2017–18 Liiga season
The 2017–18 Liiga season was the 43rd season of the SM-liiga (branded simply as "Liiga"), the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. Tappara 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.
| 2017–18 Liiga | |
|---|---|
| League | Liiga |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | September 2017 – April 2018 |
| Number of teams | 15 |
| TV partner(s) | Nelonen |
| Regular season | |
| Best record | Oulun Kärpät |
| Runners-up | TPS |
| Season MVP | Julius Junttila (Kärpät) |
| Top scorer | Antti Suomela (JYP) |
| Playoffs | |
| Playoffs MVP | Julius Junttila (Kärpät) |
| Finals champions | Oulun Kärpät |
| Runners-up | Tappara |
The specialties of the season included, for the first time in Liiga history, double games between KooKoo and Vaasan Sport. Teams met twice in October in consecutive evenings in Kouvola and in February twice in succession in Vaasa. In December, HIFK and Kärpät met in the hockey outdoor show at Kaisaniemi, Helsinki.
In 2018, the Liiga continued on Wednesday, 3 January. Ice hockey at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea's Pyeongchang start with the Finland men's national ice hockey team on February 14, 2018. In 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 Liiga is a closed series and thus there is no relegation.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kärpät (C) | 60 | 33 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 195 | 134 | +61 | 123 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 2 | TPS | 60 | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 187 | 147 | +40 | 112 | |
| 3 | Tappara | 60 | 25 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 165 | 130 | +35 | 110 | |
| 4 | JYP | 60 | 32 | 4 | 4 | 20 | 187 | 145 | +42 | 108 | |
| 5 | HIFK | 60 | 26 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 163 | 128 | +35 | 103 | |
| 6 | KalPa | 60 | 26 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 144 | 136 | +8 | 99 | |
| 7 | SaiPa | 60 | 21 | 11 | 8 | 20 | 153 | 163 | −10 | 93 | Advance to Wild-card round |
| 8 | Ässät | 60 | 23 | 7 | 5 | 25 | 163 | 177 | −14 | 88 | |
| 9 | Lukko | 60 | 21 | 8 | 6 | 25 | 141 | 142 | −1 | 85 | |
| 10 | Pelicans | 60 | 20 | 7 | 9 | 24 | 165 | 175 | −10 | 83 | |
| 11 | Ilves | 60 | 21 | 5 | 8 | 26 | 162 | 190 | −28 | 81 | |
| 12 | HPK | 60 | 20 | 7 | 4 | 29 | 145 | 157 | −12 | 78 | |
| 13 | Jukurit | 60 | 16 | 5 | 9 | 30 | 133 | 170 | −37 | 67 | |
| 14 | KooKoo | 60 | 14 | 5 | 10 | 31 | 142 | 198 | −56 | 62 | |
| 15 | Sport | 60 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 33 | 153 | 206 | −53 | 58 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) 3-point wins 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Head-to-head points.[1]
Playoffs
Bracket
| Wild-card round (best-of-3) | Quarter-finals (best-of-7) | Semi-finals (best-of-7) | Finals (best-of-7) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Kärpät | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | SaiPa | 2 | 8 | Ässät | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 10 | Pelicans | 1 | 1 | Kärpät | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | HIFK | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | TPS | 4 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | SaiPa | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Kärpät | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Tappara | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Tappara | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Ässät | 2 | 6 | KalPa | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 9 | Lukko | 0 | 2 | TPS | 0 | Bronze medal game | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Tappara | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | JYP | 2 | 2 | TPS | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | HIFK | 4 | 5 | HIFK | 1 | ||||||||||||||
Wild card round
Quarterfinals
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Semifinals
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Bronze medal game
| 20 April 2018 18:30 | TPS | 2–3 OT1 (0–1, 2–1, 0–0, 0–1) | HIFK | Gatorade Center, Turku Attendance: 7,021 |
| Game reference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 min | Penalties | 6 min | ||
| 23 | Shots | 36 | ||
Finals
| 17 April 2018 18:30 | Kärpät | 3–0 (0–0, 1–0, 2–0) | Tappara | Oulun Energia Areena, Oulu Attendance: 5,021 |
| Game reference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 min | Penalties | 16 min | ||
| 27 | Shots | 19 | ||
| 19 April 2018 18:30 | Tappara | 2–4 (2–1, 0–2, 0–1) | Kärpät | Tampere Ice Stadium, Tampere Attendance: 6,701 |
| Game reference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 min | Penalties | 8 min | ||
| 22 | Shots | 17 | ||
| 21 April 2018 17:00 | Kärpät | 2–1 OT1 (0–0, 0–1, 1–0, 1–0) | Tappara | Oulun Energia Areena, Oulu Attendance: 6,485 |
| Game reference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 min | Penalties | 6 min | ||
| 28 | Shots | 24 | ||
| 23 April 2018 18:30 | Tappara | 2–0 (0–0, 2–0, 0–0) | Kärpät | Tampere Ice Stadium, Tampere Attendance: 7,300 |
| Game reference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 min | Penalties | 18 min | ||
| 36 | Shots | 21 | ||
| 24 April 2018 18:30 | Kärpät | 4–5 (0–3, 1–1, 3–1) | Tappara | Oulun Energia Areena, Oulu Attendance: 6,550 |
| Game reference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 min | Penalties | 6 min | ||
| 29 | Shots | 19 | ||
| 26 April 2018 18:30 | Tappara | 0–1 (0–0, 0–0, 0–1) | Kärpät | Tampere Ice Stadium, Tampere Attendance: 7,279 |
| Game reference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 min | Penalties | 4 min | ||
| 28 | Shots | 24 | ||
Kärpät wins the series 4-2 and wins the championship.
Final rankings
 | Kärpät |
 | Tappara |
 | HIFK |
| 4 | TPS |
| 5 | JYP |
| 6 | KalPa |
| 7 | SaiPa |
| 8 | Ässät |
| 9 | Lukko |
| 10 | Pelicans |
| 11 | Ilves |
| 12 | HPK |
| 13 | Jukurit |
| 14 | KooKoo |
| 15 | Sport |
See also
References
- "Joukkuetilastot | Runkosarja 2017-2018 | Tilastot | Liiga". Liiga.fi. Retrieved 2018-02-28.