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The 2010-2011 season will face off on the 16th of September, consisting of 60 matches. Overall the league will be made up from 14 teams, and over the course of the build up to the season, and because the SM-League is new to Pro Hockey News, we will profile each of the teams between now and the first face off to the Finnish hockey season.
2009-2010 Recap
The 2009-2010 season culminated in the battle of the underdogs as league history was written. HPK, Hameenlinna and TPS, Turku fought for the Finnish championship, which marked the first time that the lowest seeded teams (5th and 6th respectively) met in the finals.
TPS was a clearly the stronger team and clinched the final series 4-1, leading the town of Turku in a frenzy. Part owner Miikka Kiprusoff was able to witness his teams success after the Calgary Flames failed to reach the NHL play offs.
For TPS, as for the league and its fans, the championship was a bit of a surprise given that TPS had been in turmoil for a number of years. The team was on a verge of bankruptcy and the results were less than admirable from the former powerhouse in Finnish hockey.
TPS has been the hot-bed for Finnish hockey talent, producing or providing a platform for players such as Saku Koivu, Jere Lehtinen, Miikka Kiprusoff , Fredrik Norrena and Kimmo Timonen to name but a few.
HPK however has become somewhat of a steady success story of the 21st century. The team has achieved the playoffs consistently capturing the championship in 2006 and won the bronze medal more times than many hockey fans care to count. HPK, like TPS has produced a great number of current and former Finnish NHL players; Antti Miettinen, Niko Kapanen, Janne Laukkanen and Karri Ramo are just a few players that have come through the HPK system. HPK also acted as a launch pad for one Brian Rafalski in the late 90’s.
The Kanada Malja (Canada Bowl) awarded to the Championship winning team in the SM-League
During the off-season TPS were dealt a blow when the head coach Kai Suikkanen announced that he will move to coach Lokomotiv Jaroslav in the KHL. Suikkanen was the rainmaker in Turku and transformed the team on the verge of relegation to champions in less than two seasons. Suikkanen took the reins of TPS in October 2008 and coached the team from the last place in the league to the play-offs, winning the championship in his first full year as head coach.
Retirements, Returnees and the KHL
Worryingly, many of the leagues brightest stars are vanishing from the map to other leagues or to retirement. Sami Kapanen of the Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers fame recently announced his retirement from the league. Prior to this, Kapanen had played for Kalpa Kuopio where he is the majority owner and will step into a front office role for the start of the 2010-2011 season.
Kapanen might have been one of the biggest stars in the league but the veteran representation will be bolstered with HIFK Helsinki signing a former San Jose Shark and Florida Panther Ville Peltonen, who spent a year in the KHL.
Another former Finnish NHL star makes a return when Espoo Blues announced that they have signed Jere Karalahti. Karalahti represented the LA Kings and the Nashville Predators during his NHL career however, hei has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in the last few years. He was convicted of funding drug trafficking, a claim which he strongly denies. Karalahti claimed that he paid debts to an old friend who then used the money to smuggle drugs into Finland. The last two years Karalahti has been playing for Hamburg Freezers.
Perhaps the biggest returning name to Finnish hockey is not going to be seen on the ice but in the front office. The former assistant GM to the St. Louis Blues Jarmo Kekalainen returns to Finland after accepting the role of GM for Jokerit Helsinki. Kekalainen formerly worked as the director of Player Personnel for the Ottawa Senators where he was in charge of finding talents such as Marian Hossa, Martin Havlat and Ray Emery.
Kekalainen is no stranger to Finnish hockey, an NHL veteran and GM to HIFK Helsinki, which under Kekalainen’s lead produced players such as Jarkko and Tuomo Ruutu and provided a kick start to Tim Thomas’ career.
It is speculated that Kekalainen will also work in a consultancy capacity for the Finnish national team through his extensive knowledge in player development.
Many players who had a break through season last year are answering the call of the east however. A number of players have signed agreements with KHL teams namely Jori Lehtera, last years top scorer will be heading to KHL in an attempt to launch his NHL career. There are also rumours that former NHL star and Stanley Cup winner, Ville Nieminen, Pelicans’ Lahti top forward, Juha-Matti Aaltonen and HPK’s number one goalie Teemu Lassila are also heading to the Russian league.
Changes in the playing system raise debate
The major change to the season is a ‘levelling off period’ in January. The system works on the NHL draft basis where the bottom seeded teams pick their opponents at random whilst the top seeded teams will have the last picks. Selections will be made after 32 rounds of play and the matches will be played between 27.01 -30.01 2011.
Ville Nieminen played for Tappara%2C Tampere. He won the Stanley Cup with Colorado Avalanche in 2001
Whether the system works, or not, it should prove for an interesting season in Finland, Most teams have their rosters built for the 2010-2011 season and have started skating already in preparation of the competition.
The next article on the SM-Liiga will start covering the participating teams, starting with Espoo Blues.
Contact: janne.virtanen@prohockeynews.com
Editors note: I hope you all enjoyed this roundup and introduction to the SM-League, we will have full coverage of the forthcoming season here on PHN starting with a team by team appraisal coming soon.
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