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The 2021–22 SM-liiga season was the 47th season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975.

Teams

Regular season

Standings

Top six advanced straight to the quarter-finals, while teams between 7th and 10th positions played a wild card round for the final two spots. The Liiga is a closed series and thus there is no relegation. The top 3 teams of the regular season qualified for the Champions Hockey League and the 4th team to the Spengler Cup.

The match program was on hiatus during the EHT, Karjala Cup from 7 to 14 November. In December, Christmas was a week-long match break. In December, a new ice rink named Tampere Deck Arena (Nokia Arena) was opened in Tampere for the use of Ilves and Tappara. Two matches were played in the new arena on 19 February, when Ilves hosts his own in the afternoon and Tappara in the evening.

Statistics

Scoring leaders

The following shows the top ten players who led the league in points, at the conclusion of the regular season. If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown.

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/–	PIM
Anton Levtchi	Tappara	55	26	35	61	+23	46
Petrus Palmu	Jukurit	59	26	33	59	+27	24
Lukáš Jašek	Pelicans	54	13	38	51	+23	30
Michael Joly	HPK	58	21	29	50	+18	16
Eemeli Suomi	Ilves	54	19	30	49	+2	34
Jere Innala	HIFK	54	18	30	48	+13	30
Jiří Smejkal	Pelicans	44	25	20	45	+16	32
Waltteri Merelä	Tappara	57	21	23	44	+31	38
Eetu Koivistoinen	HIFK	53	19	24	43	+11	8
Vili Saarijärvi	Lukko	52	17	26	43	+19	12

Leading goaltenders

The following shows the top ten goaltenders who led the league in goals against average, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, at the conclusion of games played on 25 September 2021.

Player	Team(s)	GP	TOI	W	T	L	GA	SO	Sv%	GAA
Oskari Salminen	Jukurit	5	279:42	1	2	1	7	1	94.35	1.50
Andrei Kareyev	TPS	7	415:17	5	0	2	11	0	93.25	1.59
Niilo Halonen	HIFK	3	180:00	3	0	0	5	0	89.80	1.67
Niclas Westerholm	SaiPa	6	358:06	2	1	3	11	1	90.83	1.84
Rasmus Reijola	Sport	3	177:25	2	0	1	6	1	91.89	2.03
Nick Malik	KooKoo	4	235:17	2	0	2	8	0	92.16	2.04
Jasper Patrikainen	Pelicans	3	142:54	1	2	0	5	0	91.67	2.10
Stanislav Galimov	Kärpät	6	366:32	3	3	0	13	0	92.07	2.13
Christian Heljanko	Tappara	4	238:58	2	1	1	9	0	86.76	2.26
Michael Garteig	HIFK	3	179:43	0	2	1	7	0	88.89	2.34

Playoffs

Contrary to the best of three format used in the past seasons, the wild-card round will take place in best of two format, with overtime only played after the second game if the points are tied. The remaining rounds will be played in the best-of-7 format.

Bracket

Wild-card round

The wild-card round series will be decided as a two game series. Compared to normal playoffs format both games can also end on a tie. If after two games both teams have one win or both games have ended on a tie, immediately after the second game an additional game will play played, which will determine the team that will go through to next round. The additional game will be played as five against five game and with 20 minutes periods. Sudden death rule applies. Penalties received during the 2nd game, which have not ended when 2nd game ends, will be cancelled. Only exception is game misconducts, which will carry on to the additional game.

Quarter-finals

Semifinals

Bronze medal game

Finals

Tappara wins the finals 4-1.

Final rankings

	Tappara
	TPS
	Ilves
4	KooKoo
5	Jukurit
6	HIFK
7	Kärpät
8	Lukko
9	HPK
10	Pelicans
11	KalPa
12	Sport
13	JYP
14	SaiPa
15	Ässät

References

1. "Ville Peltonen on HIFK:n seuraava päävalmentaja!" (in Finnish). Iltalehti. 2021-02-08. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
2. "HPK-KAPTEENILLE JATKOSOPIMUS 2021-2022" (in Finnish). HPK. 2020-12-22. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
3. "Jouko Myrrä jatkaa Ilveksen päävalmentajana – liigajoukkueen valmennusryhmä pysyy ennallaan" (in Finnish). Ilves. 2020-11-24. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
4. "NHL-legenda Olli Jokinen Jukurien peräsimeen − "Koen olevani valmis ottamaan seuraavan askeleen valmennusurallani"" (in Finnish). Jatkoaika.com. 2021-02-15. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
5. "Jukka Ahvenjärvi on JYPin uusi päävalmentaja − "Päivittäisessä valmennuksessa on kyse laadusta ja vaatimustasosta"" (in Finnish). Jatkoaika.com. 2021-04-16. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
6. ^ "SM-liigassa isoja valmentajasiirtoja – Pekka Virta on tyrkyllä SaiPaan, Mikko Mannerilla kiperä tilanne" (in Finnish). Iltalehti. 2020-11-19. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
7. "KooKoo nimitti Olli Salon uudeksi päävalmentajakseen | Uutiset | Liiga" (in Finnish). Liiga.fi. 2021-04-29. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
8. "Pekka Virta saa SaiPassa kakkosvalmentajakseen Ville Hämäläisen – Matias Lehtonen lähtee Ketterästä Rovaniemelle, päinvastaiseen suuntaan SaiPan liigajoukkueen toiseksi apuvalmentajaksi saapuu Santeri Immonen" (in Finnish). Etelä-Saimaa. 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
9. "Seitsemän ottelun tappioputksessa seilaava Sport jatkaa tutussa komennossa – Risto Dufvalle jatkosopimus" (in Finnish). MTV Uutiset. 2020-11-25. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
10. "Tässä on TPS:n tuleva valmennustiimi – MM-kultavalmentaja Jussi Ahokkaan rinnalle muutama yllätysnimi" (in Finnish). Hämeen Sanomat. 2020-12-10. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
11. "Joukkuetilastot | Runkosarja 2020-2021 | Tilastot | Liiga". Liiga.fi. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
12. "Pelaajatilastot" [Player stats] (in Finnish). Liiga. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
13. "Summary — Goalies". Liiga. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
14. "Playoffs-ottelut 2022 lähestyvät – Näin ratkaisupeleissä pelataan | Uutiset | Liiga" (in Finnish). Liiga.fi. 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
15. "Schedule". Liiga. Retrieved 2022-03-25.

External links

• Official site (in Finnish)
• Liiga on eurohockey.com

• Liiga seasons
• 2021–22 in Finnish ice hockey
• 2021–22 in European ice hockey leagues