U20 SM-sarja
FormerlyNuorten SM-liiga
SportIce hockey
Founded1945 (1945)
FounderFinnish Ice Hockey Association
No. of teams24 (12+12)
CountryFinland
Most recent
champion(s)		Tappara U20
(2022–23)
Most titlesTampereen Ilves U20 (22)
TV partner(s)Ruutu
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toU20 Mestis
Related
competitions		Liiga
Official websiteU20 SM-sarja

The U20 SM-sarja ('Under-20 Finnish Championship Series') is the premier junior men’s ice hockey league in Finland. It was previously known as the A-nuorten SM-sarja ('Junior A Finnish Championship Series') during 1945 to 1991 and the Nuorten SM-liiga ('Junior Finnish Championship League') during 1991 to 2020. The league was founded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 1945 and a Finnish Champion in men’s under-20 ice hockey has been named annually since the league’s inaugural season – with the exception of the 2019–20 season, in which the playoffs were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eighteen to twenty teams compete in the U20 SM-sarja regular season, which is played in a preliminary ranking stage followed by a divisional or group stage.

Teams

Each team in the U20 SM-sarja is the junior development squad of a professional ice hockey club and shares the club’s name. Most of the senior clubs of U20 teams play in the Liiga, the premier men's ice hockey league in Finland. Notable exceptions include Jokerit, which plays in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), and Kiekko-Espoo, Rovaniemen Kiekko (RoKi), and TUTO Hockey, all of which play in the second-tier Mestis.

In conversation, the league and participating teams are referred to as U20, A-nuorten/A-nuoret, or U20-nuorten/U20-nuoret interchangeably – the terms originate in various naming structures used by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association over the history of the league.

2020–21 season

Note: Oy is an abbreviation of osakeyhtiö, a type of limited company in Finland; Ab is the abbreviation of aktiebolag, the Swedish term for an osakeyhtiö. The abbreviations ry and rf refer respectively to the Finnish and Swedish terms for a registered non-profit organization in Finland (Finnish: rekisteröity yhdistys; Swedish: registrerad förening).

Team name Club's registered name Location
HPK U20 HPK Liiga Oy Hämeenlinna
Ilves U20 Ilves Hockey Oy Tampere
Jokerit U20 Jokerit Hockey Club Oy Helsinki
Jukurit U20 Jukurit HC Oy Mikkeli
JYP U20 JYP Jyväskylä Oy Jyväskylä
KalPa U20 KalPa Hockey Oy Kuopio
Kiekko-Espoo U20 Kiekko-Espoo ry Espoo
HIFK U20 or Kollit HIFK Ishockey rf Helsinki
KooKoo U20 KooKoo Hockey Oy Kouvola
Kärpät U20 Oulun Kärpät Oy Oulu
Lukko U20 Rauman Lukko Oy Rauma
Pelicans U20 Lahden Pelicans Oy Lahti
RoKi U20 Rovaniemen Kiekko ry Rovaniemi
SaiPa U20 Liiga-Saipa Oy Lappeenranta
Sport U20 Hockey-Team Vaasan Sport Oy Vaasa
Tappara U20 Tamhockey Oy Tampere
TPS U20 HC TPS Turku Oy Turku
TUTO Hockey U20 TuTo Hockey Oy Turku
Ässät U20 HC Ässät Pori Oy Pori

Source:[1]

Renamed, still in U20 SM-sarja

  • JyP HT and JyP, now JYP
  • Espoo Blues, now Kiekko-Espoo
  • Kiekkoreipas, Hockey-Reipas, and Reipas Lahti, now Pelicans

Former clubs

At present, this list includes only those former clubs which won a Finnish Championship medal while playing in the U20 SM-sarja.[1]

Bold indicates U20 ice hockey team currently active and playing in the U20 Mestis.

Champions by year

The Legacy Bowl is the men’s under-20 Finnish Championship trophy. It was donated by members of the Finnish-Canadian community in 2013.[2]
Ilves vs JYP Junior A match in 2008
Year 1st place, gold medalist(s) Champions 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runners-up 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Third Place
1945 Ilves K-Kissat –
1946 Ilves ÅIFK –
1947 Ilves HJK –
1948 Ilves Tarmo HJK
1949 Ilves TBK HJK
1950 K-Kissat ÅIFK Ilves
1951 TBK K-Kissat –
1952 Ilves TBK –
1953 Ilves Lukko HJK
1954 TBK K-Kissat Ilves
1955 KuPS Ilves TBK
1956 Tappara TKT KTP
1957 Tappara Hermes PPT
1958 Lukko Tappara Tarmo
1959 Tappara TK-V KalPa
1960 Ilves TK-V Tarmo
1961 Ilves Tappara Mikkelin Palloilijat
1962 Tappara Ilves LaKi
1963 Tappara Ilves LaKi
1964 Tarmo TuTo SaiPa
1965 Tappara SaiPa HPK / TPV
1966 Ilves SaiPa Rauman Hokki / Töölön Vesa
1967 Ilves SaPKo HIFK / Karhut
1968 Tappara TPS SaiPa
1969 TPS Tappara Reipas
1970 SaiPa Ilves Tappara
1971 KOOVEE Ässät Tappara
1972 Tappara Jokerit Ilves
1973 Tappara Ilves Ässät
1974 Ilves Reipas SaiPa
1975 Tappara KOOVEE Ilves
1976 Ilves KOOVEE Ässät
1977 Ilves TPS Kärpät
1978 Ilves Kärpät TPS
1979 Kärpät Tappara TPS
1980 Ässät Jokerit TPS
1981 Ilves Tappara Kärpät
1982 Ilves HIFK Tappara
1983 HIFK Ilves TPS
1984 HIFK Ilves TPS
1985 Kärpät HIFK TPS
1986 Tappara Ilves HIFK
1987 HIFK Tappara Kärpät
1988 Jokerit Tappara Kärpät
1989 K-Espoo Tappara HIFK
1990 K-Espoo Tappara HIFK
1991 Ilves HIFK JyP HT
1992 TPS Ilves Ässät
1993 Ilves TPS Ässät
1994 Ilves TPS JyP HT
1995 JyP HT Ilves K-Espoo
1996 Jokerit KalPa K-Espoo
1997 JyP HT HPK Ässät
1998 TPS Jokerit Tappara
1999 Jokerit Ilves TPS
2000 Jokerit TPS Lukko
2001 Tappara HIFK JYP
2002 SaiPa TPS HIFK
2003 HIFK Jokerit Blues
2004 Tappara JYP HIFK
2005 Ilves TPS JYP
2006 JYP Kärpät Blues
2007 Pelicans Blues HIFK
2008 KalPa Ässät JYP
2009 Blues TPS Lukko
2010 Kärpät HIFK Ilves
2011 JYP Blues Ilves
2012 HIFK Jokerit HPK
2013 HPK Blues Lukko
2014 Blues Kärpät Ässät
2015 TPS HPK Blues
2016 Ilves Blues KalPa
2017 HPK Ässät Lukko
2018 KalPa Kärpät HIFK
2019 Kärpät Blues Sport
2020 Playoffs cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Lukko Kärpät Tappara / TPS
2022 Lukko KalPa TPS
2023 Tappara Jokerit TPS

Source:[1]

Awards

In 2010, the Finnish Ice Hockey Association standardized the award categories across the top leagues in each competition class under its administration: the Mestis, the Naisten Liiga, the U20 SM-sarja, the U18 SM-sarja (B-nuorten SM-sarja), and the U16 SM-sarja (C-nuorten SM-sarja). New trophies were created for award categories not previously used by a league and existing awards were renamed after iconic players in Finnish ice hockey.[3]

  • Player of the Year: Teemu Selänne Trophy
  • Rookie of the Year: Yrjö Hakala Trophy
  • Best Goaltender: Jorma Valtonen Trophy
  • Best Defenseman: Reijo Ruotsalainen Trophy
  • Best Forward: Saku Koivu Trophy
  • Point Scoring Leader: Kari Jalonen Trophy
  • Top Goal Scorer: Arto Javanainen Trophy
  • Playoffs MVP: Ville Peltonen Trophy
  • Fair-Play/Gentlemanly Player: Jere Lehtinen Trophy
  • Best Plus/minus: Raimo Helminen Trophy
  • Coach of the Year: Hannu Aravirta Trophy
  • All-Star First & Second Teams
  • Fair-Play Team

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto; Jääkiekkon SM-liiga Oy (2020). Aaltonen, Juha (ed.). Jääkiekkokirja 2021: Suomen Jääkiekkoliiton ja Liiga Kausijulkaisu 2020–2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Uusi Suomi/Kiekkolehti. pp. 215–217, 231. ISSN 0784-3321. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  2. ↑ Mennander, Pasi (29 March 2013). "Tällainen on Legacy Bowl, Nuorten SM-liigan uusi palkintopokaali". Finnish Ice Hockey Association (in Finnish). Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  3. ↑ "Jääkiekkoliitto uudisti palkinnot: Pokaaleihin nimet Selänne, Koivu, Räty, Javanainen..." MTV Uutiset (in Finnish). 14 November 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
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