points.
== Playoffs ==
=== Bracket ===
===Wild card round===
===Quarterfinals===
===Semifinals===
===Bronze medal game===
=== Finals ===
Kärpät wins the series 4-2 and wins the championship.
==Final rankings==
align=center	Kärpät
align=center	Tappara
align=center	HIFK
4 	TPS
5 	JYP
6 	KalPa
7 	SaiPa
8 	Ässät
9 	Lukko
10 	Pelicans
11 	Ilves
12 	HPK
13 	Jukurit
14 	KooKoo
15 	Sport
==See also==
* 2017–18 Mestis season
==References==
Category:Liiga seasons
Liiga
Liiga