2022–23 Naisten Liiga season

The 2022–23 Naisten Liiga season was the fortieth season of the Naisten Liiga, the premier level of women's ice hockey in Finland, since the league's establishment as the Naisten SM-sarja in 1982. The regular season began on 10 September 2022 and concluded on 19 February 2023.
HIFK Helsinki and KalPa Kuopio both finished the regular season at the top of the league, tied with 93 points in 36 games. HIFK were granted the regular season championship title by virtue of a higher goal difference, marking the first regular season victory in team history. Kiekko-Espoo, the reigning regular season champions from the previous four seasons (2018–19 to 2021–22), finished in third place.
HIFK swept all three rounds of the 2023 Aurora Borealis Cup playoffs to win the Aurora Borealis Cup for the first time in team history. Kiekko-Espoo, the reigning Finnish Champions from the 2022 Aurora Borealis Cup playoffs, claimed the franchise's third Finnish Championship silver medal and KalPa won Finnish Championship bronze for the fourth time.
In the qualification, RoKi Rovaniemi and Rauman Lukko overcame Naisten Mestis teams HIFK Akatemia and Kiekko-Espoo Akatemia to save themselves from relegation.
== Regular season ==
The 180-game regular season began on 10 September 2022 and concluded on 19 February 2023.
===Standings===
Pos	Team 	Pld	W 	OTW	OTL	L 	GF 	GA 	GD 	Pts	Postseason
1 	HIFK 	36 	29	3 	0 	4 	197	57 	+140	93 	Playoffs
2 	KalPa 	36 	29	2 	2 	3 	197	65 	+132	93 	Playoffs
3 	Kiekko-Espoo 	36 	23	2 	1 	10	142	70 	+72 	74 	Playoffs
4 	HPK 	36 	20	3 	1 	12	116	78 	+38 	67 	Playoffs
5 	Tampereen Ilves	36 	16	4 	3 	13	105	98 	+7 	59 	Playoffs
6 	Team Kuortane 	36 	15	3 	4 	14	91 	89 	+2 	55 	Playoffs
7 	TPS 	36 	14	2 	3 	17	124	140	−16 	49 	Playoffs
8 	Oulun Kärpät 	36 	7 	1 	5 	23	92 	150	−58 	28 	Playoffs
9 	Rauman Lukko 	36 	1 	4 	1 	30	59 	227	−168	12 	Qualification
10 	RoKi 	36 	2 	0 	4 	30	44 	193	−149	10 	Qualification
==Playoffs==
===Quarterfinals===
*HIFK Helsinki - Karpat Oulu 12:0, 8:0, 6:0
*KalPa Kuopio - TPS Turku 4:1, 5:4, 4:3
*Team Kuortane - Kiekko-Espoo 4:3, 1:2 OT, 4:3 OT, 3:0
*HPK Hameenlinna - Ilves Tampere 5:0, 1:5, 5:3, 4:2
===Semifinals===
*HIFK Helsinki - HPK Hameenlinna 2:0, 6:1, 6:2
*Kiekko-Espoo - KalPa Kuopio 3:2 OT, 2:3 OT, 2:1 OT, 2:0
===Bronze medal game===
*KalPa Kuopio - HPK Hameenlinna 3:1
===Final===
*HIFK Helsinki - Kiekko-Espoo 9:2, 4:0, 3:2
==Qualification==
The qualification series began on 18 March and concluded on 2 April 2023. It was played as a double round-robin in which each team will face every opponent once at home and once away.
Two teams from the 2022 qualification series returned to the promotion/relegation tournament in 2023: Lukko and RoKi. In the 2022 series, RoKi successfully defended their place in the league and, after having been relegated to the Naisten Mestis in the 2021 Naisten Liiga qualifiction, Lukko earned promotion back to the Naisten Liiga via the relegation of Vaasan Sport Naiset.
Lukko and RoKi were joined by the top two teams of the Naisten Mestis regular season, HIFK Akatemia and Kiekko-Espoo Akatemia, the respective developmental squad of HIFK Naiset and Kiekko-Espoo Naiset, the Aurora Borealis Cup finalists. Both teams made their debut in the Naisten Liiga qualification and the series was the first in league history to feature the developmental squads of two teams active in the Naisten Liiga.
The series concluded with RoKi and Lukko overcoming HIFK Akatemia and Kiekko-Espoo Akatemia to save themselves from relegation. Both teams will remain in the Naisten Liiga for the 2023–24 season, while HIFK Akatemia and Kiekko-Espoo Akatemia will play in the season in the Naisten Mestis.
===Standings===
Pos	Team 	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD 	Pts	2022–23 season
1 	RoKi 	6 	4	0 	1 	1	18	12	+6 	13 	Naisten Liiga
2 	Lukko 	6 	3	0 	1 	2	22	14	+8 	10 	Naisten Liiga
3 	HIFK Ak 	6 	2	1 	0 	3	16	14	+2 	8 	Naisten Mestis
4 	K-Espoo Ak	6 	1	1 	0 	4	8 	24	−16	5 	Naisten Mestis
===Results===
==References==
Category:2023 in ice hockey