Auroraliiga Explained

Current Season:2024–25 Auroraliiga season
Sport:Ice hockey
Director:Henni Laaksonen[1]
Organiser:Finnish Ice Hockey Association
Teams:9
Champion:IFK Helsinki
Champ Season:2023–24
Most Champs:Kiekko-Espoo (16)
Confed Cup:European Women's Champions Cup
Relegation:Naisten Mestis

The is the national premier league for women's ice hockey in Finland. Founded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association as the Naisten SM-sarja (NSMs;) in 1982, it was known as the Naisten Liiga (NSML;) from 2017 until being rebranded as Auroraliiga in 2024.[2] [3] The league comprises approximately 225 players across nine teams.

Kiekko-Espoo has been the dominating force of the Auroraliiga in the 21st century, winning sixteen Finnish Championships from 1999 to 2022.[4] Tampereen Ilves is the second most successful club in league history, with ten championship titles. Ilves are the only organization to have iced a team in every season since the league's inception.

A majority of teams in Auroraliiga share their names with men's professional teams in the Liiga or Mestis – HIFK, HPK, Ilves, KalPa, Kiekko-Espoo, Kärpät, Lukko, RoKi, TPS – but the women's teams have historically received few resources and limited promotion from the affiliated men's clubs.[5] In recent years progress has been made in building better relationships between the men's and women's teams; most men's clubs now provide some support to their women's counterparts by advertising games together or helping secure sponsorships.[6] [7]

Format

Season format

The Finnish Ice Hockey Association has altered the season format of the Auroraliiga several times over the league's history. The system currently in use was introduced for the 2022–23 season.[8] It added six games per team to the regular season schedule and matched the season structure of the league's closest neighbor, the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL). The new format replaced the previous twenty-game preliminary series and ten-game divisional series structure, which was first introduced in the 2018–19 season and refined prior to the 2019–20 season.[9]

Regular seasonThe regular season is a quadruple round-robin tournament, in which each team plays every other team four times – typically, each team plays every other team twice at home and twice away – resulting in a 36-game season per team. Teams are ranked by points, with three points awarded for a win in regulation time, two points for an overtime win, one point for an overtime loss, and no points awarded for a regulation loss. Individual player statistics from the regular season determine the winner of the Marianne Ihalainen Award for most points, the Tiia Reima Award for most goals scored, and the Sari Fisk Award for best plus–minus.

The top eight teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the Auroraliiga playoffs.

Playoffs

The three rounds of the Auroraliiga playoffs are played as best-of series, with the exception of the single-elimination game for the Finnish Championship bronze medal. In the best-of-five quarterfinals, teams are paired by seeding from the regular season, with the first seed facing the eighth seed, the second seed facing the seventh seed, and so on. The semifinals and finals are best-of-seven series.

The champions of the Auroraliiga playoffs receive the Aurora Borealis Cup as league champions and gold medals as Finnish Champions in women's ice hockey. Selected by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, the MVP of the playoffs is awarded the Karoliina Rantamäki Trophy.

QualificationThe team finishing the season in ninth place plays a promotion/relegation series against the top team of the Naisten Mestis regular season.[8] The winner of the series qualifies for the following Auroraliiga season and the loser is relegated to (or remains in) the Naisten Mestis for the following season.

Game format

A regulation game is sixty minutes in length, played over three 20-minute periods. In the event of a tie at the end of regulation time the winner is decided by a five-minute-length, three-skaters-per-side overtime period.

If the game remains tied after the overtime period, the teams proceed to a shootout, in which each team designates three skaters to take penalty shots, one at a time, against the opposing goaltender. Teams alternate shots and each team takes one shot per round. The winner is the team with more goals after three rounds or the team that amasses an unreachable advantage before the third round. If the shootout is tied after three rounds, tie-breaker rounds are played one at a time until there is a winner.

Teams

2024–25 season

TeamLocationHome venueHead coachCaptain
HIFKPirkkolan jäähalli
HPK HämeenlinnaJääliikuntakeskus Hakio
Ilves TampereTesoman jäähalli
KalPa KuopioNiiralan Monttu
Kiekko-Espoo EspooTapiolan harjoitusareena
Kärpät OuluRaksilan jäähalli
RoKi20px RovaniemiLappi Areena
Team Kuortane KuortaneKuortaneen jäähalli
TPS TurkuKupittaan jäähalli

Past participants

1980s

1990s

2000s

Sources: [10] [11]

Champions

All-time medal count

– team is participating in the 2024–25 Auroraliiga season

! Team! ! !
16 4 8
10 12 6
3 7 8
3 4 1
3 4 0
IFK Helsingfors (HIFK) 2 1 3
Helsingin Jääkiekkoklubi (HJK) 2 1 1
Etelä-Vantaan Urheilijat (EVU) 1 5 1
Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho (HPK) 1 1 4
Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) 0 1 4
Itä-Helsingin Kiekko (IHK)0 1 1
Saimaan Pallo (SaiPa)0 0 1
0 0 1
0 0 1
Notes:

Sources:[12] [13] [14]

Finnish Champions by season

! Season !! Champion !! Runner-up !! Third Place
Naisten SM-sarja
EVU Vantaa
HJK HelsinkiIlves Tampere
1984–85 HJK Helsinki
1985–86 Vaasan Sport
1986–87 Shakers Kerava
1987–88 HIFK Helsinki
1988–89 HIFK Helsinki
1989–90 SaiPa Lappeenranta
1990–91 EKS Espoo†
1991–92 EKS Espoo†
1992–93 Kiekko-Espoo
1993–94 Kiekko-Espoo
1994–95 KalPa Kuopio
1995–96 KalPa Kuopio
1996–97 JyP HT Jyväskylä‡ Kiekko-Espoo
1997–98 Kiekko-Espoo
1998–99 Espoo Blues† Ilves Tampere
1999-2000 Espoo Blues† Ilves Tampere
2000–01 Espoo Blues† Ilves Tampere
2001–02 Espoo Blues† Kärpät Oulu
2002–03 Espoo Blues† Ilves Tampere
2003–04 Espoo Blues† Kärpät Oulu
2004–05 Espoo Blues† Ilves TampereKärpät Oulu
2005–06 Espoo Blues†
2006–07 Espoo Blues† IHK Helsinki
2007–08 Espoo Blues† Oulun Kärpät
2008–09 Espoo Blues† HPK Hämeenlinna
2009–10 Espoo Blues† HPK Hämeenlinna
2010–11 Kärpät Oulu
2011–12 HPK Hämeenlinna
2012–13 Espoo Blues† Kärpät Oulu
2013–14 Espoo Blues† HPK Hämeenlinna
2014–15 Espoo Blues† Ilves Tampere
2015–16 Espoo Blues†
2016–17 Espoo United† KalPa Kuopio
Naisten Liiga
2017–18 Team Kuortane
2018–19 Espoo Blues† Kärpät Oulu
2019–20Post-season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.
HIFK Helsinki
Kärpät Oulu
KalPa Kuopio
KalPa Kuopio
Notes:

† Included in record of Kiekko-Espoo

‡ Included in record of JYP Jyväskylä

Sources:[15]

League records

All-time records of the Auroraliiga, from the 1982–83 season through the conclusion of the 2023–24 season.[16]

Single-season records

Players appearing in ten or fewer games during a single season are not included.[17]

Single-playoff recordsPlayers appearing in three or fewer games during a single playoff are not included.[18]

Career records

Players appearing in fewer than thirty regular season games during their Naisten Liiga career are not included.[19]

Career playoff recordsPlayers appearing in ten or fewer Naisten Liiga playoff games during their career are not included.[20]

All-time scoring leaders

The top-ten regular season point-scorers in Auroraliiga history, including seasons in which the league was known as the Naisten SM-sarja and Naisten Liiga, through the conclusion of 2023–24 season.[19]

Note: Nat = Nationality; Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; S = Seasons played; = player active in 2023–24 Naisten Liiga season

Nat Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM S
F644 328 447 775 468 27
F433 387 349 736 114 20
F336 360 342 702 176 17
F286 280 351 631 142 13
F332 330 272 602 352 20
F323 320 282 602 152 19
F401 339 253 592 158 23
F276 327 222 549 260 14
F325 239 298 537 240 15
F523 205 319 524 337 21

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Forsberg . Paavo . Leinonen . Simo . Naisten Liigan uusi pomo kertoo nyt, miten kiekkosarjan arvostus saadaan nousuun – ”Voisi olla jo pientä palkkarakennettakin” . 18 February 2024 . . 21 September 2023 . fi.
  2. News: Finnish Women's Hockey League Unveils New Name, Logo . Foster . Meredith . 2017-03-21 . The Ice Garden . 2019-06-28.
  3. Web site: Naisten SM-sarja historiaan - Ensi kaudella pelataan Naisten Liigaa . 2017-03-21 . . fi-fi . 2019-06-28.
  4. News: The Espoo Blues are the 2019 Aurora Borealis Cup Champions . Foster . Meredith . 2019-03-26 . The Ice Garden . 2019-06-28.
  5. Web site: Women's Pro Hockey in Finland Tries to Get More Spotlight. Foster. Meredith. 2017-03-24. The Victory Press. en. 2019-06-27.
  6. Web site: Women's Worlds media round-table. Aykroyd. Lucas. 2019-03-29. International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). en. 2019-06-28.
  7. News: Naiskiekon arvostus on kasvanut, mutta ihannetilanteeseen on Suomessa vielä pitkä matka – kehitys vaatii hurmosta ja SM-liigaseurojen apua . Teiskonlahti . Kirsi . 2018-09-11 . . fi . Appreciation for women's hockey has increased but it is far from an ideal situation in Finland - development will require funds and assistance from Liiga clubs . 2019-07-08.
  8. Web site: Antila . Pirkka . Naisten Liigan, Mestiksen ja Suomi-sarjan pelaamistavat vahvistettu kausille 22-23 ja 23-24 . . 2022-08-15 . fi-fi . 2022-04-28.
  9. Web site: Sarjatoiminta: Sarjojen pelaamistavat miehet, naiset ja A–C nuoret: Kaavio Naisten Sarjat 19-20 . June 2019 . . fi-fi . 2020-01-21.
  10. Web site: Finnish Women's Hockey League Results: 1990-91 to 1994-95. Hunter. Andria. 2008. WHockey.com. 2019-07-08.
  11. Book: Jääkiekkokirja: Suomen Jääkiekkoliiton ja Liigan Virallinen Kausijulkaisu 2019–2020. . 2019 . Aaltonen . Juha . fi-fi . The Ice Hockey Book: The Finnish Ice Hockey Association and Liiga Official Guide & Record Book 2019–2020 . 0784-3321 . 2020-03-24.
  12. Web site: Naisten Liiga . Elite Prospects . 2024-03-24.
  13. Web site: Biller . Philippe . Championnats nationaux: Finlande (hockey féminin) 1997/98 to 2022/23 . Hockey Archives . 2024-03-24 . fr.
  14. Web site: Naisten Liiga details. EuroHockey . 2024-03-24.
  15. Web site: SM-sarjan historiaa vuosilta 1982 - 2008. Salmela. Sari. Pelkonen. Johanna. 2008. leijonat.fi. fi. History of the SM-sarja from 1982 to 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080906232017/http://www.finhockey.fi/tytot_naiset/sarjatoiminta/sm-sarja/historia/. 2008-09-06. 2019-07-06.
  16. Book: Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto. Jääkiekkokirja 2021: Suomen Jääkiekkoliiton ja Liiga Kausijulkaisu 2020–2021. Jääkiekkon SM-liiga Oy. Uusi Suomi/Kiekkolehti. 2020. Aaltonen. Juha. Helsinki. 237. fi. Ice Hockey Book 2021: The Finnish Ice Hockey Association and Liiga Guide & Record Book 2020–2021. 0784-3321. Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Liiga.
  17. Web site: Naisten Liiga (W) - All-time season, Regular season . 2024-03-24 . Elite Prospects . en.
  18. Web site: Naisten Liiga (W) - All-time season, Playoffs . Elite Prospects . 24 March 2024 . en.
  19. Web site: Naisten Liiga (W) - All-time totals, Regular season . 2024-03-24 . Elite Prospects . en.
  20. Web site: Naisten Liiga (W) - All-time totals, Playoffs . Elite Prospects . 24 March 2024 . en.

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