The Meistriliiga (EML), also known as the Coolbet Hokiliiga for sponsorship reasons, is the top-tier

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

league in

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. The league currently consists of five teams from Estonia and two teams from Riga, Latvia.

History

The league was formed in the 1990–91 season. Since 1945–46, Estonian teams had participated in the Estonian SSR Championship. Prior to the country's annexation and incorporation into the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, the Estonian Championship had been contested in interwar Estonia from 1934 to 1940. In the 2017–18 season, the league was known as the Nordic Power Hokiliiga.

Narva PSK Narva PSK ( et, Narva Paemurru Spordikool) is an ice hockey team located in Narva, Estonia, which plays in the Coolbet Hokiliiga, the top tier of ice hockey in Estonia. They play home games at the Narva Ice Hall. History Narva PSK were founded ...

has dominated the league at the outset, winning the first six championships and eight of the first 11 seasons. Since winning their first title in 1997,

Tartu Kalev-Välk Tartu Välk 494 is an ice hockey team located in Tartu, Estonia, and playing in the Coolbet Hokiliiga, the top tier of ice hockey in Estonia. They play home games at the Lõunakeskus Ice Hall. History Tartu Välk 494 was founded in April 1994 ...

has been the most consistently successful team in the Meistriliiga since the league started, having won a total of nine championships. HK Stars claimed four titles in five years from 2005 to 2009.

Teams

Current teams

Former teams

Title holders

Estonian Championship years

*1934: Tallinn Kalev *1935: ''not played'' *1936: Tartu ASK *1937: Tallinn Kalev *1938: ''not played'' *1939: Tartu ASK *1940: Tallinn Sport *1941–1945: ''not played''

Estonian SSR Championship years

Meistriliiga years

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

: Narva Kreenholm II * 1992: Narva Kreenholm *

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

: Narva Kreenholm *

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

: Narva Kreenholm *

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

: Narva Kreenholm * 1996: Narva Kreenholm *

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

: Tartu Välk 494 *

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

: Narva Kreenholm *

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

: Tartu Välk 494 *

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

: Tartu Välk 494 * 2001: Narva 2000 * 2002: Tartu Välk 494 * 2003: Tartu Välk 494 * 2004: HC Panter * 2005: HK Stars * 2006: HK Stars * 2007: HK Stars *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

* 2009: HK Stars * 2010: Kohtla-Järve Viru Sputnik * 2011:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

: Viiking Sport *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

: Viiking Sport * 2015:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

: HC Viking *

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

: Tartu Välk 494 *

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

: Tartu Välk 494 *

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

: Tartu Välk 494 *

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

: Tartu Välk 494

Titles by team

;Notes

References

External links

Official websiteMeistriliiga on eliteprospects.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meistriliiga (Ice Hockey) Ice hockey leagues in Estonia Top tier ice hockey leagues in Europe

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

Recurring sporting events established in 1934 1934 establishments in Estonia