
Horse Racing stats man, Andy has contributed to OLBG for 18 years - An Ipswich fan and F1 fanatic, he also contributes EFL football and Motor Sport opinion.
2024-25 Liiga Preview
For the third consecutive season, we saw Tappara finish top in the regular season and then go on to win the playoffs.
They have now notched up twenty championships, seven during the SM-sarja era and now thirteen during the current SM-liiga era.
It was also the second consecutive season that the Pelicans finished runner-up to them, it was their third runner-up finish as they continue to look for their first-ever title.
No team has ever won four consecutive titles which Tappara will be attempting during the 2024-25 season in their attempt to make history during this season which is the 50th anniversary of the league.

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How often do Favourites win in Liiga?
How do the Favourites Compare?
As we can see when looking at arguably the most popular top six leagues, the Finnish Liiga is the second most reliable league for favourites with 62.61% of them winning over the past five seasons, the only league to top it is the KHL.
- Russian KHL: 62.82%
- Finnish Liiga: 62.61%
- Swiss NLA: 61.30%
- USA NHL: 60.82%
- German DEL: 60.61%
- Swedish SHL: 59.83%
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 69.39% when priced up by the bookmakers as favourites with 204 wins from a total of 294 games.
At the other end of the scale is SaiPa with a win rate of 46.88%. That has come from 32 games producing 15 wins, they are maybe the team in this league to avoid when they are priced up as favourites.
SM Liiga Favourite Statistics by Season
2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Home Favs | 61.64% | 63.27% | 63.24% | 64.99% | 60.81% |
Away Favs | 71.33% | 64.44% | 62.43% | 54.43% | 58.50% |
Overall Favs | 64.93% | 63.74% | 62.96% | 61.62% | 60.12% |
*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 with the other two losing in the finals.
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 |
---|---|---|
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 Final |
2017–18 | Kärpät (123) | Liiga Champions |
2016–17 | Tappara (127) | Liiga Champions |
2015–16 | HIFK (127) | Lost in Final |
2014–15 | Kärpät (115) | 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 champions won with a total of twenty and they have won the last three champions.
Only two other teams have recorded double-figure wins, four behind Tappara are Ilves with fifteen wins, however, their last success was back in the 1984-85 season.
The other team is Turun Palloseura (TPS) who have 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 |
---|---|---|---|
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 |
2015-16 | Tappara | 4-2 | HIFK |
2014-15 | Kärpät | 4-3 | Tappara |
2023-24 Playoff Bracket
Finnish Liiga Teams
2024-25 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 |