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2024–25 Liiga season

The 2024–25 Liiga season is the 50th season of the Liiga, the top level of Finnish ice hockey since 1975.

The Liiga expanded to 16 teams for the season with the addition of Kiekko-Espoo. The league also brought back the relegation to the Mestis and a reformed playoff system and new divisions that decide the number of games teams play against each other.[1][2]

Format

The regular season started in September 2024. Due to the addition of Kiekko-Espoo, the previous amount of 450 matches was increased to 480 matches total in the regular season. Each team played 60 matches, and all teams were divided into four groups.[1][2]

As usual, the series was on break in November for a week and a half while the national teams played in the Euro Hockey Tour. The Christmas break lasted 5–7 days, depending on the team, with the exception of Kärpät, which participated on the 26th–31 December in the Spengler Cup in Switzerland.[3] For other teams, the Christmas break ended on Saint Stephen's day, 26 December. Other one week break was in February 2025. The regular season ended in mid-March 2025.

Two outdoor games were played in Pori between the rivals Porin Ässät and Rauman Lukko in January 2025. The games went by the name Satakunnan Talviklassikko or The Satakunta Winter Classic. The games were counted as normal regular season games. They were played in the Amiko-areena [fi], which is normally used by the bandy club Narukerä. Temporary stands with a capacity of 9,000 spectators were built for the two games.[4][5][6]

Teams

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Location of teams in 2024–25 SM-liiga
Team City Head coach Arena Capacity Captain
HIFK Helsinki Ville Peltonen Helsingin jäähalli 8,200 Ilari Melart
HPK Hämeenlinna Matias Lehtonen 23 Sep 2024[7]
Mikko Manner 		Pohjantähti Areena 5,360 Petteri Nikkilä
Ilves Tampere Tommi Niemelä Nokia Arena 12,700 Niklas Friman
Jukurit Mikkeli Marko Tuomainen 14 Jan 2025[8]
Jonne Virtanen 		Ikioma Areena 4,200 Jesper Piitulainen
JYP Jyväskylä Johan Pennerborn LähiTapiola Areena 4,437 Teemu Eronen
KalPa Kuopio Petri Karjalainen Olvi Areena 5,300 Tuomas Kiiskinen
Kiekko-Espoo Espoo Jyrki Aho Espoo Metro Areena 6,982 Ville Lajunen
KooKoo Kouvola Jouko Myrrä Lumon Areena 5,950 Otto Paajanen
Kärpät Oulu Ville Mäntymaa 3 Mar 2025[9]
Petri Matikainen 		Oulun Energia Areena 6,300 Marko Anttila
Lukko Rauma Tomi Lämsä Kivikylän Areena 4,500 Sebastian Repo
Pelicans Lahti Juhamatti Yli-Junnila 20 Jan 2025[10]
Sami Kapanen[11] 		Isku Areena 4,403 Miika Roine
SaiPa Lappeenranta Raimo Helminen Lappeenrannan jäähalli 4,820 Ville Petman
Sport Vaasa Juuso Hahl Vaasan Sähkö Areena 5,185 Sebastian Stålberg
Tappara Tampere Rikard Grönborg Nokia Arena 12,700 Otto Rauhala
TPS Turku Tommi Miettinen Gatorade Center 10,500 Casimir Jürgens
Ässät Pori Jarno Pikkarainen Enersense Areena 6,150 Jan-Mikael Järvinen

Regular season standings

Satakunta WInter Classic 2025

Top four advance straight to the quarter-finals, while teams between 5th and 12th positions play a wild card round for the final four spots. The 15th and 16th placed teams play against each other to decide which team will play against the Mestis champion for a spot in the SM-liiga.[a] The top two teams of the regular season qualified for the Champions Hockey League and the 3rd team to the Spengler Cup.

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Final Result
1 Lukko 60 32 6 4 18 202 147 +55 112 Advance to Quarterfinals
2 Ilves 60 32 4 7 17 176 145 +31 111
3 KalPa 60 29 7 6 18 196 149 +47 107
4 HIFK 60 27 9 8 16 173 165 +8 107
5 SaiPa 60 30 6 4 20 178 170 +8 106 Advance to Wild-card round
6 KooKoo 60 23 13 4 20 206 169 +37 99
7 Ässät 60 26 4 9 21 160 159 +1 95
8 Kiekko-Espoo 60 20 10 11 19 160 171 −11 91
9 Tappara 60 24 6 6 24 178 168 +10 90
10 HPK 60 21 5 10 24 154 178 −24 83
11 Sport 60 17 9 14 20 172 177 −5 83
12 TPS 60 18 9 7 26 173 190 −17 79
13 Kärpät 60 19 7 6 28 172 193 −21 77
14 JYP 60 19 6 7 28 167 197 −30 76
15 Pelicans 60 20 4 7 29 171 179 −8 75 Advance to Playout round
16 Jukurit 60 12 6 1 41 134 215 −81 49
Source: [1]


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.[12] 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.[13]

Playoffs

Playoff bracket

First round (best-of-5) Quarter-finals (best-of-7) Semi-finals (best-of-7) Finals (best-of-7)
1 Lukko 4
5 SaiPa 3 11 Sport 0
12 TPS 2 1 Lukko 2
5 SaiPa 4
2 Ilves 4 (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round)
6 KooKoo 1 9 Tappara 0
11 Sport 3 3 KalPa 0
5 SaiPa 1
3 KalPa 4
7 Ässät 3 7 Ässät 3
10 HPK 0 2 Ilves 2 Bronze medal game
3 KalPa 4
4 HIFK 0 1 Lukko 4
8 K-Espoo 2 5 SaiPa 4 2 Ilves 5
9 Tappara 3

First round

(5) SaiPa vs. (12) TPS

18 March SaiPa 1–2 TPS Lappeenrannan jäähalli Recap  
Janne Naukkarinen (1) – 12:03 First period 3:56 – Otto Salin (1; PPG)
No scoring Second period 18:38 – Otto Salin (2)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Kari Piiroinen (11 shots / 9 saves) Goalie stats Noa Vali (38 shots / 37 saves)
19 March TPS 6–2 SaiPa Gatorade Center Recap  
Eetu Päkkilä (1) – 3:27 First period 2:16 – Mark Pysyk (1)
Second period 12:52 – Ville Petman (1; PPG)
Eetu Päkkilä (2, ENG) – 17:16 Third period No scoring
Veini Vehviläinen (44 shots / 42 saves) Goalie stats Kari Piiroinen (23 shots / 18 saves)
21 March SaiPa 3–0 TPS Lappeenrannan jäähalli Recap  
First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
Mark Pysyk (2, ENG) – 17:44 Third period No scoring
Kari Piiroinen (29 shots / 29 saves) Goalie stats Noa Vali (25 shots / 23 saves)
22 March TPS 1–2 SaiPa Gatorade Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Aarne Talvitie (1) – 17:02 Second period
No scoring Third period No scoring
Noa Vali (21 shots / 19 saves) Goalie stats Kari Piiroinen (23 shots / 22 saves)
24 March SaiPa 3–2 OT TPS Lappeenrannan jäähalli Recap  
Juuso Heikkilä (1) – 2:57 First period 3:50 – Viljami Marjala (1)
Mikko Petman (2) – 7:36 Second period 12:52 – Viljami Marjala (2)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Ville Petman (2) – 13:39 First overtime period No scoring
Kari Piiroinen (15 shots / 13 saves) Goalie stats Noa Vali (35 shots / 32 saves)
SaiPa win series 3–2


(6) KooKoo vs. (11) Sport

18 March KooKoo 1–3 Sport Lumon Areena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Jimi Suomi (1) – 5:38 Second period
No scoring Third period 3:00 – Cole Fonstad (1)
Antoine Bibeau (19 shots / 16 saves) Goalie stats Masi Härkönen (22 shots / 21 saves)
19 March Sport 0–3 KooKoo Vaasan Sähkö Areena Recap  
No scoring First period 16:52 – Teemu Engberg (1)
No scoring Second period 13:20 – Vilmos Galló (1)
No scoring Third period 18:45 – Saku Salmela (1, ENG)
Masi Härkönen (38 shots / 36 saves) Goalie stats Eetu Randelin (23 shots / 23 saves)
21 March KooKoo 1–2 Sport Lumon Areena Recap  
Seth Barton (1) – 0:50 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 6:10 – Lari Heikkinen (1)
No scoring Third period 6:38 – Cole Fonstad (2)
Eetu Randelin (14 shots / 12 saves) Goalie stats Masi Härkönen (27 shots / 26 saves)
22 March Sport 4–2 KooKoo Vaasan Sähkö Areena Recap  
Linus Andersson (1) – 6:15 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 10:07 – Matic Török (1)
Third period 14:08 – Vilmos Galló (1)
Masi Härkönen (17 shots / 15 saves) Goalie stats Eetu Randelin (25 shots / 22 saves)
Sport win series 3–1


(7) Ässät vs. (10) HPK

18 March Ässät 3–2 HPK Enersense Areena Recap  
Jonne Tammela (1) – 7:49 First period 15:58 – Petteri Nikkilä (1)
Second period 15:17 – Miska Kukkonen (1)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Niklas Rubin (20 shots / 18 saves) Goalie stats Kim Saarinen (30 shots / 27 saves)
19 March HPK 1–2 OT Ässät Pohjantähti Areena Recap  
Eetu Tuulola (1; PPG) – 17:59 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 9:23 – Dylan Fabre (1; PPG)
No scoring First overtime period 1:05 – Kasperi Ojantakanen (1)
Kim Saarinen (24 shots / 22 saves) Goalie stats Niklas Rubin (23 shots / 22 saves)
21 March Ässät 5–1 HPK Enersense Areena Recap  
Nestor Noiva (1) – 12:19 First period No scoring
Second period No scoring
Third period 14:51 – Sami Päivärinta (1)
Niklas Rubin (27 shots / 26 saves) Goalie stats Kim Saarinen (25 shots / 21 saves)
Ässät win series 3–0


(8) Kiekko-Espoo vs. (9) Tappara

18 March Kiekko-Espoo 1–0 Tappara Espoo Metro Areena Recap  
Arttu Tuomaala (1) – 8:38 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Petteri Rimpinen (31 shots / 31 saves) Goalie stats Filip Lindberg (18 shots / 17 saves)
19 March Tappara 6–1 Kiekko-Espoo Nokia Arena Recap  
Mario Kempe (1) – 10:55 First period No scoring
Second period No scoring
Third period 13:33 – Aleksi Laakso (1)
Filip Lindberg (25 shots / 24 saves) Goalie stats
21 March Kiekko-Espoo 5–2 Tappara Espoo Metro Areena Recap  
First period No scoring
No scoring Second period
Third period No scoring
Petteri Rimpinen (35 shots / 33 saves) Goalie stats Filip Lindberg (12 shots / 8 saves)
22 March Tappara 2–1 Kiekko-Espoo Nokia Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Daniel Brickley (1) – 5:08 Second period 13:33 – Peter Quenneville (2; PPG)
Benjamin Rautiainen (2) – 3:18 Third period No scoring
Filip Lindberg (24 shots / 23 saves) Goalie stats Petteri Rimpinen (27 shots / 25 saves)
24 March Kiekko-Espoo 3–4 OT Tappara Espoo Metro Areena Recap  
First period 16:25 – Aleksi Matinmikko (1)
Peter Quenneville (3) – 7:52 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period
No scoring First overtime period 7:30 – Otto Rauhala (2; SHG)
Petteri Rimpinen (41 shots / 37 saves) Goalie stats Filip Lindberg (22 shots / 19 saves)
Tappara win series 3–2


Quarter-finals

(1) Lukko vs. (11) Sport

26 March Lukko 6–2 Sport Kivikylän Areena Recap  
Henri Ikonen (1) – 16:27 First period No scoring
Second period 0:56 – Sebastian Wännström (1)
Third period 15:45 – Sebastian Stålberg (2)
John Lethermon (17 shots / 15 saves) Goalie stats Masi Härkönen (36 shots / 30 saves)
27 March Sport 1–4 Lukko Vaasan Sähkö Areena Recap  
Sebastian Wännström (2; PPG) – 10:10 First period
No scoring Second period 4:17 – Henri Ikonen (2)
No scoring Third period 17:18 – Jami Krannila (1; ENG)
Masi Härkönen (18 shots / 15 saves) Goalie stats Joni Ortio (19 shots / 18 saves)
31 March Lukko 5–1 Sport Kivikylän Areena Recap  
First period 18:26 – Linus Andersson (2)
Antoine Morand (2) – 17:05 Second period No scoring
Third period No scoring
John Lethermon (18 shots / 17 saves) Goalie stats Masi Härkönen (21 shots / 16 saves)
2 April Sport 1–3 Lukko Vaasan Sähkö Areena Recap  
No scoring First period 17:43 – Éric Gélinas (1)
No scoring Second period
Theodor Johnsson (1) – 2:30 Third period No scoring
Goalie stats Joni Ortio (13 shots / 12 saves)
Lukko win series 4–0


(2) Ilves vs. (9) Tappara

26 March Ilves 4–0 Tappara Nokia Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Dominik Pavlát (27 shots / 27 saves) Goalie stats
28 March Tappara 1–2 Ilves Nokia Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 16:01 – Samu Bau (1)
Veli-Matti Savinainen (1; PPG) – 15:36 Third period 17:23 – Adam Najman (1)
Juha Metsola (25 shots / 23 saves) Goalie stats Dominik Pavlát (26 shots / 25 saves)
31 March Ilves 3–2 Tappara Nokia Arena Recap  
Jarkko Parikka (1) – 9:21 First period No scoring
John Nyberg (1) – 4:03 Second period 8:12 – Olli Juolevi (1)
Lukas Svejkovsky (2) – 1:44 Third period 16:22 – Aapeli Räsänen (1; PPG; ENG)
Dominik Pavlát (24 shots / 22 saves) Goalie stats Filip Lindberg (20 shots / 17 saves)
2 April Tappara 1–6 Ilves Nokia Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Julius Mattila (3; PPG) – 5:40 Second period
No scoring Third period
Goalie stats Dominik Pavlát (25 shots / 24 saves)
Ilves win series 4–0


(3) KalPa vs. (7) Ässät

26 March KalPa 1–2 OT Ässät Olvi Areena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Patrick Curry (1; PPG) – 9:46 Second period 7:22 – Kasper Puutio (1; 2PPG)
No scoring Third period No scoring
No scoring First overtime period 8:59 – Jan-Mikael Järvinen (2)
Stefanos Lekkas (26 shots / 24 saves) Goalie stats Niklas Rubin (26 shots / 25 saves)
28 March Ässät 1–3 KalPa Enersense Areena Recap  
Lenni Hämeenaho (1) – 15:31 First period 12:38 – Jaakko Rissanen (1)
No scoring Second period
No scoring Third period No scoring
Niklas Rubin (16 shots / 13 saves) Goalie stats Stefanos Lekkas (29 shots / 28 saves)
31 March KalPa 4–1 Ässät Olvi Areena Recap  
First period No scoring
Tuomas Salmela (1) – 7:14 Second period 5:09 – Roope Talaja (2; PPG)
Juuso Mäenpää (2) – 3:27 Third period No scoring
Stefanos Lekkas (22 shots / 21 saves) Goalie stats Niklas Rubin (38 shots / 34 saves)
2 April Ässät 1–2 OT KalPa Enersense Areena Recap  
Patrik Juhola (1) – 3:55 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 14:15 – Patrick Curry (3; 2PPG)
No scoring Third period No scoring
No scoring First overtime period 3:58 – Jere Karjalainen (1)
Niklas Rubin (29 shots / 27 saves) Goalie stats Stefanos Lekkas (27 shots / 26 saves)
4 April KalPa 0–2 Ässät Olvi Areena Recap  
No scoring First period 18:29 – Peter Tiivola (1)
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 19:58 – Eemil Erholtz (1; ENG)
Stefanos Lekkas (22 shots / 21 saves) Goalie stats Niklas Rubin (19 shots / 19 saves)
7 April Ässät 5–0 KalPa Enersense Areena Recap  
First period No scoring
14:12 – Eemil Erholtz (2) Second period No scoring
18:57 – Nestor Noiva (3) Third period No scoring
Niklas Rubin (21 shots / 21 saves) Goalie stats
9 April KalPa 3–2 Ässät Olvi Areena Recap  
Konsta Kapanen (1) – 5:55 First period No scoring
Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period
Stefanos Lekkas (23 shots / 21 saves) Goalie stats Niklas Rubin (28 shots / 25 saves)
Kalpa win series 4–3


(4) HIFK vs. (5) SaiPa

If the series had gone past game 4, the order of games 5 and 6 where switched due to ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships being held in Helsingin jäähalli on 4 and 5 April.[14]


26 March HIFK 1–4 SaiPa Helsingin jäähalli Recap  
No scoring First period 11:15 – Henri Nikkanen (1)
No scoring Second period 5:39 – Santeri Airola (2)
Daniel Mäkiaho (1) – 4:46 Third period
Niko Hovinen (23 shots / 20 saves) Goalie stats Kari Piiroinen (24 shots / 23 saves)
28 March SaiPa 2–1 OT HIFK Lappeenrannan jäähalli Recap  
Eero Klintrup (1) – 8:04 First period 4:37 – Petrus Palmu (1; PPG)
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Niklas Appelgren (1) – 2:34 First overtime period No scoring
Kari Piiroinen (23 shots / 22 saves) Goalie stats Niko Hovinen (28 shots / 26 saves)
29 March HIFK 0–2 SaiPa Helsingin jäähalli Recap  
No scoring First period
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Niko Hovinen (18 shots / 16 saves) Goalie stats Kari Piiroinen (22 shots / 22 saves)
2 April SaiPa 6–2 HIFK Lappeenrannan jäähalli Recap  
No scoring First period 2:34 – Micke-Max Åsten (1)
Second period 18:05 – Vincent Marleau (1)
Third period No scoring
Kari Piiroinen (28 shots / 26 saves) Goalie stats Niko Hovinen (24 shots / 19 saves)
SaiPa win series 4–0


Semi-finals

(1) Lukko vs. (5) SaiPa

11 April Lukko 1–2 SaiPa Kivikylän Areena Recap  
No scoring First period 5:35 – Juuso Heikkilä (2)
No scoring Second period No scoring
Antti Saarela (1; PPG) – 14:08 Third period 18:51 – Otto Kivenmäki (2)
John Lethermon (18 shots / 16 saves) Goalie stats Kari Piiroinen (28 shots / 27 saves)
12 April SaiPa 3–5 Lukko Lappeenrannan jäähalli Recap  
Mikko Petman (5) – 3:27 First period
Second period 3:34 – Antoine Morand (3)
No scoring Third period
Kari Piiroinen (31 shots / 27 saves) Goalie stats Joni Ortio (24 shots / 21 saves)
14 April Lukko 1–2 2OT SaiPa Kivikylän Areena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
Steven Jandric (4; PPG) – 1:29 Third period 6:24 – Miro Tauslahti (1)
No scoring Second overtime period 12:23 – Otto Kivenmäki (3)
Joni Ortio (33 shots / 31 saves) Goalie stats Kari Piiroinen (46 shots / 45 saves)
16 April SaiPa 5–2 Lukko Lappeenrannan jäähalli Recap  
Mikko Petman (6) – 3:58 First period No scoring
Mikko Kousa (1) – 18:07 Second period 8:49 – Niklas Ylitalo (1)
Third period 5:05 – Pathrik Westerholm (1)
Kari Piiroinen (31 shots / 29 saves) Goalie stats John Lethermon (25 shots / 21 saves)
18 April Lukko 3–2 OT SaiPa Kivikylän Areena Recap  
No scoring First period 17:16 – Miska Siikonen (2)
Henri Ikonen (5) – 8:12 Second period No scoring
Éric Gélinas (2; EA) – 18:09 Third period 9:16 – Juuso Heikkilä (4)
Karson Kuhlman (1) – 3:07 First overtime period No scoring
Joni Ortio (21 shots / 19 saves) Goalie stats Kari Piiroinen (27 shots / 24 saves)
21 April SaiPa 2–1 OT Lukko Lappeenrannan jäähalli Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Santeri Airola (3) – 9:08 Second period 18:15 – Henri Ikonen (6)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Santeri Airola (4) – 0:59 First overtime period No scoring
Kari Piiroinen (28 shots / 27 saves) Goalie stats Joni Ortio (19 shots / 17 saves)
SaiPa win series 4–2


(2) Ilves vs. (3) KalPa

11 April Ilves 2–3 KalPa Nokia Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Second period 16:15 – Jesper Mattila (1)
No scoring Third period
Dominik Pavlát (26 shots / 23 saves) Goalie stats Stefanos Lekkas (28 shots / 26 saves)
12 April KalPa 3–2 OT Ilves Olvi Areena Recap  
No scoring First period 13:47 – Matias Mäntykivi (2)
Second period 8:08 – Carl Klingberg (2; PPG)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Aleksi Elorinne (2) – 9:05 First overtime period No scoring
Juha Jatkola (32 shots / 30 saves) Goalie stats Dominik Pavlát (31 shots / 28 saves)
14 April Ilves 3–0 KalPa Nokia Arena Recap  
First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
Juuso Könönen (1) – 5:14 Third period No scoring
Dominik Pavlát (19 shots / 19 saves) Goalie stats Stefanos Lekkas (32 shots / 29 saves)
16 April KalPa 1–0 Ilves Olvi Areena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
Matyas Kantner (2) – 3:47 Third period No scoring
Stefanos Lekkas (24 shots / 24 saves) Goalie stats Dominik Pavlát (12 shots / 11 saves)
18 April Ilves 3–1 KalPa Nokia Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 7:35 – Jere Karjalainen (2)
Second period No scoring
Joonas Nättinen (1; ENG; PPG) – 19:45 Third period No scoring
Dominik Pavlát (24 shots / 23 saves) Goalie stats Stefanos Lekkas (21 shots / 19 saves)
21 April KalPa 5–4 OT Ilves Olvi Areena Recap  
First period 1:47 – Toni Utunen (1)
Second period 3:58 – Joonas Nättinen (2)
No scoring Third period
Juuso Mäenpää (5; PPG) – 10:57 First overtime period No scoring
Stefanos Lekkas (32 shots / 28 saves) Goalie stats Dominik Pavlát (25 shots / 20 saves)
KalPa win series 4–2


Bronze medal game

25 April Lukko 4–5 OT Ilves Kivikylän Areena Recap  
Ponthus Westerholm (2) – 2:50 First period 0:59 – Carl Klingberg (4)
Jakob Stenqvist (2; PPG) – 7:08 Second period
Third period 8:05 – Ville Meskanen (4)
No scoring First overtime period 3:16 – Ville Meskanen (5; PPG)
Joni Ortio (27 shots / 22 saves) Goalie stats Jakub Málek (29 shots / 25 saves)
Ilves win the bronze


Finals

25 April KalPa 2–6 SaiPa Olvi Areena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Lasse Lappalainen (2) – 9:37 Second period
Matyas Kantner (4; PPG) – 12:32 Third period
  • 2:21 – Juuso Heikkilä (6)
  • 3:55 – Juuso Heikkilä (7; PPG)
  • 13:10 – Ville Petman (4; DP)
  • 14:49 – Antti Kalapudas (6; ENG)
Stefanos Lekkas (30 shots / 25 saves) Goalie stats Kari Piiroinen (33 shots / 31 saves)
26 April SaiPa 17:00 KalPa Lappeenrannan jäähalli
28 April KalPa 18:30 SaiPa Olvi Areena
30 April SaiPa 17:00 KalPa Lappeenrannan jäähalli
2 May KalPa 18:30 SaiPa Olvi Areena
3 May SaiPa 18:30 KalPa Lappeenrannan jäähalli
6 May KalPa 18:30 SaiPa Olvi Areena
SaiPa lead series 1–0


Play Out and Relegation

See also: 2024–25 Mestis season

The two bottom-placed teams from the regular season played a best-of-seven series, with the winner remaining in the Liiga and the loser having to face the winner of the Mestis in a relegation series. The higher-seeded team and in the relation series the team from Liiga held home advantage over the series, playing at home for the first and third games and games five and seven (if required) while the lower-seeded team was at home for games two, four and six (if required).[15]

Bracket

Playout series Relegation series
15 Pelicans 1
16 Jukurit 4 L Pelicans 4
M Jokerit 1

Play Out

21 March Pelicans 2–1 Jukurit Isku Areena Recap  
Antti Tyrväinen (1) – 5:53 First period No scoring
Antti Tyrväinen (2) – 9:00 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 18:33 – Jesper Piitulainen (1)
Patrik Bartošák (29 shots / 28 saves) Goalie stats Evan Buitenhuis (13 shots / 11 saves)
22 March Jukurit 2–1 OT Pelicans Ikioma Areena Recap  
Max Ellis (1; PPG) – 9:37 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 16:28 – Lars Bryggman (1; PPG)
Max Ellis (2) – 10:56 First overtime period No scoring
Evan Buitenhuis (13 shots / 12 saves) Goalie stats Patrik Bartošák (29 shots / 27 saves)
25 March Pelicans 3–8 Jukurit Isku Areena Recap  
First period
No scoring Second period
  • 4:28 – Peter Abbandonato (2; PPG)
  • 5:44 – Peter Abbandonato (3; PPG)
  • 6:47 – Topias Hynninen (2; PPG)
  • 8:42 – Juuso Arola (1; 2PPG)
Miro Väänänen (1) – 15:39 Third period 13:30 – Max Ellis (3; 2PPG)
Goalie stats Evan Buitenhuis (23 shots / 20 saves)
28 March Jukurit 4–1 Pelicans Ikioma Areena Recap  
Peter Abbandonato (4) – 7:20 First period No scoring
Kim Johansson (1; PPG) – 19:06 Second period No scoring
Third period 11:48 – Joona Kumpula (1)
Evan Buitenhuis (19 shots / 18 saves) Goalie stats Patrik Bartošák (23 shots / 20 saves)
29 March Pelicans 2–3 OT Jukurit Isku Areena Recap  
No scoring First period 18:47 – Max Ellis (4)
No scoring Second period 0:31 – Sakke Hämäläinen (1)
Third period No scoring
No scoring First overtime period 1:24 – Peter Abbandonato (5; PPG)
Patrik Bartošák (27 shots / 24 saves) Goalie stats Evan Buitenhuis (22 shots / 20 saves)
Jukurit win series 4–1


Relegation series

8 April Pelicans 5–0 Jokerit Isku Areena Recap  
First period No scoring
Second period No scoring
Ryan Lasch (1) – 15:00 Third period No scoring
Patrik Bartošák (7 shots / 7 saves) Goalie stats
10 April Jokerit 4–3 2OT Pelicans Helsinki Ice Hall Recap  
First period 2:32 – Leevi Tukiainen (1; PS)
Jesse Liuksiala (2) – 3:49 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period
Ville Vainikainen (1) – 10:50 Second overtime period No scoring
Sisu Heikkeri (28 shots / 25 saves) Goalie stats Patrik Bartošák (22 shots / 18 saves)
12 April Pelicans 2–0 Jokerit Isku Areena Recap  
Daniel Nieminen (3) – 11:01 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
Leevi Tukiainen (2) – 0:15 Third period No scoring
Patrik Bartošák (18 shots / 18 saves) Goalie stats Sisu Heikkeri (21 shots / 19 saves)
15 April Jokerit 3–4 OT Pelicans Helsinki Ice Hall Recap  
Rony Ahonen (1) – 10:18 First period 16:54 – Joona Kumpula (2)
Second period
No scoring Third period No scoring
No scoring First overtime period 2:54 – Miro Väänänen (1)
Sisu Heikkeri (29 shots / 25 saves) Goalie stats Patrik Bartošák (23 shots / 20 saves)
17 April Pelicans 4–0 Jokerit Isku Areena Recap  
Lars Bryggman (2) – 13:48 First period No scoring
Antti Tyrväinen (1) – 0:31 Second period No scoring
Third period No scoring
Patrik Bartošák (26 shots / 26 saves) Goalie stats Santeri Lipiäinen (21 shots / 18 saves)
Pelicans win series 4–1


Final rankings

Ilves
4 Lukko
5 HIFK
6 Ässät
7 Tappara
8 Sport
9 KooKoo
10 Kiekko-Espoo
11 HPK
12 TPS
13 Kärpät
14 JYP
15 Jukurit
16 Pelicans

Notes

  1. ^ If a Mestis team wins the qualification round, it can still be denied promotion if the team doesn't match SM-liiga's qualification criteria

References

  1. ^ a b "Kommentti: SM-liiga poisti nyt ison murheenkryynin – kolikolla on kääntöpuolensa". mtvuutiset.fi (in Finnish). 2024-05-02. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
  2. ^ a b Suvinen, Teemu (2024-05-02). "Raivo repesi SM-liigan jättimuutoksista – näin pomo vastaa". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  3. ^ "Kärpät osallistuu tämän vuoden Spengler Cupiin". Jatkoaika.com - Kaikki jääkiekosta (in Finnish). 2024-05-01. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  4. ^ "Talviklassikko | Ässien ja Lukon miljoonaprojektin ensimmäiset liput myynnissä – Tällaiset ovat hinnat". Satakunnan Kansa (in Finnish). 2024-04-03. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  5. ^ "Liigan veriviholliset ryhtyivät yhteistyöhön: "Mittaluokka on historiallinen"". www.iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  6. ^ "Satakunnan talviklassikko | Ässät ja Lukko jysäyttävät yhdessä yli miljoonan euron jättiprojektin – Uutinen paransi Vellu Ketolankin päivää". Satakunnan Kansa (in Finnish). 2024-03-06. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  7. ^ "HPK vapautti Lehtosen tehtävästään – Manner HPK:n päävalmentajaksi" (in Finnish). HPK. 2024-09-23. Retrieved 2024-09-23.
  8. ^ "Marko Tuomainen on vapautettu tehtävistään – Jonne Virtanen uudeksi päävalmentajaksi" (in Finnish). Jukurit. 2025-01-14. Retrieved 2025-01-14.
  9. ^ "Ville Mäntymaa vapautettu tehtävästään – Petri Matikainen loppukauden sopimuksella Kärppien päävalmentajaksi" (in Finnish). Oulun Kärpät. 2025-03-03. Retrieved 2025-03-03.
  10. ^ "Pelicans tiedottaa: Valmennukseen muutoksia" (in Finnish). Pelicans. 2025-01-20. Retrieved 2025-01-22.
  11. ^ "Sami Kapanen Lahden Pelicansin uudeksi päävalmentajaksi" (in Finnish). Pelicans. 2025-02-10. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
  12. ^ "Telia siirsi kaikessa hiljaisuudessa kymmenien miljoonien eurojen tappiolliset Liiga-oikeudet MTV:lle – pian MTV aloitti muutosneuvottelut". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). 2023-09-14. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  13. ^ "Katso, mistä näet jääkiekon Liigaa halvimmalla – samalla lähetyksellä eri suoratoistopalveluissa täysin eri hinta". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
  14. ^ "SM-liigassa erikoinen tilanne – HIFK menettää kotietunsa?" (in Finnish). Iltasanomat. 2025-03-17. Retrieved 2025-03-26.
  15. ^ "Näin pelataan kevään playout- ja karsintasarjoissa – tässä otteluohjelman raamit". Liiga (in Finnish). 2025-02-05. Retrieved 2025-02-26.