SM-Sarja was the top level of ice hockey in Finland from 1928 to 1975. SM-sarja is a common

abbreviation An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening (linguistics), shortening, contraction (grammar), contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened for ...

for ''Suomen mestaruussarja'', "Finnish Championship Series". There was variable number of teams playing for the Finnish championship during the time of SM-sarja. The lowest number of participating teams was during the 1935 SM-sarja season when there was 3 teams. The most common number of participating teams was 12. Since 1944-45 SM-sarja season there was relegations for lowest-ranking teams of each season. In the relegations the lowest-ranking teams either faced the winner of the 1. Divisioona (1st Division) or was straightly relegated from SM-sarja.

History

The first SM-sarja season took place in 1928. The first championship was competed as a cup. Viipurin Reipas was the winning team and they became the first Finnish ice hockey champions. SM-sarja was cancelled in 1930 because of bad winter in Finland. SM-sarja was also cancelled in 1940, 1942 and during the 1944 season because of the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

and the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

SM-sarja was played in amateur principles so the clubs were not supposed to pay their players beyond compensation for lost wages. However, as ice hockey evolved in Finland some teams started to be handled like

Business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

es. In the 1960s, two leading Finnish household machine factories UPO and Rosenlew established their own ice hockey teams, Upon Pallo and Rosenlewin Urheilijat-38. These teams were run by the money of the owning companies and the players were bought from the neighbouring teams. This would be the first steps towards professionalism. By the 1970s the concept of amateur ice hockey was turning out of date as there was commercials on players uniforms and bigger money involved in teams and in 1975 SM-sarja played its last

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

and was replaced by

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 ...

(Finnish Championship League) for

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

season. The last team to win the Finnish championship under SM-sarja was

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 ...

Formats

Between 1928 and 1933 SM-sarja Championship was contested under Cup rules. After 1933 SM-sarja was contested as a league. In 1951 SM-sarja was divided to 2 groups and the Play Offs were introduced. The SM-sarja moved back to one group play in 1959 though the two group-system returned for

1965–66 SM-sarja season The 1965–66 SM-sarja season was the 35th season of the SM-sarja, the top level of ice hockey in Finland. 12 teams participated in the league, and Ilves Tampere won the championship. First round Group A Group B Second round Final ro ...

SM-sarja teams

Teams in bold still play in

. * HPS *

TaPa Tapa, TAPA, Tapas or Tapasya may refer to: Media *Tapas (website), a webtoon site, formerly known as Tapastic * ''Tapas'' (film), a 2005 Spanish film * ''Tapasya'' (1976 film), an Indian Hindi-language film * ''Tapasya'' (1992 film), a Nepalese f ...

* Viipurin Reipas * HJK * HJK * KIF *

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

* Tampereen Pyrintö * ÅIFK * ViPS *

Turun Riento Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while the metropolitan area ...

Ilves Tampereen Ilves, commonly known as Ilves, (; Finnish language, Finnish for "Eurasian lynx, Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Nokia Arena (Tampere), Nokia Arena. The colors of Ilves, ...

* HSK * Tarmo *

TPS TPS or Tps may refer to: In arts and entertainment *Télévision Par Satellite, a French satellite television company *Third-person shooter, a game genre * Torsonic Polarity Syndrome, in ''South Park'' animation * Trailer Park Sex, a band from ...

*TBK/

Karhu-Kissat Karhu-Kissat is a Finnish ice hockey club founded in 1938 and based at Helsinki. From 1942 until 1974 the club played in the top two levels of the Finnish ice hockey league system. Nowadays the club operates as a sports academy, investing especial ...

* TuPK *

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

* HPK *

Lukko Rauman Lukko (Finnish for "lock") is a Finnish sports club based in Rauma, Finland, Rauma, Finland, best known for its men's professional ice hockey team. The club was founded as Rauma Woodin Lukko in 1936. The representative team currently pla ...

* TP-V *

KuPS Kuopion Palloseura, commonly referred to as KuPS, is a Finnish professional football club based in Kuopio. KuPS competes in Veikkausliiga, the top flight of Finnish football. The team plays its home matches at Kuopio Football Stadium. KuPS ha ...

KyPa KYPA (1230 AM broadcasting, AM ''AM 1230 JBC'') is a Korean language, Korean-language radio station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. It is owned by Woori Media Group, LLC. KYPA is one of four radio stations in the greater Los Angeles a ...

* Töölön Vesa/

Jokerit Helsingin Jokerit (, English: Joker (playing card), Jokers or Jesters of Helsinki) is a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland, which competes in Mestis. Jokerit plays its home games at the Helsinki Ice Hall and Helsinki Halli in ...

* Jymy-Kiekko *

KalPa Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) is a professional ice hockey team which competes in the Finnish Liiga. They play in Kuopio, Finland at the Niiralan monttu, Olvi Areena. Team history Established in 1929 as ''Sortavalan Palloseura'' in Sortavala, the club r ...

* KooVee *

SaiPa SAIPA (, ''SAIPA'') is an Iranian automaker headquartered in Tehran. The SAIPAC (an acronym for the French ''Société anonyme iranienne de production des automobiles Citroën'' lit. ''Iranian Limited Company for the Production of Citroën Autom ...

* Kärpät * Karhut * WU * RU-38 * Lahden Reipas * TuTo *

SaPKo Savonlinnan Pallokerho (SaPKo) is an ice hockey team from Savonlinna, Finland, they currently play in the Suomi-sarja. It plays its home matches at the Talvisalo ice rink. The sports club Savonlinnan Pallokerho was founded in 1929. First it con ...

Hermes Hermes (; ) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quic ...

* Upon Pallo * VehU * Ässät * Hilpara

Winners

Until 1955 the Winner of the SM-sarja received the

Aaro Kivilinna memorial award Aaro may refer to: * Aaro (Shadow of the Eagle), a character portrayed by Mikko Leppilampi in the 2005 Finnish film ''Kaksipäisen kotkan varjossa'' * All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) is an o ...

. After 1955 the winner was given the ''

Kanada-malja The Kanada-malja, or Poika (Literally "''Boy''" or "''Son''"), is an ice hockey club championship trophy, awarded annually to the winner of the Finnish SM-liiga playoffs. Kanada-malja is Finnish language, Finnish for "Canada Bowl"; the trophy is s ...

'' ("Canada Cup") as the official rotating award of SM-sarja. File:Suomen mestari 1932 HJK.jpg, HJK team picture in 1932 File:Ilveksen ensimmäinen mestaruusjoukkue 1936.jpg, Ilves team picture in 1936 File:Suomen mestari 1941 KIF.jpg, KIF team picture in 1941 File:TBK – Ilves 6 Febr. 1949 closeup.jpg, TBK against Ilves in 1949 File:Porin Kärpät 1956–57.jpg,

Porin Kärpät Porin Kärpät (Finnish language, Finnish for "Pori Stoat, Ermines") was a multi-sport club based in Pori, Finland. The club was founded in 1932, and disestablished in 1960, but was re-established again in 1990 and disestablished in 2011. Kärp� ...

team picture in 1956 File:RU-38 1959.jpg, RU-38 team picture in 1959 File:Tappara1961.jpg,

champion of Finland in 1961 File:Sullivan Jerry 1963a.jpg, Jerry Sullivan played in Helsinki IFK in 1963 File:Porin Karhut 1965–66.jpg, Porin Karhut team picture in 1965 File:SaiPan pronssimitalijoukkue 1965-1966.jpg,

team picture in 1966 File:Kaj-Rosvall-1960s.jpg, Koovee against

late of 1960s File:Matti Reunamäki.jpg, Matti Reunamäki and the Finnish ice hockey championship trophy in 1968 File:Esa Isaksson.jpg, HIFK's Esa Isaksson after scoring a goal against Reipas in 1969. File:HIFK-players-1971.jpg, Helsinki IFK players getting ready for a game in 1971 File:Porin Ässät 1971.jpg,

Porin Ässät Porin Ässät ry is a sports club based in Pori, Finland. The club's only programs are ice hockey and esports, but it used to have an association football program. Porin Ässät ry operates an ice hockey team in the Finnish Elite League. Porin ...

celebrating the finnish championship of ice hockey in 1971 File:Ilves champion of Finland 1972.jpg,

champion of Finland in 1972

Notable players

* Juhani "Juuso" Wahlsten

References