Naisten Liiga (ice hockey)

Naisten Liiga (Women's League), also called the Naisten SM-liiga (NSML) or Jääkiekon naisten SM-liiga (Women’s Ice Hockey Finnish Championship League), is the elite league for Finnish women's ice hockey. Until 2017, it was called the Naisten SM-sarja (Women’s Finnish Championship Series). The league has 12 total teams between two divisions and is organized by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association.
Kiekko-Espoo (previously “Espoo Blues” and “Espoo United”) has dominated Naisten Liiga in the 21st century, winning 14 Finnish Championships from 1999 to 2019. Ilves is the second most successful club, with 10 championship titles, and are the only organization to have iced a team in every season since the league’s inception.
The majority of teams in Naisten Liiga share their names with men's Liiga teams (HIFK, HPK, Ilves, KalPa, Kärpät, Lukko, TPS, and Sport) but the women's teams have historically received few resources and limited promotion from the affiliated men's clubs. In recent years progress has been made in building better relationships between the men’s and women’s teams; most men’s clubs now provide some support to their women’s counterparts by advertising games together or helping secure sponsorships.
== Teams ==
=== 2020–21 season ===
Team name 	Location 	Home venue 	Head coach 	Captain
Stadin Gimmat
or HIFK Naiset	Helsinki 	Helsingin jäähalli 	Saara Niemi 	Karoliina Rantamäki
HPK Kiekkonaiset 	Hämeenlinna	Metritriski Areena 	Mari Saarinen 	Riikka Noronen
Ilves Naiset 	Tampere 	Tesoman jäähalli 	Linda Leppänen 	Anna Kilponen
KalPa Naiset 	Kuopio 	Olvi Areena 	Marjo Voutilainen	Emma Ritari
Kiekko-Espoo Naiset	Espoo 	Tapiolan harjoitussaree	Sami Haapanen 	Annina Rajahuhta
Kärpät Naiset 	Oulu 	Oulun Energia Areena 	Janne Salmela 	Suvi Käyhkö
Lukko Naiset 	Rauma 	Kivikylän Areena 	Marko Toivonen 	Maija Koski
RoKi Naiset 	Rovaniemi 	Lappi Areena 	Tuomas Liitola 	Jenna Pirttijärvi
Sport Naiset 	Vaasa 	Vaasan Sähkö Arena 	Marko Haapala 	Paulina Suoniemi
Team Kuortane 	Kuortane 	Kuortaneen jäähalli 	Mira Kuisma 	
TPS Naiset 	Turku 	Marli Areena 	Matti Tähkäpää 	Elina Heikkinen
===Past participants===
==== 1980s ====
*Ässät (Pori), 1982–1995
*EVU (Vantaa), 1982–1990
*Haukat (Järvenpää), 1982–83
*HJK (Helsinki), 1982–1986
*Jäähonka (Espoo), 1982–1984
*SaiPa (Lappeenranta), 1982–1992
*Shakers (Kerava), 1982–1985 & 1986–1996
*Tiikerit (Hämeenlinna), 1982–1984, 1987–88 & 1989–90
*Kiekko-Vesa (Raahe), 1983–1985
*Teräs-Kiekko (Raahe), 1983–1985
*Ilves-Kiekko (Tampere), 1984–1987 & 1988–1990
*Ketterä (Imatra), 1984–85 & 1991–1993
*StU (Savitaipale), 1984–85
==== 1990s ====
*Karhut (Joensuu)
**JoKP, 1992–1994
**Kiekko-Karhut, 1994–1997
**Karhut, 1997–98
*Tappara (Tampere), 1993–94 & 1997–2008
*JYP (Jyväskylä)
**JyP HT, 1995–1997
**JYP, 1997–2000
*IHK (Helsinki), 1998–2009 
*K-Kissat (Helsinki), 1999–2002
==== 2000s ====
*JYP (continued from 1990s)
**JyHC, 2000–2004
**Cats, 2004–2009
**JYP, 2009–2016
*KS Noux (Espoo), 2002–03
*Y-Ilves (Ylöjärvi), 2002–2004
*Team China, 2005–2007 
* LoKV (Lohja), 2008–2012
* Salo HT (Salo), 2008–2013
* APV (Alavus), 2009–10 & 2019–20
* KJT (Kerava)
**KJT, 2013–2018
**KJT Haukat, 2018–19
Sources: 
== Format ==
=== Season format ===
The season format of the Naisten Liiga has changed many times over the league’s history. The format described here was introduced for the 2019–20 season.
Preliminary series
The preliminary series (Finnish:Alkusarja) is played as a double round-robin plus a two-game Opening Weekend Tournament; each of the ten teams plays a total of twenty matches. Points awarded by match outcome: three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime win, one point for an overtime loss, and no points/zero points for a regulation loss. The points earned in the opening series determine which division a team will be sorted for the continuation of the season.
Divisional series
In the divisional series, the teams are grouped into two divisions of six teams. Each division is played as a double round-robin, each team plays a total of ten games. The top six ranked teams from the preliminary series qualify for the Upper Division (). Upper Division teams are guaranteed placement in the playoffs; the points earned in the ten divisional series games are added to the point totals from the preliminary series and used to establish the teams' playoff berths, from first to sixth. Only points earned in the Upper Division series are considered when determining the recipients of the Marianne Ihalainen Award, for most regular season points earned, and the Tiia Reima Award, for most regular season goals scored.
The bottom four teams from the preliminary series move on to the Lower Division (), where they are joined by the top two teams from the Cross-Qualifiers () of the Naisten Mestis, the league directly below Naisten Liiga. The Lower Division teams compete for the seventh and eighth seed positions in the playoffs; only the top two ranked teams from the Lower Division earn placement in the playoffs. Unlike in the Upper Division, all Lower Division teams start the divisional series with zero points, only points earned in the series are considered when the teams are ranked.
Qualifying series
The Lower Division teams ranked third through sixth continue on to the qualifying series (Finnish:Karsintasarja). The points earned in the six qualifying series games are added to the points totals from the Lower Division series. The two teams with the highest point totals qualify for the following Naisten Liiga season, the two lower ranked teams are relegated to the Naisten Mestis for the following season.
=== Game format ===
A regulation game is sixty minutes in length, played over three 20-minute periods. In the event of a tie at the end of regulation time the winner is decided by a five-minute-length, three-skaters-per-side overtime period. If the game remains tied after the overtime period, the teams proceed to a shootout, in which each team designates three skaters to take penalty shots, one at a time, against the opposing goaltender. Teams alternate shots and each team takes one shot per round. The winner is the team with more goals after three rounds or the team that amasses an unreachable advantage before the third round. If the shootout is tied after three rounds, tie-breaker rounds are played one at a time until there is a winner.
==Champions==
=== All-time medal count ===
 – team currently in league
Team 	 	 	
Kiekko-Espoo 	14	2 	8
Tampereen Ilves 	10	12	6
Oulun Kärpät 	3 	7 	7
Keravan Shakers 	3 	4 	1
JYP Jyväskaylä 	3 	4 	0
Helsingin Jääkiekkoklubi (HJK)	2 	1 	1
Etelä-Vantaan Urheilijat (EVU)	1 	5 	1
Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho (HPK) 	1 	1 	4
Itä-Helsingin Kiekko (IHK) 	0 	1 	0
HIFK/Stadin Gimmat 	0 	0 	2
Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) 	0 	0 	3
Saimaan Pallo (SaiPa) 	0 	0 	1
Vaasan Sport 	0 	0 	1
Team Kuortane 	0 	0 	1
Notes:
Sources: 
=== Women's Finnish Champions by season ===
Season 	Champion 	Runner-up 	Third Place
1982–83 	HJK Helsinki 	Ilves Tampere 	EVU Vantaa
1983–84 	HJK Helsinki 	EVU Vantaa 	Ilves Tampere
1984–85 	Ilves Tampere 	EVU Vantaa 	HJK Helsinki
1985–86 	Ilves Tampere 	HJK Helsinki 	Vaasan Sport
1986–87 	Ilves Tampere 	EVU Vantaa 	Keravan Shakers
1987–88 	Ilves Tampere 	EVU Vantaa 	HIFK Helsinki
1988–89 	EVU Vantaa 	Ilves Tampere 	HIFK Helsinki
1989–90 	Ilves Tampere 	EVU Vantaa 	SaiPa Lappeenranta
1990–91 	Ilves Tampere 	Keravan Shakers 	EKS Espoo
1991–92 	Ilves Tampere 	Keravan Shakers 	EKS Espoo
1992–93 	Ilves Tampere 	Keravan Shakers 	Kiekko-Espoo
1993–94 	Keravan Shakers 	Ilves Tampere 	Kiekko-Espoo
1994–95 	Keravan Shakers 	Ilves Tampere 	KalPa Kuopio
1995–96 	Keravan Shakers 	Oulun Kärpät 	KalPa Kuopio
1996–97 	JyP HT Jyväskylä 	Keravan Shakers 	Kiekko-Espoo
1997–98 	JYP Jyväskylä 	Oulun Kärpät 	Kiekko-Espoo
1998–99 	Espoo Blues 	JYP Jyväskylä 	Ilves Tampere
1999-2000	Espoo Blues 	Oulun Kärpät 	Ilves Tampere
2000–01 	Espoo Blues 	Oulun Kärpät 	Ilves Tampere
2001–02 	Espoo Blues 	IHK Helsinki 	Oulun Kärpät
2002–03 	Espoo Blues 	Oulun Kärpät 	Ilves Tampere
2003–04 	Espoo Blues 	Ilves Tampere 	Oulun Kärpät
2004–05 	Espoo Blues 	Ilves Tampere 	Oulun Kärpät
2005–06 	Ilves Tampere 	Oulun Kärpät 	Espoo Blues
2006–07 	Espoo Blues 	Oulun Kärpät 	IHK Helsinki
2007–08 	Espoo Blues 	Ilves Tampere 	Oulun Kärpät
2008–09 	Espoo Blues 	Ilves Tampere 	HPK Hämeenlinna
2009–10 	Ilves Tampere 	Espoo Blues 	HPK Hämeenlinna
2010–11 	HPK Hämeenlinna 	Ilves Tampere 	Oulun Kärpät
2011–12 	Oulun Kärpät 	Ilves Tampere 	HPK Hämeenlinna
2012–13 	Espoo Blues 	JYP Jyväskylä 	Oulun Kärpät
2013–14 	Espoo Blues 	JYP Jyväskylä 	HPK Hämeenlinna
2014–15 	Espoo Blues 	JYP Jyväskylä 	Ilves Tampere
2015–16 	JYP Jyväskylä 	HPK Hämeenlinna 	Espoo Blues
2016–17 	Oulun Kärpät 	Espoo United 	KalPa Kuopio
2017–18 	Oulun Kärpät 	Ilves Tampere 	Team Kuortane
2018–19 	Espoo Blues 	Ilves Tampere 	Oulun Kärpät
2019–20 	Post-season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.	Post-season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.	Post-season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Notes:
Sources: 
== See also ==
* Women's ice hockey in Finland
* Finland women's national ice hockey team
* Liiga
== References ==
== External links ==
*Official website (in Finnish)
* League information and statistics from Eliteprospects.com and Eurohockey.com and Hockeyarchives.info (in French)
Category:Ice hockey leagues in Finland
Category:Women's ice hockey in Finland
Category:Women's ice hockey leagues in Europe