2021–22 Liiga season
Sports season
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The 2021–22 Liiga season was the 47th season of the Liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975.
| 2021–22 Liiga | |
|---|---|
| League | Liiga |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | September 2021 – April 2022 |
| Teams | 15 |
| TV partner(s) | Telia C More |
| Regular season | |
| Best record | Tappara |
| Runners-up | Jukurit |
| Season MVP | Petrus Palmu (Jukurit) |
| Top scorer | Anton Levtchi (Tappara) |
| Playoffs | |
| Playoffs MVP | Joona Luoto (Tappara) |
| Finals champions | Tappara |
| Runners-up | TPS |
Teams
Regular season
Standings
Top six advanced straight to the quarter-finals, while teams between 7th and 10th positions played a wild card round for the final two spots. The Liiga is a closed series and thus there is no relegation. The top 3 teams of the regular season qualified for the Champions Hockey League and the 4th team to the Spengler Cup.
The match program was on hiatus during the EHT, Karjala Cup from 7 to 14 November. In December, Christmas was a week-long match break. In December, a new ice rink named Tampere Deck Arena (Nokia Arena) was opened in Tampere for the use of Ilves and Tappara. Two matches were played in the new arena on 19 February, when Ilves hosts his own in the afternoon and Tappara in the evening.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT | Final Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tappara | 60 | 31 | 9 | 4 | 16 | 188 | 120 | +68 | .639 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Jukurit | 60 | 31 | 8 | 4 | 17 | 166 | 138 | +28 | .628 | |
| 3 | Ilves | 60 | 28 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 191 | 168 | +23 | .617 | |
| 4 | TPS | 60 | 29 | 6 | 3 | 22 | 151 | 137 | +14 | .567 | |
| 5 | HIFK | 59 | 27 | 5 | 8 | 19 | 174 | 146 | +28 | .559 | |
| 6 | Kärpät | 60 | 24 | 7 | 9 | 20 | 171 | 141 | +30 | .528 | |
| 7 | HPK | 60 | 24 | 9 | 5 | 22 | 147 | 135 | +12 | .528 | Advance to Wild-card round |
| 8 | KooKoo | 60 | 25 | 5 | 9 | 21 | 148 | 141 | +7 | .522 | |
| 9 | Pelicans | 60 | 25 | 4 | 10 | 21 | 142 | 142 | 0 | .517 | |
| 10 | Lukko | 58 | 24 | 5 | 7 | 22 | 169 | 151 | +18 | .511 | |
| 11 | KalPa | 60 | 19 | 9 | 13 | 19 | 167 | 159 | +8 | .489 | |
| 12 | Sport | 59 | 18 | 8 | 7 | 26 | 120 | 155 | −35 | .435 | |
| 13 | JYP | 60 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 34 | 139 | 221 | −82 | .344 | |
| 14 | SaiPa | 60 | 15 | 3 | 7 | 35 | 128 | 193 | −65 | .322 | |
| 15 | Ässät | 60 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 36 | 127 | 181 | −54 | .294 |
Statistics
Scoring leaders
The following shows the top ten players who led the league in points, at the conclusion of the regular season.[12] If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown.
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Anton Levtchi |
Tappara | 55 | 26 | 35 | 61 | +23 | 46 |
| Petrus Palmu |
Jukurit | 59 | 26 | 33 | 59 | +27 | 24 |
 Lukáš Jašek |
Pelicans | 54 | 13 | 38 | 51 | +23 | 30 |
 Michael Joly |
HPK | 58 | 21 | 29 | 50 | +18 | 16 |
| Eemeli Suomi |
Ilves | 54 | 19 | 30 | 49 | +2 | 34 |
| Jere Innala |
HIFK | 54 | 18 | 30 | 48 | +13 | 30 |
| Jiří Smejkal |
Pelicans | 44 | 25 | 20 | 45 | +16 | 32 |
| Waltteri Merelä |
Tappara | 57 | 21 | 23 | 44 | +31 | 38 |
| Eetu Koivistoinen |
HIFK | 53 | 19 | 24 | 43 | +11 | 8 |
| Vili Saarijärvi |
Lukko | 52 | 17 | 26 | 43 | +19 | 12 |
Leading goaltenders
The following shows the top ten goaltenders who led the league in goals against average, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, at the conclusion of games played on 25 September 2021.[13]
| Player | Team(s) | GP | TOI | W | T | L | GA | SO | Sv% | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oskari Salminen |
Jukurit | 5 | 279:42 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 94.35 | 1.50 |
 Andrei Kareyev |
TPS | 7 | 415:17 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 93.25 | 1.59 |
| Niilo Halonen |
HIFK | 3 | 180:00 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 89.80 | 1.67 |
| Niclas Westerholm |
SaiPa | 6 | 358:06 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 90.83 | 1.84 |
| Rasmus Reijola |
Sport | 3 | 177:25 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 91.89 | 2.03 |
| Nick Malik |
KooKoo | 4 | 235:17 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 92.16 | 2.04 |
| Jasper Patrikainen |
Pelicans | 3 | 142:54 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 91.67 | 2.10 |
| Stanislav Galimov |
Kärpät | 6 | 366:32 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 92.07 | 2.13 |
| Christian Heljanko |
Tappara | 4 | 238:58 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 86.76 | 2.26 |
| Michael Garteig |
HIFK | 3 | 179:43 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 88.89 | 2.34 |
Playoffs
Contrary to the best of three format used in the past seasons, the wild-card round will take place in best of two format, with overtime only played after the second game if the points are tied. The remaining rounds will be played in the best-of-7 format.[14]
Bracket
| Wild-card round (best-of-2) | Quarter-finals (best-of-7) | Semi-finals (best-of-7) | Finals (best-of-7) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Tappara | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | HPK | 0 | 10 | Lukko | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 10 | Lukko | 1 | 1 | Tappara | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| 8 | KooKoo | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Jukurit | 3 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | KooKoo | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Tappara | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | TPS | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Ilves | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | KooKoo | 2 | 6 | Kärpät | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 9 | Pelicans | 1 | 3 | Ilves | 2 | Bronze medal game | |||||||||||||
| 4 | TPS | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | TPS | 4 | 3 | Ilves | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | HIFK | 3 | 8 | KooKoo | 0 | ||||||||||||||
Wild-card round
The wild-card round series will be decided as a two game series. Compared to normal playoffs format both games can also end on a tie. If after two games both teams have one win or both games have ended on a tie, immediately after the second game an additional game will play played, which will determine the team that will go through to next round. The additional game will be played as five against five game and with 20 minutes periods. Sudden death rule applies. Penalties received during the 2nd game, which have not ended when 2nd game ends, will be cancelled. Only exception is game misconducts, which will carry on to the additional game.[15]
Quarter-finals
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Semifinals
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Bronze medal game
| 24 April 2022 17:00 | Ilves | 3–2 (2–0, 1–2, 0–0) | KooKoo | Nokia Arena, Tampere Attendance: 11,606 |
| Game reference | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vadim Žerenko | Goalies | Nick Malík | Referees: Antti Boman Aaro Brännare Linesmen: Samuli Niskanen Harri Perämäki | ||||||||||||||
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| 2 min | Penalties | 12 min | |||||||||||||||
| 37 | Shots | 22 | |||||||||||||||
Finals
| 20 April 2022 18:30 | Tappara | 2–1 (1–1, 0–0, 1–0) | TPS | Nokia Arena, Tampere Attendance: 10,767 |
| Game reference | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Heljanko | Goalies | Andrei Kareyev | Referees: Mikko Kaukokari Jukka-Pekka Koistinen Linesmen: Lauri Nikulainen Hannu Sormunen | ||||||||
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| 10 min | Penalties | 6 min | |||||||||
| 18 | Shots | 18 | |||||||||
| 23 April 2022 17:00 | TPS | 1–2 OT1 (0–1, 0–0, 1–0, 0–1) | Tappara | Gatorade Center, Turku Attendance: 10,500 |
| Game reference | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrei Kareyev | Goalies | Christian Heljanko | Referees: Joonas Kova Petri Lindqvist Linesmen: Niko Jusi Joni Pekkala | ||||||||
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| 2 min | Penalties | 6 min | |||||||||
| 36 | Shots | 32 | |||||||||
| 25 April 2022 18:30 | Tappara | 3–1 (0–0, 2–0, 1–1) | TPS | Nokia Arena, Tampere Attendance: 12,075 |
| Game reference | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Heljanko | Goalies | Andrei Kareyev | Referees: Mikko Kaukokari Jukka-Pekka Koistinen Linesmen: Lauri Nikulainen Hannu Sormunen | |||||||||||
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| 4 min | Penalties | 4 min | ||||||||||||
| 15 | Shots | 23 | ||||||||||||
| 26 April 2022 18:30 | TPS | 1–0 (0–0, 0–0, 1–0) | Tappara | Gatorade Center, Turku Attendance: 10,251 |
| Game reference | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrei Kareyev | Goalies | Christian Heljanko | Referees: Joonas Kova Petri Lindqvist Linesmen: Niko Jusi Joni Pekkala | ||
| |||||
| 0 min | Penalties | 6 min | |||
| 27 | Shots | 25 | |||
| 28 April 2022 18:30 | Tappara | 1–0 (1–0, 0–0, 0–0) | TPS | Nokia Arena, Tampere Attendance: 12,451 |
| Game reference | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Heljanko | Goalies | Andrei Kareyev | Referees: Mikko Kaukokari Jukka-Pekka Koistinen Linesmen: Lauri Nikulainen Hannu Sormunen | ||
| |||||
| 4 min | Penalties | 20 min | |||
| 23 | Shots | 16 | |||
Tappara wins the finals 4-1.
