The 2024–25 Liiga season was the 50th season of the Liiga, the top level of Finnish ice hockey since 1975.
The Liiga expanded to 16 teams for the season with the addition of Kiekko-Espoo. The league also brought back the relegation to the Mestis and a reformed playoff system and new divisions that decide the number of games teams play against each other.
Format The regular season started in September 2024. Due to the addition of Kiekko-Espoo, the previous number of 450 matches was increased to 480 matches total in the regular season. Each team played 60 matches, and all teams were divided into four groups.
As usual, the series was on break in November for a week and a half while the national teams played in the Euro Hockey Tour. The Christmas break lasted 5–7 days, depending on the team, with the exception of Kärpät, which participated on the 26th–31 December in the Spengler Cup in Switzerland. For other teams, the Christmas break ended on Saint Stephen's day, 26 December. Other one week break was in February 2025. The regular season ended in mid-March 2025.
Two outdoor games were played in Pori between the rivals Porin Ässät and Rauman Lukko in January 2025. The games went by the name Satakunnan Talviklassikko or The Satakunta Winter Classic. The games were counted as normal regular season games. They were played in the , which is normally used by the bandy club Narukerä. Temporary stands with a capacity of 9,000 spectators were built for the two games.
Teams
TeamCityHead coachArenaCapacityCaptainHIFKHelsinkiVille PeltonenHelsingin jäähalliIlari MelartHPKHämeenlinnaMatias Lehtonen 23 Sep 2024Mikko MannerPohjantähti AreenaPetteri NikkiläIlvesTampereTommi NiemeläNokia ArenaNiklas FrimanJukuritMikkeliMarko Tuomainen 14 Jan 2025Jonne VirtanenIkioma AreenaJesper PiitulainenJYPJohan PennerbornLähiTapiola AreenaTeemu EronenKalPaKuopioPetri KarjalainenOlvi AreenaTuomas KiiskinenKiekko-EspooEspooJyrki AhoEspoo Metro AreenaVille LajunenKooKooKouvolaJouko MyrräLumon AreenaOtto PaajanenKärpätOuluVille Mäntymaa 3 Mar 2025Petri MatikainenOulun Energia AreenaMarko AnttilaLukkoRaumaTomi LämsäKivikylän AreenaSebastian RepoPelicansLahtiJuhamatti Yli-Junnila 20 Jan 2025Sami KapanenIsku AreenaMiika RoineSaiPaLappeenrantaRaimo HelminenLappeenrannan jäähalliVille PetmanSportVaasaJuuso HahlVaasan Sähkö AreenaSebastian StålbergTapparaTampereRikard GrönborgNokia ArenaOtto RauhalaTPSTurkuTommi MiettinenGatorade CenterCasimir JürgensÄssätPoriJarno PikkarainenEnersense AreenaJan-Mikael Järvinen
Regular season standings
Top four advance straight to the quarter-finals, while teams between 5th and 12th positions play a wild card round for the final four spots. The 15th and 16th placed teams play against each other to decide which team will play against the Mestis champion for a spot in the SM-liiga. The top two teams of the regular season and playoff champion qualified for the Champions Hockey League and the third team to the Spengler Cup.
Broadcast rights For the 2023–2024 season, Telia had transferred the television rights of the SM-liiga to MTV, which it owns. Telia had acquired the broadcast rights starting from the 2018–2019 season, and with the new agreement MTV has the rights until the end of the 2026–2027 season. MTV pays more than 90 million euros for television rights over four seasons, and the company has admitted that the operation is loss-making. The broadcasts are produced by MTV and during the season games can be seen live from C More, Discovery+, DNA, Elisa Viihde, MTV and Telia.
Playoffs
Playoff bracket
First round (5) SaiPa vs. (12) TPS
(6) KooKoo vs. (11) Sport
(7) Ässät vs. (10) HPK
(8) Kiekko-Espoo vs. (9) Tappara
Quarter-finals (1) Lukko vs. (11) Sport
(2) Ilves vs. (9) Tappara
(3) KalPa vs. (7) Ässät
(4) HIFK vs. (5) SaiPa If the series had gone past game 4, the order of games 5 and 6 where switched due to ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships being held in Helsingin jäähalli on 4 and 5 April.
Semi-finals
(1) Lukko vs. (5) SaiPa
(2) Ilves vs. (3) KalPa
Bronze medal game
Finals
Play Out and Relegation
The two bottom-placed teams from the regular season played a best-of-seven series, with the winner remaining in the Liiga and the loser having to face the winner of the Mestis in a relegation series. The higher-seeded team and in the relation series the team from Liiga held home advantage over the series, playing at home for the first and third games and games five and seven (if required) while the lower-seeded team was at home for games two, four and six (if required).
Bracket
Play Out
Relegation series
Final rankings KalPaSaiPaIlves4Lukko5HIFK6Ässät7Tappara8Sport9KooKoo10Kiekko-Espoo11HPK12TPS13Kärpät14JYP15Jukurit16Pelicans
Notes
References