The 2017–18 SM-liiga season was the 43rd season of the

SM-liiga The Liiga, 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 Mest ...

(branded simply as "Liiga"), the top level of

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, since the league's formation in 1975.

Tappara Tappara (; Finnish language, Finnish for "Battle axe") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the SM-liiga. They play at ''Nokia Arena (Tampere), Nokia Arena'' in Tampere, Finland. The team has won 20 Finnish league championships, wh ...

was the season as a defending champion. This season included a record number of matches played on Fridays and Saturdays. In autumn, there was a national team break from 5 November until 13 November. The specialties of the season included, for the first time in SM-liiga history, double games between KooKoo and Vaasan Sport. Teams met twice in October in consecutive evenings in

Kouvola Kouvola () is a city in Finland and the administrative capital of Kymenlaakso. It is located in the southeastern interior of the country. The population of Kouvola is approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland, and the 17th m ...

and in February twice in succession in

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),Kaisaniemi Kaisaniemi () is a part of the centre of Helsinki, Finland, located immediately north of the Helsinki Central railway station and south of Hakaniemi. The most famous part of Kaisaniemi is the Kaisaniemi park, a park covering many hectares right i ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. In 2018, the SM-liiga continued on Wednesday, 3 January.

Ice hockey at the 2018 Winter Olympics The ice hockey (hockey) competitions of the 2018 Winter Olympics were played at two venues within the Gangneung Coastal Cluster in Gangneung, South Korea. The Gangneung Hockey Centre, which seats 10,000, and the Kwandong Hockey Centre, which ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang ( , ; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seo ...

start with the

Finland men's national ice hockey team The Finnish men's national ice hockey team, nicknamed ''Leijonat / Lejonen'' ("The Lions" in Finnish and Swedish), is governed by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Finland is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world an ...

on February 14, 2018. In SM-liiga, a full round was played on Saturday 17 February, after which the Olympic Games started. Liiga games resumed on Tuesday, February 27. Kärpät won the championship by winning Tappara in the final series 4–2.

Teams

Regular season

Top six advance straight to quarter-finals, while teams between 7th and 10th positions play wild card round for the final two spots. The SM-liiga is a closed series and thus there is no relegation. Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) 3-point wins 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Head-to-head points.

Playoffs

Bracket

Wild card round

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Bronze medal game

Finals

Kärpät wins the series 4-2 and wins the championship.

Final rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2017-18 Liiga season Liiga seasons

Liiga The Liiga, 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 Mesti ...