| 2018–19 SM-liiga | |
|---|---|
| League | SM-liiga | 
| Sport | Ice hockey | 
| Duration | September 2018 – April 2019 | 
| Number of teams | 15 | 
| TV partner(s) | Telia | 
| Regular season | |
| Best record | Kärpät | 
| Runners-up | Tappara | 
| Season MVP | Oliwer Kaski (Pelicans) | 
| Top scorer | Malte Strömwall (KooKoo) | 
| Playoffs | |
| Playoffs MVP | Otto Paajanen (HPK) | 
| Finals champions | HPK | 
| Runners-up | Kärpät | 
The 2018–19 SM-liiga season was the 44th season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975.
Teams
Regular season
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 SM-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 | 60 | 41 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 207 | 101 | +106 | 137 | Advance to Quarterfinals | 
| 2 | Tappara | 60 | 32 | 3 | 6 | 19 | 177 | 150 | +27 | 108 | |
| 3 | Pelicans | 60 | 30 | 3 | 8 | 19 | 199 | 154 | +45 | 104 | |
| 4 | TPS | 60 | 29 | 5 | 6 | 20 | 164 | 152 | +12 | 103 | |
| 5 | HPK (C) | 60 | 25 | 8 | 8 | 19 | 168 | 147 | +21 | 99 | |
| 6 | HIFK | 60 | 24 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 182 | 169 | +13 | 98 | |
| 7 | Lukko | 60 | 26 | 5 | 8 | 21 | 170 | 165 | +5 | 96 | Advance to Wild-card round | 
| 8 | Ilves | 60 | 23 | 8 | 6 | 23 | 169 | 170 | −1 | 91 | |
| 9 | SaiPa | 60 | 21 | 10 | 5 | 24 | 156 | 162 | −6 | 88 | |
| 10 | JYP | 60 | 17 | 12 | 7 | 24 | 145 | 155 | −10 | 82 | |
| 11 | Sport | 60 | 17 | 11 | 8 | 24 | 182 | 205 | −23 | 81 | |
| 12 | KalPa | 60 | 18 | 7 | 8 | 27 | 153 | 186 | −33 | 76 | |
| 13 | KooKoo | 60 | 18 | 6 | 7 | 29 | 157 | 197 | −40 | 73 | |
| 14 | Jukurit | 60 | 13 | 8 | 12 | 27 | 145 | 179 | −34 | 67 | |
| 15 | Ässät | 60 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 38 | 117 | 199 | −82 | 47 | 
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) 3-point wins 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points.[5]
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 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Ilves | 2 | 8 | Ilves | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| 9 | SaiPa | 1 | 1 | Kärpät | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | HIFK | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Pelicans | 2 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | HIFK | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Kärpät | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | HPK | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Tappara | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Lukko | 2 | 7 | Lukko | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| 10 | JYP | 1 | 2 | Tappara | 2 | Bronze medal game | |||||||||||||
| 5 | HPK | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | TPS | 1 | 2 | Tappara | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | HPK | 4 | 6 | HIFK | 0 | ||||||||||||||
Wild card round
Quarterfinals
| 
 
 | 
 
 | 
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Semifinals
| 
 | 
 | 
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bronze medal game
| 19 April 2019 18:30 | Tappara | 3–2 OT1 (0–0, 2–0, 0–2, 1–0) | HIFK | Tampere Ice Stadium, Tampere Attendance: 5,002 | 
| Game reference | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Heljanko | Goalies | Atte Engren | Referees: Jukka-Pekka Koistinen Jari Levonen Linesmen: Pasi Nieminen Teemu Riikonen | ||||||||||||||
| 
 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 min | Penalties | 14 min | |||||||||||||||
| 28 | Shots | 28 | |||||||||||||||
Finals
| 20 April 2019 17:00 | Kärpät | 4–1 (1–1, 0–0, 3–0) | HPK | Oulun Energia Areena, Oulu Attendance: 6,200 | 
| Game reference | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veini Vehviläinen | Goalies | Emil Larmi | Referees: Antti Boman Mikko Kaukokari Linesmen: Henri Neva Hannu Sormunen | ||||||||||||||
| 
 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 min | Penalties | 31 min | |||||||||||||||
| 21 | Shots | 16 | |||||||||||||||
| 23 April 2019 18:30 | HPK | 3–1 (0–1, 2–0, 1–0) | Kärpät | Ritari-areena, Hämeenlinna Attendance: 5,113 | 
| Game reference | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emil Larmi | Goalies | Veini Vehviläinen | Referees: Stefan Fonselius Kristian Vikman Linesmen: Joona Elonen Markus Hägerström | |||||||||||
| 
 | ||||||||||||||
| 8 min | Penalties | 14 min | ||||||||||||
| 20 | Shots | 24 | ||||||||||||
| 25 April 2019 18:30 | Kärpät | 0–3 (0–1, 0–1, 0–1) | HPK | Oulun Energia Areena, Oulu Attendance: 5,926 | 
| Game reference | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veini Vehviläinen | Goalies | Emil Larmi | Referees: Antti Boman Mikko Kaukokari Linesmen: Pasi Nieminen Tommi Niittylä | ||||||||
| 
 | |||||||||||
| 18 min | Penalties | 20 min | |||||||||
| 19 | Shots | 17 | |||||||||
| 27 April 2019 17:00 | HPK | 2–4 (1–1, 1–2, 0–0) | Kärpät | Ritari-areena, Hämeenlinna Attendance: 5,360 | 
| Game reference | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emil Larmi | Goalies | Veini Vehviläinen | Referees: Antti Boman Stefan Fonselius Linesmen: Lauri Nikulainen Teemu Riikonen | |||||||||||||||||
| 
 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 min | Penalties | 6 min | ||||||||||||||||||
| 28 | Shots | 27 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 29 April 2019 18:30 | Kärpät | 2–0 (1–0, 1–0, 0–0) | HPK | Oulun Energia Areena, Oulu Attendance: 5,805 | 
| Game reference | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veini Vehviläinen | Goalies | Emil Larmi | Referees: Stefan Fonselius Mikko Kaukokari Linesmen: Pasi Nieminen Hannu Sormunen | |||||
| 
 | ||||||||
| 2 min | Penalties | 0 min | ||||||
| 18 | Shots | 29 | ||||||
| 2 May 2019 18:30 | HPK | 1–0 (0–0, 1–0, 0–0) | Kärpät | Ritari-areena, Hämeenlinna Attendance: 5,272 | 
| Game reference | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emil Larmi | Goalies | Veini Vehviläinen | Referees: Stefan Fonselius Mikko Kaukokari Linesmen: Joona Elonen Lauri Nikulainen | ||
| 
 | |||||
| 2 min | Penalties | 2 min | |||
| 18 | Shots | 27 | |||
| 4 May 2019 17:00 | Kärpät | 1–2 OT1 (1–0, 0–1, 0–0, 0–1) | HPK | Oulun Energia Areena, Oulu Attendance: 6,200 | 
| Game reference | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veini Vehviläinen | Goalies | Emil Larmi | Referees: Stefan Fonselius Mikko Kaukokari Linesmen: Joona Elonen Lauri Nikulainen | ||||||||
| 
 | |||||||||||
| 8 min | Penalties | 8 min | |||||||||
| 33 | Shots | 18 | |||||||||
HPK wins the finals 4-3.
Final rankings
|  | HPK | 
|  | Kärpät | 
|  | Tappara | 
| 4 | HIFK | 
| 5 | Pelicans | 
| 6 | TPS | 
| 7 | Lukko | 
| 8 | Ilves | 
| 9 | SaiPa | 
| 10 | JYP | 
| 11 | Sport | 
| 12 | KalPa | 
| 13 | KooKoo | 
| 14 | Jukurit | 
| 15 | Ässät | 
See also
References
- ↑ "Ari-Pekka Selin ei jatka HIFK:n päävalmentajana – Jarno Pikkarainen ottaa valmennusvastuun | Uutiset | Liiga" (in Finnish). Liiga.fi. 2019-01-25. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
- ↑ "JYPin päävalmentaja vaihtuu – Risto Dufva palaa Jyväskylään | Uutiset | Liiga" (in Finnish). Liiga.fi. 2019-01-14. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
- ↑ "KooKoon päävalmentaja vaihtuu – Mikko Heiskanen ottaa valmennusvastuun | Uutiset | Liiga" (in Finnish). Liiga.fi. 2019-01-08. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
- ↑ "Ässien päävalmentaja vaihtuu – tilalle takavuosien apuvalmentaja - SM-liiga - Ilta-Sanomat" (in Finnish). IS.fi. 2018-11-07. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
- ↑ "Joukkuetilastot | Runkosarja 2018-2019 | Tilastot | Liiga". Liiga.fi. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
External links
- Official site (in Finnish)
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