The 2021–22 Liiga season was the 47th season of the Liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975.
Teams
Team City Head coach Arena Capacity Captain HIFK Helsinki Ville Peltonen Helsingin jäähalli Teemu Tallberg HPK Hämeenlinna Matti Tiilikainen Pohjantähti Areena Markus Nenonen Ilves Tampere Jouko Myrrä Tampereen jäähalli, Hakametsä (September - November 2021)Nokia Arena (December 2021 – present) Eemeli Suomi Jukurit Mikkeli Olli Jokinen Ikioma Areena Petrus Palmu JYP Jukka Ahvenjärvi LähiTapiola Areena Jan Ščotka KalPa Kuopio Tommi Miettinen Olvi Areena Tuomas Kiiskinen KooKoo Kouvola Olli Salo Lumon Areena Alexander Bonsaksen Kärpät Oulu Lauri Mikkola Oulun Energia Areena Atte Ohtamaa Lukko Rauma Marko Virtanen Kivikylän Areena Anrei Hakulinen Pelicans Lahti Tommi Niemelä Isku Areena Joonas Jalvanti SaiPa Lappeenranta Pekka Virta Lappeenrannan jäähalli, Kisapuisto Jarno Koskiranta Sport Vaasa Risto Dufva Vaasan Sähkö Areena Erik Riska Tappara Tampere Jussi Tapola Tampereen jäähalli, Hakametsä (September - November 2021)Nokia Arena (December 2021 – present) Otto Rauhala TPS Turku Jussi Ahokas Gatorade Center Juhani Jasu Pori Ari-Pekka Selin and Karri Kivi Isomäki Areena (renamed to West Areena) Jarno Kärki
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 Tappara 55 26 35 61 +23 46 Jukurit 59 26 33 59 +27 24 Pelicans 54 13 38 51 +23 30 HPK 58 21 29 50 +18 16 Ilves 54 19 30 49 +2 34 HIFK 54 18 30 48 +13 30 Pelicans 44 25 20 45 +16 32 Tappara 57 21 23 44 +31 38 HIFK 53 19 24 43 +11 8 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) Jukurit 5 279:42 1 2 1 7 1 94.35 1.50 TPS 7 415:17 5 0 2 11 0 93.25 1.59 HIFK 3 180:00 3 0 0 5 0 89.80 1.67 SaiPa 6 358:06 2 1 3 11 1 90.83 1.84 Sport 3 177:25 2 0 1 6 1 91.89 2.03 KooKoo 4 235:17 2 0 2 8 0 92.16 2.04 Pelicans 3 142:54 1 2 0 5 0 91.67 2.10 Kärpät 6 366:32 3 3 0 13 0 92.07 2.13 Tappara 4 238:58 2 1 1 9 0 86.76 2.26 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 Ilves4KooKoo5Jukurit6HIFK7Kärpät8Lukko9HPK10Pelicans11KalPa12Sport13JYP14SaiPa15Ässät
References
External links Official site Liiga on eurohockey.com