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2026-27 Liiga Preview
After failing to make history in 2025 by winning four consecutive championships, Tappara were back to winning ways by winning their 21st title and their fourth in the last five seasons.
For each of their last five title wins, Tappara have done so by also finishing top of the regular season table; they amassed 117 points on their way to finishing top.
They advanced straight to the quarter-finals, where they beat HPK by a comfortable 4-1 series win. The semi-finals were tougher, but they still came through 4-2 winners over Ilves.
KooKoo, who finished second in the regular season and only 2pts behind Tappara, put up a brave fight in the final, and it needed all seven games to decide a winner with Tappara coming from 3-2 down to win 4-3.
Can they follow that up in 2026-27? We can expect Tappara to be the bookies' favourites to land their 22nd title, and Ilves continues to look for their overdue title, having won their 16th and last in 1985!
Tappara have now made 10 of the last 13 finals and won 6 of those, although regular season can be a pointer as the four they lost were the four seasons they didn't finish top.
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How often do Favourites win in Liiga?
How do the Favourites Compare?
The Finnish SM Liiga is not one of the better leagues when it comes to winning favourites. Of the twelve leagues we have looked at, it only betters the SHL. However, a positive way of looking at that is that more underdogs win compared to other leagues, which means it might be easier to find a bit of value.
- French Ligue Magnus: 69.45%
- British Elite League: 66.26%
- Danish Metal Ligaen: 65.16%
- Austrian EHL: 64.03%
- Russian KHL: 63.55%
- Swiss NLA: 62.4%
- Czech Extraliga: 62.05%
- USA NHL: 61.93%
- Slovakian Extraliga: 61.83%
- German DEL: 61.33%
- Finnish SM Liiga: 60.4%
- Swedish SHL: 58.51%
Which teams are the most and least reliable?
The most reliable team when it comes to favourites in the SM Liiga over the past five seasons is Tappara. They have a win rate of 66.77% when priced up by the bookmakers as favourites with 207 wins from a total of 310 games.
At the other end of the scale is Kiekko with a win rate of 50.00%. That has come from 46 games producing 23 wins; they are maybe the team in this league to avoid when they are priced up as favourites.
SM Liiga Favourite Statistics by Season
| 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home Favs | 63.64% | 65.18% | 60.98% | 59.02% | 61.02% |
| Away Favs | 62.43% | 54.43% | 58.50% | 55.17% | 55.69% |
| Overall Favs | 63.21% | 61.74% | 60.24% | 57.78% | 59.37% |
*Favourite statistics only include regular-season games
Past Liiga Regular Season Winners
As you can see below, the regular season table-toppers have a good record in the playoffs, 7 of the last 9 (excluding 2019-20) went on to be crowned champions.
Here are the last ten regular-season champions who received the Harry Lindblad Memorial Trophy and how they went on to perform in the playoffs.
| Season | Team (Points) | Playoff Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 | Tappara (117) | Liiga Champions |
| 2024-25 | Lukko (112) | Lost in the Semi-finals |
| 2023–24 | Tappara (123) | Liiga Champions |
| 2022–23 | Tappara (116) | Liiga Champions |
| 2021–22 | Tappara (120) | Liiga Champions |
| 2020–21 | Lukko (127) | Liiga Champions |
| 2019–20 | Kärpät (127) | Playoffs cancelled |
| 2018–19 | Kärpät (137) | Lost in the Final |
| 2017–18 | Kärpät (123) | Liiga Champions |
| 2016–17 | Tappara (127) | Liiga Champions |
Past Liiga Champions
The Kanada-malja is the trophy that is awarded to the Champions of the Liiga. It was first awarded in 1951, and it translates to 'Canada Bowl' because it was donated by the Finnish community located in Canada.
Tappara leads the way in terms of the number of championships won, with a total of twenty-one, and they have won four of the last five championships.
Only two other teams have recorded double-figure wins, four behind Tappara and Ilves, with sixteen wins; however, their last success was back in the 1984-85 season.
The other team is Turun Palloseura (TPS), which has won eleven championships, but again, you have to go back some time to find their last win, which was during the 2009-10 season.
Here are the last ten Liiga Champions
| Year | Champions | Series | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | Tappara | 4-3 | KooKoo |
| 2024-25 | KalPa | 4-2 | SaiPa |
| 2023-24 | Tappara | 4-1 | Pelicans |
| 2022-23 | Tappara | 4-1 | Pelicans |
| 2021-22 | Tappara | 4-1 | TPS |
| 2020-21 | Lukko | 3-1 | TPS |
| 2019-20 | No competition | ||
| 2018-19 | HPK | 4-3 | Kärpät |
| 2017-18 | Kärpät | 4-2 | Tappara |
| 2016-18 | Tappara | 4-2 | KalPa |
2025-26 Playoff Bracket
Finnish Liiga Teams
2026-27 Teams in the Liiga
| Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ässät | Pori | Enersense Areena | 6,150 |
| HIFK | Helsinki | Helsingin jäähalli | 8,200 |
| HPK | Hämeenlinna | Pohjantähti Areena | 5,360 |
| Ilves | Tampere | Nokia Arena | 12,700 |
| Jukurit | Mikkeli | Ikioma Areena | 4,200 |
| JYP | Jyväskylä | LähiTapiola Areena | 4,437 |
| KalPa | Kuopio | Olvi Areena | 5,300 |
| Kärpät | Oulu | Oulun Energia Areena | 6,300 |
| Kiekko-Espoo | Espoo | Espoo Metro Areena | 6,982 |
| KooKoo | Kouvola | Lumon Areena | 5,950 |
| Lukko | Rauma | Kivikylän Areena | 4,500 |
| Pelicans | Lahti | Isku Areena | 4,403 |
| SaiPa | Lappeenranta | Lappeenrannan jäähalli | 4,820 |
| Sport | Vaasa | Vaasan Sähkö Areena | 5,185 |
| Tappara | Tampere | Nokia Arena | 12,700 |
| TPS | Turku | Gatorade Center | 10,500 |
Author Information
Andy Powell manages this Finnish Elite League (Liiga) Preview & Betting Guide and other hockey content in this section of the site, as well as the Ice Hockey Tipsters in the OLBG tipster competition in his role in the OLBG Expert Team. Andy meticulously updates the date and results for these pieces and is an erstwhile Penguins fan in the NHL. He provides Ice Hockey betting advice in our bookmaker reviews, as well as providing a huge contribution to the Best Ice Hockey Betting Sites Guide.
Andy Powell
Expert Guide
Other Ice Hockey Blogs
Here are the other ice hockey tournaments that we have looked at in blogs:
