The 2022–23 Naisten Liiga season was the fortieth season of the , the premier level of women's ice hockey in Finland, since the league's establishment as the in 1982. The regular season began on 10 September 2022 and concluded on 19 February 2023.
HIFK Helsinki and KalPa Kuopio both finished the regular season at the top of the league, tied with 93 points in 36 games. HIFK were granted the regular season championship title by virtue of a higher goal difference, marking the first regular season victory in team history. Kiekko-Espoo, the reigning regular season champions from the previous four seasons (2018–19 to 2021–22), finished in third place.
HIFK swept all three rounds of the 2023 Aurora Borealis Cup playoffs to win the Aurora Borealis Cup for the first time in team history. Kiekko-Espoo, the reigning Finnish Champions from the 2022 Aurora Borealis Cup playoffs, claimed the franchise's third Finnish Championship silver medal and KalPa won Finnish Championship bronze for the fourth time.
In the qualification, RoKi Rovaniemi and Rauman Lukko overcame Naisten Mestis teams HIFK Akatemia and Kiekko-Espoo Akatemia to save themselves from relegation.
League business Season format The Finnish Ice Hockey Association chose to streamline the Naisten Liiga season format after the 2021–22 season. Instead of the previous twenty-game preliminary series and ten-game divisional series, the ten teams play a single-series, four-cycle round-robin. For each team, the regular season comprises 36 games.
The top eight teams at the end of the season qualify for the Aurora Borealis Cup playoffs. The teams finishing the season ranked ninth and tenth play a promotion/relegation series against the top two teams of the Naisten Mestis.
The format change adds six games per team to the regular season schedule and matches the season structure of the league's closest neighbor, the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL).
Offseason Coaching changes +Team2021–22 2022–23 DetailsOff–seasonHPK Harri Nummela Jari Risku Appointed in April 2022, Risku is the fifth HPK head coach in as many seasons. He succeeds Nummela, who piloted the team to a playoff berth from the lower division series. Risku most recently served as head coach of the Austrian national team for the 2022 IIHF Women's World Championship Division I Group A and was previously head coach of KMH Budapest in the European Women's Hockey League (EWHL). He was the inaugural head coach of Team Kuortane, from the team's creation in 2010 until 2018, and coached the Finnish national under-18 team during 2014 to 2018.Ilves Linda Leppänen Marjo Voutilainen Leppänen announced in early April that she was stepping away from her head coaching position after two seasons in role to spend more time with her family. In early May, Ilves revealed that Voutilainen had been selected as her successor. Voutilainen previously coached KalPa Naiset for six seasons, 2016 to 2022, and the team won their first Finnish Championship silver medal and made it to the Aurora Borealis Cup finals twice with her at the helm. Prior to her coaching career, she was a forward with the Finnish national team and an Olympic and World Championship medalist.KalPa Marjo Voutilainen Mika Väärälä Following a challenging season in which KalPa narrowly secured the bottom seed of the playoffs after winning Finnish Championship silver one season before, the club opted not to resign Voutalainen as head coach and to instead pursue a new direction with the hire of Väärälä. Väärälä joined KalPa after serving as head coach of KMH Budapest for three seasons, during which the team won the EWHL Championship three times and the EWHL Super Cup twice. He has been an assistant coach to the Hungarian national team since 2016.Kärpät Samuli Hassi Sanna Lankosaari Hassi vacated the Kärpät head coach position after accepting a director of coaching position with Vaasan Sport U18 in the U18 SM-sarja. Lankosaari was promoted to head coach from assistant coach, a position she had held since 2018. Prior to her coaching career, Lankosaari was a forward with the Finnish national team and won a bronze medal in the inaugural Olympic women's ice hockey tournament at the 1998 Winter Olympics. She was also a three-time IIHF Women's World Championship bronze medalist and was Finland’s leading scorer at the 1996 IIHF European Women Championships. She played seven seasons with Oulun Kärpät Naiset in the Naisten SM-sarja during 1994 to 2001.
Player signings Note: This section does not record all player signings. It is limited to player movements involving national team players (from any country), international import players, and extra-league signings.
Preseason
The 2022 Aurora Borealis Cup champions, Kiekko-Espoo, saw the single largest number of pre-season player departures, with a majority of departures involving Finnish national team players. Players from Kiekko-Espoo departing for other leagues included reigning Päivi Halonen Award winner and Playoff MVP Nelli Laitinen, who left to pursue a college ice hockey career with the Minnesota Golden Gophers; Ella Viitasuo and Kiira Yrjänen, who signed in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) with HV71 Dam; and Minttu Tuominen, who began the 2021–22 season as captain of Kiekko-Espoo but concluded the season in the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL) with the KRS Vanke Rays and signed in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) with the Metropolitan Riveters for the 2022–23 season. Several high-impact Kiekko-Espoo players signed with other Naisten Liiga teams, including reigning Best Forward for four consecutive seasons Elisa Holopainen and All-Star Sanni Rantala, who both signed with KalPa; Emilia Vesa, who signed with HIFK; and Emmi Leinonen, who retired from playing and joined HPK as an assistant coach.
HPK celebrated the career of all-time Naisten Liiga top point scorer and most games played record holder Riikka Noronen, who retired from playing in 2022 after 27 consecutive seasons in the league. The vacancy left by Noronen’s departure and other player movements made it possible for HPK to attract a number of international players, including Olympic medalist in speed skating and Czech national team forward Karolína Erbanová, Czech national under-18 team forward Barbora Juříčková, and Slovak national team centre Lucia Záborská. French national team goaltender Margaux Mameri was signed to replace Canadian Kassidy Sauvé, who departed HPK to sign in the PHF with the Buffalo Beauts. Sauvé had signed in the middle of the 2021–22 season as successor to starting netminder Noora Räty, who left HPK in January to rejoin the KRS Vanke Rays in the ZhHL.
KalPa also bid farewell to a franchise star with the retirement of their captain, the 2020 Player of the Year winner and a three-time All-Star, Tanja Niskanen. In addition to signing national team players Holopainen and Rantala from Kiekko-Espoo, KalPa attracted Finnish goaltender Aino Laitinen from the Budapest Jégkorong Akadémia of the European Women's Hockey League (EWHL).
TPS boasted both the 2021–22 regular season top point scorer in French national team centre Estelle Duvin, and the player with the most regular season assists in Maija Otamo (three-way tied with Elisa Holopainen and Michaela Pejzlová). In a major loss to the team's offensive production, the linemates both signed in the Swiss Women's League (SWHL A) with EV Bomo Thun for the 2022–23 season. Continuing the pattern of signing at least one French national team player to the roster in each season since 2020, TPS inked defenseman Raphaëlle Grenier.
Ilves goaltender Anni Keisala was named 2022 Naisten Liiga Player of the Year and Best Goaltender – in addition to being named Best Goaltender of the 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship – making her a highly sought after addition to a number of international teams. Her decision to sign in the SDHL with HV71 was one of the most significant moves of the pre-season. Ilves recruited internationally to fill Keisala's roster spot and brought in Canadian goaltender Camille Scherger from the UPEI Panthers women's ice hockey program of U Sports. Top defenceman Anna Kilponen, who began the 2021–22 season as captain of Ilves before concluding the season in the ZhHL with the KRS Vanke Rays, opted not to return to Finland and instead signed in the PHF with the Metropolitan Riveters.
Kiekko-Espoo’s Laitinen was not the only Naisten Liiga defenseman to embark on a college ice hockey career in the NCAA Division I, as Krista Parkkonen of HIFK, the 2020 Naisten Liiga Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Star, joined the Vermont Catamounts women's ice hockey program. HIFK saw relatively little turnover in comparison to their close neighbors in Espoo, with the departure of just Parkkonen and Czech forward Veronika Lorencová, who left for the EVB Eagles Südtirol of the EWHL and Italian Hockey League Women. The team acquired two Finnish national team players: Sanni Vanhanen, the youngest active member of the national team and the top Finnish scorer at the 2022 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship, who had previously played with the Tappara boys' under-17 teams in Finland's top U17 league and had been loaned to Ilves Naiset for a handful of games over the previous several seasons, and Emilia Vesa, a standout winger and former captain of Team Kuortane, who had played with Kiekko-Espoo since 2020.
Player Previous team 2022–23 team ref.Incoming playersKarolína Erbanová (F) Almtuna IS (Damettan) HPK Hämeenlinna Raphaëlle Grenier (D) Clermont-Lyon-Roanne U17 (France U17) TPS TurkuSydney Harris (D) Elmira Soaring Eagles (NCAA D3) RoKi Rovaniemi Eliška Hotová (D)HC Příbram (Extraliga)TPS TurkuBarbora Juříčková (F) HC Uničov (1. liga žen) HPK Hämeenlinna Anna Kalová (F) HC Litvínov (Extraliga) RoKi Rovaniemi Aino Laitinen (G) Budapest JA (EWHL) KalPa KuopioMargaux Mameri (G) ACBB-Meudon U17 (France U17) HPK Hämeenlinna Camille Scherger (G) UPEI Panthers (U Sports) Ilves TampereKarolína Skořepová (F) HC Kobra Prague (1. liga žen) Kärpät OuluJenna Silvonen (G) Mercyhurst Lakers (NCAA D1) Kiekko-Espoo Sanni Vanhanen (F) Tappara U16 (Finland U16) HIFK Helsinki Ellie Wallace (F) Queen Bees IHC (WNIHL Elite) TPS TurkuLucia Záborská (F) Hammarby IF (Damettan) HPK Hämeenlinna Intra-league transfersElisa Holopainen (F) Kiekko-Espoo KalPa Kuopio Sanni Rantala (D) Kiekko-Espoo KalPa Kuopio Emilia Vesa (F) Kiekko-Espoo HIFK HelsinkiDeparting playersMegan Delay (D) HPK Hämeenlinna Buffalo Beauts (PHF) Estelle Duvin (F) TPS Tampere EV Bomo Thun (SWHL A)Ana Kahlhammer (F)Lukko RaumaMaryville University Saints (ACHA)Aino Karppinen (D) RoKi Rovaniemi AIK Hockey (SDHL)Anni Keisala (G) Ilves Tampere HV71 (SDHL) Anna Kilponen (F) Ilves Tampere → KRS Vanke Rays (ZhHL) Metropolitan Riveters (PHF) Nelli Laitinen (D) Kiekko-Espoo Minnesota Golden Gophers (NCAA) Emmi Leinonen (F) Kiekko-Espoo retired Veera Lindroth (F) Ilves Tampere ESC Planegg-Würmtal (DFEL)Veronika Lorencová (F) HIFK Helsinki EVB Eagles Südtirol (EWHL/IHLW) Matilda Nilsson (F) HIFK Helsinki Brynäs IF Dam (SDHL)Tanja Niskanen (F) KalPa Kuopio retired Riikka Noronen (F) HPK Hämeenlinna retiredMaija Otamo (F) TPS Tampere EV Bomo Thun (SWHL A) Krista Parkkonen (D) HIFK Helsinki Vermont Catamounts (NCAA) Noora Räty (G) HPK Hämeenlinna → KRS Vanke Rays (ZhHL) unsignedKassidy Sauvé (G) HPK Hämeenlinna Buffalo Beauts (PHF)Minttu Tuominen (D) Kiekko-Espoo → KRS Vanke Rays (ZhHL) Metropolitan Riveters (PHF) Ella Viitasuo (D)Kiekko-EspooHV71 (SDHL)Kiira Yrjänen (F) Kiekko-Espoo HV71 (SDHL)
Teams 2022–23 season
Team Location Home venue Head coach Captain HIFK Helsinki Pirkkolan jäähalli HPK Hämeenlinna Jääliikuntakeskus Hakio Ilves Tampere Tesoman jäähalli KalPa Kuopio Niiralan Monttu Kiekko-Espoo Espoo Tapiolan harjoitusareena Kärpät Oulu Raksilan jäähalli Lukko Rauma Westinghouse Areena RoKi Rovaniemi Lappi Areena Team Kuortane Kuortane Kuortaneen jäähalli TPS Turku Kupittaan jäähalli