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25-490: In 1963, an artificial skating rink was built in Rinkelinmäki. A building was built over the rink after it switched over as city property in 1979. Since then, the building has been called an arena. The arena project started around 1976 because of pressure from HPK. This led to the formation of a committee that was led by HPK chairman, bank manager Seppo Nenonen. The committee made a property plan based on its research, knowing that

50-481: A shootout , where each team has three shooters in the beginning. If the game is tied after three shooters, the shootout will be decided by individual shooters against one another until one scores and the other does not. Scoring: A win in regulation time is worth three points, a win by sudden death overtime two points, a loss by sudden death overtime one point and a loss in regulation time zero points. Teams will be ranked by points, and teams tied by points are ranked by

75-723: A stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland . The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mestis . The winner of the Liiga playoffs

100-478: A new logo to match. The 2019–20 Liiga season was terminated on March 13, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the decision, the final round of the regular season and the playoffs were not played, and the 2020 Finnish hockey championship was not awarded. For the 2024–25 season, Kiekko-Espoo were promoted to the Liiga as the league expanded to 16 teams. The league was opened for relegation and promotion between

125-731: Is awarded the Kanada-malja at the end of each season. Teams from the Liiga participate in the IIHF 's annual Champions Hockey League (CHL), competing for the European Trophy. Participation is based on the strength of the various leagues in Europe (excluding the European/Asian Kontinental Hockey League ). The Liiga was established in 1975 to replace the former SM-sarja, which was fundamentally an amateur competition. The Liiga

150-524: Is completed around mid-March and preliminary playoffs ensue almost immediately. The playoffs are completed by mid-April, so that all players are available for the World Championships . The winners of the playoffs receive gold medals and the Kanada-malja , the championship trophy of the Liiga. The winners of the regular season receive a trophy ( Harry Lindbladin muistopalkinto ) as well, though it

175-601: Is considered less prestigious than the bronze medals of the playoffs. These are the top-ten regular season point-scorers in SM-liiga history. Figures are updated after each completed SM-liiga regular season. Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points These are the top-ten regular season point-scorers for import players in SM-liiga history. Figures are updated after each completed SM-liiga regular season. Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points These are

200-519: Is not directly overseen by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association , but the league and association have an agreement of cooperation. SM is a common abbreviation for Suomen mestaruus , "Finnish Champion". The SM-liiga was established in 1975 to replace the amateur competition SM-sarja. Kalervo Kummola was elected to become the first chief executive officer of the SM-liiga, who served until 1987. The SM-liiga wasn't established unter

225-487: Is the second-highest men's ice hockey league in Finland . The league was established by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 2000 to replace the I-divisioona ('First Division'). Being promoted to SM-liiga is possible if a Mestis team beats a SM-liiga club in the qualification series and matches all the criteria set by the SM-liiga. Mestis, however, is an open league where relegation and promotion are possible with

250-433: The 2008–2009 season, the SM-liiga qualifiers were brought back for a few seasons, but in the 2013–2014 season, the qualifiers were removed again. After the elimination of the qualifiers, Sport , KooKoo and Jukurit have been promoted to the SM-liiga through the license system. The promotion and relegation between the SM-liiga was brought back for the 2024–25 season. Mestis got a new team, HK Zemgale/LLU , from Latvia for

275-480: The 2022–23 season. HK Zemgale had never played in a Finnish league before and was added to Mestis to bring more entertainment and internationalization to Finnish ice hockey. According to Mestis themselves, they are talking with other international clubs about joining the Mestis league. The team names are usually the traditional name of the club. All clubs are commonly known by the name of their team. Oy and Ab are

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300-531: The 3rd league, Suomi-sarja . Mestis is also the highest league governed by the FIHA. In the years 2000–2008, it was not practically possible for Mestis teams to get promoted to the SM-liiga, which was closed in 2000, but it was possible to drop down to the Suomi-sarja instead. However, KalPa was promoted to the SM-liiga in the spring of 2005, when the number of teams in the league was increased from 13 to 14 teams. For

325-559: The CHL. The team names are usually the traditional name of the club. All clubs are commonly known by the name of their team. Oy and Ab are the abbreviations for limited company in Finnish and Swedish respectively. Regular season: All teams play 60 matches. Each match consists of 60 minutes regulation time, and in the event of a tie, the winner is decided by a three-on-three sudden death, 5-minute overtime . Ties after overtime are decided by

350-478: The Finnish ice Hockey Association that oversees all the other leagues and cups in the country. The playoffs are introduced in Finnish ice hockey for the first time during the inaugural SM-liiga season. At first there were 10 clubs in the SM-liiga. The league expanded to 12 teams in the 1988–89 season. In 2000, the SM-liiga was expanded by one team, after which the league was closed so that teams could not drop out of

375-576: The Mestis for the first time since 2013. According to a 2023 article by The Hockey Writers , the SM-liiga is considered one of the best leagues in Europe and the world along with the Swedish Hockey League and behind the Kontinental Hockey League . Going into the 2024–25 CHL season , the Liiga was ranked the No. 3 league in Europe, allowing them to send their top four teams to compete in

400-401: The city architectural department led by city architect Heikki Aitola. The planners of the subsequent extension phases have been mostly building architect Seppo Ilmarinen from the city architectural department and his son, architect Petri Ilmarinen. Hämeenlinnan Jäähalli Oy, the company managing the arena, was founded on February 3, 1992. In the same year, a practice arena was finished and in 1996,

425-484: The greater number of wins in regulation. Playoffs: The four best teams at the conclusion of regular season proceed directly to quarter-finals. Teams placing between fifth and twelfth (inclusive) will play preliminary play-offs best-out-of-five – the four winners take the last four slots to quarter-finals. All series since then are best-of-seven. Losers of the semi-finals play a bronze medal match. Teams are paired up for each round according to regular season results so that

450-415: The highest-ranking team will play against the lowest-ranking, second highest against the second lowest, and so on. Higher-ranking teams get home advantage. Each playoff match consists of a 60-minute regulation time which in the event of a tie is followed by extra 20-minute periods of 5-on-5 sudden death overtime, in which the first team to score wins. Relegation: The 16th and 15th placed teams will play in

475-413: The league or move up from a lower league. For the 2005–2006 season, the Mestis winner KalPa was promoted to the series, which met the criteria required for a place in the league. The league qualifiers were brought back for the 2008–09 season. However, as a condition for promotion, the Mestis team that cleared the qualifiers should have bought the shares of the losing Liiga team at the price determined by

500-430: The league. Otherwise, the losing Liiga team would have continued playing in the league. Starting from the 2013–2014 season, the Liiga qualifiers were replaced by a license system where the winner of Mestis can apply for a Liiga license. If granted, the club will be promoted to the league after a transition period of one season. The league changed its marketing name to just Liiga for the 2013–14 season , and introduced

525-512: The main arena was expanded based on the new requirements by SM-liiga . These requirements stated, that a league arena must hold at least 5,000 people. At the same time, ownership of the arena was switched to the management company. In 2002, a two-track ice exercise center was finished. As a tribute to ten years of the arena company, the arena was renamed as Ritarihalli . The arena was renovated again in 2008 to hold 5,360 spectators and also, merchandise and restaurant areas were refurbished. The arena

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550-544: The playout series to decide which team plays against the Mestis champion. Scheduling: The regular season begins around mid-September. It takes a one-and-half-week break around the end of October to the beginning of November, when Team Finland competes in Karjala Tournament . There is a one-week Christmas break. During Winter Olympic years, a break is reserved for the Winter Olympic Games . The regular season

575-411: The project's expenses needed to be in the minimum for it to succeed – and success still wasn't certain. All extra spaces had to be cut out: no break rooms and no concession areas. The most important thing was, that the building would be enclosed. The situation was poor. Today, some say that when people complain publicly about the current arena, the forget about the previous times. The arena was planned by

600-495: The top-ten most regular season games played by a goaltender in SM-liiga history. Figures are updated after each completed SM-liiga regular season. The following trophies are awarded by the SM-liiga: In 1995, the trophies were named after Finnish hockey legends. Before that, trophies were named after sponsors. Mestis Mestis (from Finnish : Mestaruussarja , meaning 'Championship series', stylized as MEST1S )

625-400: Was a venue for the 2009 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships , with matches being held both in the main and practice rinks. 60°59′42″N 24°25′55″E  /  60.99500°N 24.43194°E  / 60.99500; 24.43194 This article about a Finnish sports venue is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a European ice hockey arena is

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