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. Source: Renamed, still in U20 SM-sarja Former clubs. 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. Champions by year. 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.