2023–24 Liiga season
Ice hockey season
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The 2023–24 Liiga season was the 49th season of the Liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since its formation in 1975.
| 2023–24 SM-liiga | |
|---|---|
| League | Liiga |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Defending champions | Tappara (2022–23) |
| Duration | September 2023 – April 2024 |
| Games | 60 |
| Teams | 15 |
| TV partner(s) | Telia MTV Urheilu |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Tappara |
| Runners-up | Ilves |
| Season MVP | Jerry Turkulainen (JYP) |
| Top scorer | Oula Palve (Ilves) |
| Playoffs | |
| Playoffs MVP | Christian Heljanko |
| Finals champions | Tappara |
| Runners-up | Pelicans |
Format
The regular season started on Tuesday, 12 September 2023, with a match between Rauman Lukko and Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho in Rauma. The match was the only one of the day. As in previous seasons, 450 matches will be played in the regular season, 60 for each team. There are 25 full rounds of seven matches played, 16 of which are on Saturdays. A little more than half of the regular season, 262 matches, are played on Fridays and Saturdays. Most weekday games are played on Wednesdays (98). There were a total of 106 game days in the regular season, i.e. eight less than in the previous season.[1]
As usual, the series is on break in November for a week and a half while the national teams play in the Euro Hockey Tour. The Christmas break lasts 5–7 days, depending on the team, with the exception of KalPa, which participates on the 26th–31st of December in the Spengler Cup in Switzerland.[2] For other teams, the Christmas break ends on Saint Stephen's day, 26 December. The regular season ends on Tuesday, 12 March 2024.[1]
Teams
Regular season standings
Top six advanced straight to the quarter-finals, while teams between 7th and 10th positions play a wild card round for the final two spots. The SM-liiga is a closed series and thus there is no relegation to the Mestis.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tappara | 60 | 34 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 200 | 141 | +59 | 123 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Ilves | 60 | 33 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 197 | 144 | +53 | 120 | |
| 3 | Pelicans | 60 | 31 | 4 | 8 | 17 | 177 | 147 | +30 | 109 | |
| 4 | Kärpät | 60 | 28 | 8 | 6 | 18 | 174 | 147 | +27 | 106 | |
| 5 | Jukurit | 60 | 30 | 3 | 7 | 20 | 197 | 147 | +50 | 103 | |
| 6 | HIFK | 60 | 26 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 179 | 139 | +40 | 103 | |
| 7 | KalPa | 60 | 25 | 6 | 7 | 22 | 169 | 156 | +13 | 94 | Advance to Wild-card round |
| 8 | Lukko | 60 | 22 | 10 | 6 | 22 | 157 | 160 | −3 | 92 | |
| 9 | TPS | 60 | 17 | 14 | 5 | 24 | 150 | 166 | −16 | 84 | |
| 10 | Sport | 60 | 21 | 5 | 10 | 24 | 155 | 174 | −19 | 83 | |
| 11 | Ässät | 60 | 19 | 7 | 10 | 24 | 136 | 144 | −8 | 81 | |
| 12 | KooKoo | 60 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 26 | 175 | 178 | −3 | 79 | |
| 13 | JYP | 60 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 30 | 152 | 196 | −44 | 69 | |
| 14 | HPK | 60 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 35 | 111 | 184 | −73 | 59 | |
| 15 | SaiPa | 60 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 35 | 125 | 231 | −106 | 45 |
Statistics
Scoring leaders
The following shows the top ten players leading the league in points.[6]
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Oula Palve |
Ilves | 60 | 20 | 44 | 64 | +19 | 63 |
| Jerry Turkulainen |
JYP | 60 | 21 | 42 | 63 | +4 | 18 |
| Eemeli Suomi |
Ilves | 58 | 21 | 38 | 59 | +17 | 22 |
| Teemu Turunen |
Kärpät | 60 | 30 | 27 | 57 | +3 | 20 |
| Anton Levtchi |
Tappara | 55 | 19 | 38 | 57 | +11 | 22 |
| Ville Koivunen |
Kärpät | 59 | 22 | 34 | 56 | +7 | 26 |
| Jori Lehterä |
HIFK | 57 | 6 | 50 | 56 | +10 | 36 |
 Ryan Lasch |
Pelicans | 55 | 9 | 45 | 54 | +14 | 14 |
 Nathan Schnarr |
Pelicans | 51 | 18 | 32 | 50 | +23 | 28 |
| Ben Tardif |
KooKoo | 57 | 15 | 35 | 50 | +10 | 74 |
Playoffs
Bracket
| Wild-card round (best-of-3) | Quarter-finals (best-of-7) | Semi-finals (best-of-7) | Finals (best-of-7) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Tappara | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | KalPa | 2 | 9 | TPS | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 10 | Sport | 0 | 1 | Tappara | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| 7 | KalPa | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Ilves | 1 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | KalPa | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Tappara | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Pelicans | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Pelicans | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Lukko | 1 | 6 | HIFK | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 9 | TPS | 2 | 3 | Pelicans | 4 | Bronze medal game | |||||||||||||
| 4 | Kärpät | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Kärpät | 4 | 4 | Kärpät | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | Jukurit | 2 | 7 | KalPa | 2 | ||||||||||||||
Wild-card round
Quarter-finals
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Semi-finals
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Bronze medal game
| 19 April 2024 18:30 | Kärpät | 3–2 OT1 (1–0, 0–2, 1–0, 1–0) | KalPa | Oulun Energia Areena, Oulu Attendance: 4,528 |
| Game reference | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tomi Karhunen | Goalies | Stefanos Lekkas | Referees: Kristian Vikman Riku Brander Linesmen: Luka Mäkinen Juho-Pekka Inkinen | ||||||||||||||
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| 4 min | Penalties | 8 min | |||||||||||||||
| 25 | Shots | 28 | |||||||||||||||
Finals
| 20 April 2024 17:00 | Tappara | 3–1 (2–0, 0–0, 1–1) | Pelicans | Nokia Arena, Tampere Attendance: 12,144 |
| Game reference | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Heljanko | Goalies | Niklas Kokko | Referees: Joonas Kova Antti Boman Linesmen: Samuli Niskanen Lauri Nikulainen | |||||||||||
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| 2 min | Penalties | 8 min | ||||||||||||
| 25 | Shots | 24 | ||||||||||||
| 22 April 2024 18:30 | Pelicans | 2–3 (0–1, 1–2, 1–0) | Tappara | Isku Areena, Lahti Attendance: 4,403 |
| Game reference | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niklas Kokko | Goalies | Christian Heljanko | Referees: Aleksi Rantala Stefan Fonselius Linesmen: Hannu Sormunen Joni Pekkala | ||||||||||||||
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| 6 min | Penalties | 6 min | |||||||||||||||
| 52 | Shots | 48 | |||||||||||||||
| 24 April 2024 18:30 | Tappara | 1–2 OT2 (0–1, 1–0, 0–0, 0–0, 0–1) | Pelicans | Nokia Arena, Tampere Attendance: 12,313 |
| Game reference | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Heljanko | Goalies | Niklas Kokko | Referees: Joonas Kova Antti Boman Linesmen: Samuli Niskanen Lauri Nikulainen | ||||||||
| |||||||||||
| 6 min | Penalties | 27 min | |||||||||
| 58 | Shots | 61 | |||||||||
| 26 April 2024 18:30 | Pelicans | 3–4 OT1 (2–0, 0–0, 1–3, 0–1) | Tappara | Isku Areena, Lahti Attendance: 4,403 |
| Game reference | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niklas Kokko | Goalies | Christian Heljanko | Referees: Aleksi Rantala Stefan Fonselius Linesmen: Hannu Sormunen Joni Pekkala | ||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 min | Penalties | 4 min | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 29 | Shots | 55 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 28 April 2024 17:00 | Tappara | 3–0 (0–0, 1–0, 2–0) | Pelicans | Nokia Arena, Tampere Attendance: 12,700 |
| Game reference | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Heljanko | Goalies | Niklas Kokko | Referees: Antti Boman Joonas Kova Linesmen: Samuli Niskanen Lauri Nikulainen | ||||||||
| |||||||||||
| 4 min | Penalties | 6 min | |||||||||
| 48 | Shots | 34 | |||||||||
Tappara wins the finals 4-1.
Final rankings
Broadcast rights
For the 2023–2024 season, Telia had transferred the television rights of the SM-liiga to MTV, which it owns. Telia had acquired the broadcast rights starting from the 2018–2019 season, and with the new agreement MTV has the rights until the end of the 2026–2027 season. MTV pays more than 90 million euros for television rights over four seasons, and the company has admitted that the operation is loss-making.[7] The broadcasts are produced by MTV and during the season games can be seen live from C More, Discovery+, DNA, Elisa Viihde, MTV and Telia.[8]
Attendances
| # | Ice hockey club | Average attendance[9] |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tappara | 8,494 |
| 2 | Ilves | 8,126 |
| 3 | IFK Helsingfors | 7,873 |
| 4 | HC TPS | 5,410 |
| 5 | Ässät | 4,657 |
| 6 | Kärpät | 4,633 |
| 7 | Lukko | 3,638 |
| 8 | Vaasan Sport | 3,619 |
| 9 | Lahti Pelicans | 3,548 |
| 10 | KooKoo | 3,434 |
| 11 | KalPa | 3,403 |
| 12 | JYP | 3,252 |
| 13 | HPK | 3,149 |
| 14 | Mikkelin Jukurit | 2,933 |
| 15 | SaiPa | 2,357 |