U20 SM-sarja

The U20 SM-sarja ('Under-20 Finnish Championship Series') is the premier junior men’s ice hockey league in Finland. It was previously known as the A-nuorten SM-sarja ('Junior A Finnish Championship Series') during 1945 to 1991 and the Nuorten SM-liiga ('Junior Finnish Championship League') during 1991 to 2020. The league was founded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 1945 and a Finnish Champion in men’s under-20 ice hockey has been named annually since the league’s inaugural season – with the exception of the 2019–20 season, in which the playoffs were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eighteen to twenty teams compete in the U20 SM-sarja regular season, which is played in a preliminary ranking stage followed by a divisional or group stage.
== Teams ==
Each team in the U20 SM-sarja is the junior development squad of a professional ice hockey club and shares the club’s name. Most of the senior clubs of U20 teams play in the Liiga, the premier men's ice hockey league in Finland. Notable exceptions include Jokerit, which plays in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), and Kiekko-Espoo, Rovaniemen Kiekko (RoKi), and TUTO Hockey, all of which play in the second-tier Mestis.
In conversation, the league and participating teams are referred to as U20, A-nuorten/A-nuoret, or U20-nuorten/U20-nuoret interchangeably – the terms originate in various naming structures used by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association over the history of the league.
=== 2020–21 season ===
Note: Oy is an abbreviation of osakeyhtiö, a type of limited company in Finland; Ab is the abbreviation of aktiebolag, the Swedish term for an osakeyhtiö. The abbreviations ry and rf refer respectively to the Finnish and Swedish terms for a registered non-profit organization in Finland (; ).
Team name 	Club's registered name 	Location
HPK U20 	HPK Liiga Oy 	Hämeenlinna
Ilves U20 	Ilves Hockey Oy 	Tampere
Jokerit U20 	Jokerit Hockey Club Oy 	Helsinki
Jukurit U20 	Jukurit HC Oy 	Mikkeli
JYP U20 	JYP Jyväskylä Oy 	Jyväskylä
KalPa U20 	KalPa Hockey Oy 	Kuopio
Kiekko-Espoo U20 	Kiekko-Espoo ry 	Espoo
HIFK U20 or Kollit	HIFK Ishockey rf 	Helsinki
KooKoo U20 	KooKoo Hockey Oy 	Kouvola
Kärpät U20 	Oulun Kärpät Oy 	Oulu
Lukko U20 	Rauman Lukko Oy 	Rauma
Pelicans U20 	Lahden Pelicans Oy 	Lahti
RoKi U20 	Rovaniemen Kiekko ry 	Rovaniemi
SaiPa U20 	Liiga-Saipa Oy 	Lappeenranta
Sport U20 	Hockey-Team Vaasan Sport Oy	Vaasa
Tappara U20 	Tamhockey Oy 	Tampere
TPS U20 	HC TPS Turku Oy 	Turku
TUTO Hockey U20 	TuTo Hockey Oy 	Turku
Ässät U20 	HC Ässät Pori Oy 	Pori
Source:
Renamed, still in U20 SM-sarja
* JyP HT and JyP, now JYP
* Espoo Blues, now Kiekko-Espoo
* Kiekkoreipas, Hockey-Reipas, and Reipas Lahti, now Pelicans
=== Former clubs ===
This list is incomplete. At present, this list includes only those former clubs which won a Finnish Championship medal while playing in the U20 SM-saija. 
Bold indicates U20 ice hockey team currently active and playing in the U20 Mestis.
* Hämeenlinnan Tarmo, Hämeenlinna
*Helsingin Jääkiekkoklubi (HJK), Helsinki
*Hermes, Kokkola
*Karhu-Kissat (K-Kissat), Helsinki
*KOOVEE, Tampere
**previously called Tampereen Kilpa-Veljet (TK-V)
*Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat (KTP), Kotka
*Kuopion Palloseura (KuPS), Kuopio
*Lauritsalan Kisa (LaKi), Lauritsala
*Mikkelin Palloilijat, Mikkeli
*Porin Pallo-Toverit (PPT), Pori
*Porin Karhut, Pori
*Rauman Hokki, Rauma
*Reipas Lahti, Lahti
*Savonlinnan Pallokerho (SaPKo), Savonlinna
*Tammerfors Bollklubb (TBK), Tampere
*Tampereen Kisa-Toverit (TKT), Tampere
*Tampereen Pallo-Veikot (TPV), Tampere
*Töölön Vesa, Helsinki
*Åbo IFK, Turku (Åbo)
== Champions by year ==
Year	Champions 	Runners-up 	Third Place
1945	Ilves 	K-Kissat 	–
1946	Ilves 	ÅIFK 	–
1947	Ilves 	HJK 	–
1948	Ilves 	Tarmo 	HJK
1949	Ilves 	TBK 	HJK
1950	K-Kissat 	ÅIFK 	Ilves
1951	TBK 	K-Kissat 	–
1952	Ilves 	TBK 	–
1953	Ilves 	Lukko 	HJK
1954	TBK 	K-Kissat 	Ilves
1955	KuPS 	Ilves 	TBK
1956	Tappara 	TKT 	KTP
1957	Tappara 	Hermes 	PPT
1958	Lukko 	Tappara 	Tarmo
1959	Tappara 	TK-V 	KalPa
1960	Ilves 	TK-V 	Tarmo
1961	Ilves 	Tappara 	Mikkelin Palloilijat
1962	Tappara 	Ilves 	LaKi
1963	Tappara 	Ilves 	LaKi
1964	Tarmo 	TuTo 	SaiPa
1965	Tappara 	SaiPa 	HPK / TPV
1966	Ilves 	SaiPa 	Rauman Hokki / Töölön Vesa
1967	Ilves 	SaPKo 	HIFK / Karhut
1968	Tappara 	TPS 	SaiPa
1969	TPS 	Tappara 	Reipas
1970	SaiPa 	Ilves 	Tappara
1971	KOOVEE 	Ässät 	Tappara
1972	Tappara 	Jokerit 	Ilves
1973	Tappara 	Ilves 	Ässät
1974	Ilves 	Reipas 	SaiPa
1975	Tappara 	KOOVEE 	Ilves
1976	Ilves 	KOOVEE 	Ässät
1977	Ilves 	TPS 	Kärpät
1978	Ilves 	Kärpät 	TPS
1979	Kärpät 	Tappara 	TPS
1980	Ässät 	Jokerit 	TPS
1981	Ilves 	Tappara 	Kärpät
1982	Ilves 	HIFK 	Tappara
1983	HIFK 	Ilves 	TPS
1984	HIFK 	Ilves 	TPS
1985	Kärpät 	HIFK 	TPS
1986	Tappara 	Ilves 	HIFK
1987	HIFK 	Tappara 	Kärpät
1988	Jokerit 	Tappara 	Kärpät
1989	K-Espoo 	Tappara 	HIFK
1990	K-Espoo 	Tappara 	HIFK
1991	Ilves 	HIFK 	JyP HT
1992	TPS 	Ilves 	Ässät
1993	Ilves 	TPS 	Ässät
1994	Ilves 	TPS 	JyP HT
1995	JyP HT 	Ilves 	K-Espoo
1996	Jokerit 	KalPa 	K-Espoo
1997	JyP HT 	HPK 	Ässät
1998	TPS 	Jokerit 	Tappara
1999	Jokerit 	Ilves 	TPS
2000	Jokerit 	TPS 	Lukko
2001	Tappara 	HIFK 	JYP
2002	SaiPa 	TPS 	HIFK
2003	HIFK 	Jokerit 	Blues
2004	Tappara 	JYP 	HIFK
2005	Ilves 	TPS 	JYP
2006	JYP 	Kärpät 	Blues
2007	Pelicans 	Blues 	HIFK
2008	KalPa 	Ässät 	JYP
2009	Blues 	TPS 	Lukko
2010	Kärpät 	HIFK 	Ilves
2011	JYP 	Blues 	Ilves
2012	HIFK 	Jokerit 	HPK
2013	HPK 	Blues 	Lukko
2014	Blues 	Kärpät 	Ässät
2015	TPS 	HPK 	Blues
2016	Ilves 	Blues 	KalPa
2017	HPK 	Ässät 	Lukko
2018	KalPa 	Kärpät 	HIFK
2019	Kärpät 	Blues 	Sport
2020	Playoffs cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic	Playoffs cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic	Playoffs cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Lukko 	Kärpät 	Tappara / TPS
Source:
== Awards ==
In 2010, the Finnish Ice Hockey Association standardized the award categories across the top leagues in each competition class under its administration: the Mestis, the Naisten Liiga, the U20 SM-sarja, the U18 SM-sarja (B-nuorten SM-sarja), and the U16 SM-sarja (C-nuorten SM-sarja). New trophies were created for award categories not previously used by a league and existing awards were renamed after iconic players in Finnish ice hockey.
* Player of the Year: Teemu Selänne Trophy
* Rookie of the Year: Yrjö Hakala Trophy
* Best Goaltender: Jorma Valtonen Trophy
* Best Defenseman: Reijo Ruotsalainen Trophy
* Best Forward: Saku Koivu Trophy
* Point Scoring Leader: Kari Jalonen Trophy
* Top Goal Scorer: Arto Javanainen Trophy
* Playoffs MVP: Ville Peltonen Trophy
* Fair-Play/Gentlemanly Player: Jere Lehtinen Trophy
* Best Plus/minus: Raimo Helminen Trophy
* Coach of the Year: Hannu Aravirta Trophy
* All-Star First & Second Teams
* Fair-Play Team
== See also ==
* Finland men's national junior ice hockey team
*Ice hockey in Finland
==References==
==External links==
* League information and statistics from EliteProspects.com and EuroHockey.com and HockeyArchives.info 
Category:Ice hockey leagues in Finland
Category:Junior ice hockey leagues