2021–22 Naisten Liiga season

The 2021–22 Naisten Liiga season was the thirty-ninth 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 season began on 11 September 2021 and concluded on 20 March 2022.
== Preliminary series ==
The preliminary series began on 11 September and concluded on 12 December 2021. The Finnish Ice Hockey Association opted to use the points per game ranking system first implemented in the 2020–21 season to allow for the potential of cancelled matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some games in the preliminary series were rescheduled, however, each team was able to play all twenty matches.
The top six ranked teams in the preliminaries advanced to the regular season, also called the upper division series and were guaranteed playoff berths.
===Standings===
Pos	Team 	Pld	W 	OTW	OTL	L 	GF 	GA 	GD 	Pts	Final Result
1 	Kiekko-Espoo 	20 	20	0 	0 	0 	137	25 	+112	60 	Advanced to Upper division
2 	HIFK 	20 	17	0 	0 	3 	100	31 	+69 	51 	Advanced to Upper division
3 	Oulun Kärpät 	20 	13	1 	0 	6 	67 	38 	+29 	41 	Advanced to Upper division
4 	Tampereen Ilves	20 	9 	2 	2 	7 	59 	42 	+17 	33 	Advanced to Upper division
5 	Team Kuortane 	20 	9 	1 	2 	8 	65 	72 	−7 	31 	Advanced to Upper division
6 	TPS 	20 	7 	3 	1 	9 	72 	68 	+4 	28 	Advanced to Upper division
7 	HPK 	20 	7 	2 	1 	10	47 	68 	−21 	26 	Proceeded to Lower division
8 	RoKi 	20 	6 	0 	2 	12	43 	83 	−40 	20 	Proceeded to Lower division
9 	KalPa 	20 	2 	1 	2 	15	36 	78 	−42 	10 	Proceeded to Lower division
10 	Vaasan Sport 	20 	0 	0 	0 	20	27 	148	−121	0 	Proceeded to Lower division
Official ranking
Teams were officially ranked by average points per game with ties broken by greater number of games played, followed by best goal difference, then greater number of goals.
 	Team 	
1	K-Espoo 	3.00
2	HIFK 	2.55
3	Kärpät 	2.05
4	Ilves 	1.65
5	Kuortane	1.55
6	TPS 	1.40
 	Team 	
7 	HPK 	1.30
8 	RoKi 	1.00
9 	KalPa	0.50
10	Sport	0.00
== Regular season ==
The preliminary series began on 11 September and concluded on 12 December 2021. The Finnish Ice Hockey Association opted to use the points per game ranking system first implemented in the 2020–21 season to allow for the potential of cancelled matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some games in the preliminary series were rescheduled, however, each team was able to play all twenty matches.
The top six ranked teams from the preliminary series advanced to the regular season, also called the upper division series, while teams ranked seventh through tenth progressed to the lower division series. The regular season began on 8 January 2022.
===Standings===
Pos	Team 	Pld	W 	OTW	OTL	L 	GF 	GA 	GD 	Pts	Final Result
1 	Kiekko-Espoo 	30 	27	1 	0 	2 	182	44 	+138	83 	Playoff quarterfinals
2 	HIFK 	29 	26	0 	0 	3 	137	41 	+96 	78 	Playoff quarterfinals
3 	Oulun Kärpät 	29 	16	2 	0 	11	85 	62 	+23 	52 	Playoff quarterfinals
4 	Tampereen Ilves	30 	12	2 	3 	13	78 	72 	+6 	43 	Playoff quarterfinals
5 	TPS 	29 	10	3 	2 	14	101	108	−7 	38 	Playoff quarterfinals
6 	Team Kuortane 	27 	9 	1 	2 	15	72 	104	−32 	31 	Playoff quarterfinals
Official ranking
Teams are officially ranked by average points per game with ties broken by greater number of games played, followed by best goal difference, then greater number of goals.
 	Team 	
1	K-Espoo 	2.77
2	HIFK 	2.69
3	Kärpät 	1.79
4	Ilves 	1.43
5	TPS 	1.31
6	Kuortane	1.15
== Lower division series ==
The teams ranked seventh through tenth in the Naisten Liiga preliminaries – HPK, KalPa, RoKi, and Sport – progressed to the lower division series, where they were joined by the top two teams from the Naisten Mestis cross-qualifiers, Alavuden Peli-Veikot (APV) and Rauman Lukko. The lower division series began on 5 February and concluded on 20 March. It was played as a double round-robin, with every team playing each of their five opponents twice. The two teams with the top points per game averages at the conclusion of the series, HPK and KalPa, progress to the playoff quarterfinals. The remaining four teams – APV, Lukko, RoKi, and Sport – proceed to the qualifiers, where they face potential relegation.
Pos	Team 	Pld	W 	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD 	Pts	Postseason placement
1 	HPK 	10 	10	0 	0 	0	67	12	+55	30 	Playoff quarterfinals
2 	KalPa	10 	6 	2 	0 	2	34	18	+16	22 	Playoff quarterfinals
3 	RoKi 	10 	4 	1 	1 	4	46	46	0 	15 	Qualifiers
4 	Lukko	10 	4 	0 	0 	6	19	32	−13	12 	Qualifiers
5 	Sport	10 	1 	0 	3 	6	24	45	−21	6 	Qualifiers
6 	APV 	10 	1 	1 	0 	8	29	66	−37	5 	Qualifiers
Official ranking
 	Team 	
1	HPK 	3.00
2	KalPa	2.20
3	RoKi 	1.50
4	Lukko	1.20
5	Sport	0.60
6	APV 	0.50
==Playoffs==
===Quarterfinals===
====(1) Kiekko-Espoo vs. (8) KalPa====
====(2) HIFK vs. (7) HPK====
==== (3) Kärpät vs. (6) Kuortane ====
====(4) Ilves vs. (5) TPS====
===Semifinals===
====Kiekko-Espoo vs. TPS====
====HIFK vs. Kärpät====
===Bronze medal game===
===Final===
==Qualification series==
The qualification seriesbegan on 26 March and concluded 10 April. 
Three teams from the 2021 qualification series returned to the promotion/relegation tournament in 2022: Lukko, RoKi, and Vaasan Sport. Promoted from the Naisten Mestis to the lower division series alongside Lukko, APV last appeared in the 2020 qualification series, in which they did not gain promotion. 
On April 3, Rovaniemen Kiekko (RoKi) and Rauman Lukko both amassed unbeatable point advantages and secured league positions. RoKi will remain in the Naisten Liiga for the 2022–23 season and Lukko will make their return to the league after being relegated to the Naisten Mestis in the 2020–21 Naisten Liiga qualifiers. 
Vaasan Sport will be relegated to the 2022–23 Naisten Mestis, following four seasons in the Naisten Liiga in which they qualified for the playoffs as the eighth-seed in 2020 and faced relegation in both 2021 and 2022. APV will return to the Naisten Mestis after missing out on the opportunity for promotion for the second time in three seasons.
Pos	Team 	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L 	GF	GA	GD 	Pts	2022–23 placement
1 	RoKi 	16 	8	1 	1 	6 	80	62	+18	27 	Qualify for Naisten Liiga
2 	Lukko	16 	8	0 	0 	8 	39	50	−11	24 	Qualify for Naisten Liiga
3 	Sport	16 	4	0 	3 	9 	42	70	−28	15 	Relegated to Naisten Mestis
4 	APV 	16 	2	1 	0 	13	45	95	−50	8 	Relegated to Naisten Mestis
Official ranking
 	Team 	GP	Pts	
1	RoKi 	16	27 	1.69
2	Lukko	16	24 	1.50
3	Sport	16	15 	0.94
4	APV 	16	8 	0.50
=== Results ===
== References ==
== External links ==
* Naisten Liiga official website 
Category:2022 in ice hockey