Auroraliiga | |
2024–25 Auroraliiga season | |
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Sport | Ice hockey |
Founded | [[1982 | ]]
Inaugural season | [[
|
No. of teams | 9 |
Country(ies) | ![]() |
Most recent champion(s) | IFK Helsinki |
Most championship(s) | Kiekko-Espoo (16) |
Official website | [ Official website] |
The Auroraliiga is the national premier league for women's ice hockey in Finland. Founded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association as the Naisten SM-sarja (NSMs; literaly Women's Finnish Championship series) in 1982, it was known as the Naisten Liiga (NSML; (literaly Women's League) from 2017[1][2] until being rebranded as Auroraliiga in 2024. The league comprises approximately 225 players across nine teams.
Kiekko-Espoo has been the dominating force of the Auroraliiga in the 21st century, winning sixteen Finnish Championships from 1999 to 2022.[3] Tampereen Ilves is the second most successful club in league history, with ten championship titles. Ilves are the only organization to have iced a team in every season since the league's inception.
A majority of teams in Auroraliiga share their names with men's professional teams in the Liiga or Mestis – HIFK, HPK, Ilves, KalPa, Kiekko-Espoo, Kärpät, Lukko, RoKi, TPS – but the women's teams have historically received few resources and limited promotion from the affiliated men's clubs.[4] In recent years progress has been made in building better relationships between the men's and women's teams; most men's clubs now provide some support to their women's counterparts by advertising games together or helping secure sponsorships.[5][6]
Format[]
Season format[]
The Finnish Ice Hockey Association has altered the season format of the Auroraliiga several times over the league's history. The system currently in use was introduced for the 2022–23 season.[7] It added six games per team to the regular season schedule and matched the season structure of the league's closest neighbor, the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL). The new format replaced the previous twenty-game preliminary series and ten-game divisional series structure, which was first introduced in the 2018–19 season and refined prior to the 2019–20 season.[8]
- Regular season
The regular season is a quadruple round-robin tournament, in which each team plays every other team four times – typically, each team plays every other team twice at home and twice away – resulting in a 36-game season per team. Teams are ranked by points, with three points awarded for a win in regulation time, two points for an overtime win, one point for an overtime loss, and no points awarded for a regulation loss. Individual player statistics from the regular season determine the winner of the Marianne Ihalainen Award for most points, the Tiia Reima Award for most goals scored, and the Sari Fisk Award for best plus–minus.
The top eight teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the Auroraliiga playoffs.
- Playoffs
The three rounds of the Auroraliiga playoffs (Auroraliiga pudotuspelit) are played as best-of series, with the exception of the single-elimination game for the Finnish Championship bronze medal. In the best-of-five quarterfinals, teams are paired by seeding from the regular season, with the first seed facing the eighth seed, the second seed facing the seventh seed, and so on. The semifinals and finals are best-of-seven series.
The champions of the Auroraliiga playoffs receive the Aurora Borealis Cup as league champions and gold medals as Finnish Champions in women's ice hockey. Selected by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, the MVP of the playoffs is awarded the Karoliina Rantamäki Trophy.
- Qualification
The team finishing the season in ninth place plays a promotion/relegation series (karsintasarja (literally qualifying series)) against the top team of the Naisten Mestis regular season.[7] The winner of the series qualifies for the following Auroraliiga season and the loser is relegated to (or remains in) the Naisten Mestis for the following season.
Game format[]
- Further information: Ice hockey#Game
A regulation game is sixty minutes in length, played over three 20-minute periods. In the event of a tie at the end of regulation time the winner is decided by a five-minute-length, three-skaters-per-side overtime period.
If the game remains tied after the overtime period, the teams proceed to a shootout, in which each team designates three skaters to take penalty shots, one at a time, against the opposing goaltender. Teams alternate shots and each team takes one shot per round. The winner is the team with more goals after three rounds or the team that amasses an unreachable advantage before the third round. If the shootout is tied after three rounds, tie-breaker rounds are played one at a time until there is a winner.
Teams[]
2024–25 season[]
Team | Location | Home venue | Head coach | Captain |
---|---|---|---|---|
HIFK | Helsinki | Pirkkolan jäähalli | Saara Niemi | Athéna Locatelli |
HPK | Hämeenlinna | Jääliikuntakeskus Hakio | Jari Risku | Heta Seikkula |
Ilves | Tampere | Tesoman jäähalli | Marjo Voutilainen | Jenna Lehtiniemi |
KalPa | Kuopio | Niiralan Monttu | Artturi Rouhiainen | Johanna Juutilainen |
Kiekko-Espoo | Espoo | Tapiolan harjoitusareena | Sami Haapanen | Reetta Valkjärvi |
Kärpät | Oulu | Raksilan jäähalli | Teemu Koivula | Aino Kaijankoski |
RoKi | Rovaniemi | Lappi Areena | Oona Parviainen | Viivi Iso-Kouvola |
Team Kuortane | Kuortane | Kuortaneen jäähalli | Juuso Nieminen | Kerttu Lehmus |
TPS | Turku | Kupittaan jäähalli | Terhi Mertanen | Pihla Hämeenniemi |
Past participants[]
1980s[]
|
1990s[]
|
2000s[]
|
Champions[]
All-time medal count[]
– team is participating in the 2024–25 Auroraliiga season
Team | |||
---|---|---|---|
Kiekko-Espoo[lower-alpha 1] | 16 | 4 | 8 |
Ilves Tampere | 10 | 12 | 6 |
Kärpät Oulu | 3 | 7 | 8 |
Shakers Kerava | 3 | 4 | 1 |
JYP Jyväskylä[lower-alpha 2] | 3 | 4 | 0 |
IFK Helsingfors (HIFK) | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Helsingin Jääkiekkoklubi (HJK) | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Etelä-Vantaan Urheilijat (EVU) | 1 | 5 | 1 |
Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho (HPK) | 1 | 1 | 4 |
Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Itä-Helsingin Kiekko (IHK) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Saimaan Pallo (SaiPa) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Team Kuortane | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Sport Vaasa | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Notes:
- ↑ Foster, Meredith. "Finnish Women's Hockey League Unveils New Name, Logo", The Ice Garden, 2017-03-21.
- ↑ Naisten SM-sarja historiaan - Ensi kaudella pelataan Naisten Liigaa (fi-fi) (2017-03-21).
- ↑ Foster, Meredith. "The Espoo Blues are the 2019 Aurora Borealis Cup Champions", The Ice Garden, 2019-03-26.
- ↑ Foster, Meredith (2017-03-24). Women's Pro Hockey in Finland Tries to Get More Spotlight (en).
- ↑ Aykroyd, Lucas (2019-03-29). Women's Worlds media round-table (en). International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
- ↑ Teiskonlahti, Kirsi. "Naiskiekon arvostus on kasvanut, mutta ihannetilanteeseen on Suomessa vielä pitkä matka – kehitys vaatii hurmosta ja SM-liigaseurojen apua", Yle Urheilu, 2018-09-11. (fi)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Naisten Liigan, Mestiksen ja Suomi-sarjan pelaamistavat vahvistettu kausille 22-23 ja 23-24 (fi-fi) (2022-04-28).
- ↑ Sarjatoiminta: Sarjojen pelaamistavat miehet, naiset ja A–C nuoret: Kaavio Naisten Sarjat 19-20 (fi-fi) (June 2019).
- ↑ Hunter, Andria (2008). Finnish Women's Hockey League Results: 1990-91 to 1994-95.
- ↑ (2019) Jääkiekkokirja: Suomen Jääkiekkoliiton ja Liigan Virallinen Kausijulkaisu 2019–2020 (in fi-fi). Jääkiekon SM-liiga Oy & Suomen Jääkiekkoliito.
Finnish Champions by season[]

Naisten Liiga logo, 2017–2020

Naisten Liiga logo, 2020–2024
Notes:
- † Included in record of Kiekko-Espoo
- ‡ Included in record of JYP Jyväskylä
- ↑ Naisten Liiga.
- ↑ Biller, Philippe. Championnats nationaux: Finlande (hockey féminin) 1997/98 to 2022/23 (fr).
- ↑ Naisten Liiga details.
- ↑ Mennander, Pasi (2020-03-12). Koronavirus lopettaa Jääkiekkoliiton alaisten sarjojen kauden (fi-fi). Finnish Ice Hockey Association.
League records[]
All-time records of the Auroraliiga, from the 1982–83 season through the conclusion of the 2023–24 season.[5]
Single-season records[]
Players appearing in ten or fewer games during a single season are not included.[6]
- Most goals: Riikka Sallinen, 73 goals (21 games; 1993–94, Shakers)
- Most assists: Jenni Hiirikoski, 62 assists (28 games; 2015–16, JYP)
- Most points: Riikka Sallinen, 129 points (21 games; 1993–94, Shakers)
- Most points, defenceman: Jenni Hiirikoski, 79 points (29 games; 2015–16, JYP)
- Best points per game: Riikka Sallinen, 6.14 points per game (21 games; 1993–94, Shakers)
- Most penalty minutes: Jenna Grönroos, 98 PIM (15 games; 2011–12, LoKV)
- Best save percentage: Meeri Räisänen, .965 SV% (21 games; 2012–13, JYP)
- Best goals against average: Tiina Ranne, 0.87 GAA (15 games; 2015–16, JYP)
- Most shutouts: Meeri Räisänen, 7 shutouts (21 games; 2012–13, JYP)
- Single-playoff records
Players appearing in three or fewer games during a single playoff are not included.[7]
- Most goals: Elisa Holopainen, 19 goals (12 games; 2022, Kiekko-Espoo)
- Most assists: Susanna Tapani, 14 assists (6 games; 2015, HPK)
- Most points: Elisa Holopainen, 29 points (12 games; 2022, Kiekko-Espoo)
- Most points, defenceman: Nelli Laitinen, 21 points (10 games; 2022, Kiekko-Espoo)
- Best points per game: Riikka Sallinen, 4.40 points per game (5 games; 1994, Shakers)
- Most penalty minutes: Marjo Voutilainen, 45 PIM (4 games; 2012, KalPa)
- Best save percentage: Noora Räty, .970 SV% (9 games; 2008, Blues)
- Best goals against average: Meeri Räisänen, 0.80 (6 games; 2016, JYP)
- Most shutouts: Two players, 5 shutouts
- Isabella Portnoj (9 games; 2013, Blues)
- Tiia Pajarinen (10 games; 2021, Kiekko-Espoo)
Career records[]
Players appearing in fewer than thirty regular season games during their Naisten Liiga career are not included.[8]
- Most games played, skater: Riikka Noronen, 644 games (1995–2022)
- Most goals: Karoliina Rantamäki, 387 goals (433 games; 1992–2024)
- Most assists: Riikka Noronen, 447 assists (644 games; 1995–2022)
- Most points: Riikka Noronen, 775 points (644 games; 1995–2022)
- Most points, defenceman: Päivi Halonen, 495 points (408 games; 1982–2006)
- Best points per game: Michelle Karvinen, 3.667 points per game (39 games; 2007–2009)
- Most penalty minutes: Rosa Lindstedt, 483 PIM (314 games; 2002–2016)
- Most games played, goaltender: Susanna Airaksinen, 224 games (2009–2022)
- Best save percentage: Johanna Oksman, .931 SV% (100 games; 2012–2022)
- Best goals against average: Kiia Lahtinen, 1.48 GAA (48 games; 2019–2024)
- Most shutouts: Tiina Ranne, 34 shutouts (210 games; 2010–2024)
- Career playoff records
Players appearing in ten or fewer Naisten Liiga playoff games during their career are not included.[9]
- Most goals: Karoliina Rantamäki, 81 goals (117 games; 1992–2024)
- Most assists: Linda Välimäki, 72 assists (93 games; 2005–2019)
- Most points: Karoliina Rantamäki, 144 points (117 games; 1992–2024)
- Most points, defenceman: Saija Tarkki, 89 points (145 games; 1997–2019)
- Best points per game: Michelle Karvinen, 2.27 points per game (15 games; 2007–2009)
- Most penalty minutes: Tea Villilä, 131 PIM (111 games; 2007–2024)
- Best save percentage: Kassidy Sauvé, .939 SV% (12 games; 2021–2024)
- Best goals against average: Kiia Lahtinen, 1.39 (13 games; 2020–2024)
- Most shutouts: Tiia Pajarinen, 15 shutouts (55 games; 2015–2024)
All-time scoring leaders[]
The top-ten regular season point-scorers in Auroraliiga history, including seasons in which the league was known as the Naisten SM-sarja and Naisten Liiga, through the conclusion of 2023–24 season.[5][8]
Note: Nat = Nationality; Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; S = Seasons played; = player active in 2024–25 Auroraliiga season
Nat | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | S |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Riikka Noronen | F | 644 | 328 | 447 | 775 | 468 | 27 |
![]() |
Karoliina Rantamäki | F | 433 | 387 | 349 | 736 | 114 | 20 |
![]() |
Linda Leppänen | F | 336 | 360 | 342 | 702 | 176 | 17 |
![]() |
Petra Vaarakallio | F | 286 | 280 | 351 | 631 | 142 | 13 |
![]() |
Tiia Reima | F | 332 | 330 | 272 | 602 | 352 | 20 |
![]() |
Marianne Ihalainen | F | 323 | 320 | 282 | 602 | 152 | 19 |
![]() |
Sari Fisk | F | 401 | 339 | 253 | 592 | 158 | 23 |
![]() |
Anne Helin | F | 276 | 327 | 222 | 549 | 260 | 14 |
![]() |
Annina Rajahuhta | F | 325 | 239 | 298 | 537 | 240 | 15 |
![]() |
Johanna Koivula | F | 523 | 205 | 319 | 524 | 337 | 21 |
See also[]
- Women's ice hockey in Finland
- Finland women's national ice hockey team
- Swedish Women's Hockey League
References[]
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- ↑ SM-sarjan historiaa vuosilta 1982 - 2008 (fi) (2008).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 (2020) Jääkiekkokirja 2021: Suomen Jääkiekkoliiton ja Liiga Kausijulkaisu 2020–2021 (in fi). Uusi Suomi/Kiekkolehti, 237.
- ↑ Naisten Liiga (W) - All-time season, Regular season (en).
- ↑ Naisten Liiga (W) - All-time season, Playoffs (en).
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Naisten Liiga (W) - All-time totals, Regular season (en).
- ↑ Naisten Liiga (W) - All-time totals, Playoffs (en).
External links[]
- Official website (in Finnish)
- League information and statistics from EliteProspects.com and EuroHockey.com and HockeyArchives.info (in French)
Auroraliiga | |
---|---|
Seasons | 1982–83 – 1983–84 – ... – 2019–20 – 2020–21 – 2021–22 – 2022–23 – 2023–24 – 2024–25 |
Current teams | HIFK – HPK – Ilves – KalPa – Kiekko-Espoo – Kärpät – RoKi – Team Kuortane – TPS |
Former teams | APV – Ässät – EVU – HJK – IHK – JYP – Ketterä – KJT Haukat – KS Noux – LoKV – Lukko – Salo HT – Shakers – Sport – Team China – Y-Ilves |
Trophies and awards | Aurora Borealis Cup – Riikka Nieminen Award – Tuula Puputti Award – Päivi Halonen Award – Katja Riipi Award – Marianne Ihalainen Award – Tiia Reima Award – Sari Fisk Award – Karoliina Rantamäki Award – Noora Räty Award – Emma Laaksonen Award – Hannu Saintula Award – All-Stars |
Other | Naisten Mestis – Naisten Suomi-sarja – Finland women's national ice hockey team – Finland women's national under-18 ice hockey team Liiga – Mestis – Finland men's national ice hockey team |
Finnish Ice Hockey Association |
Top-level women's ice hockey leagues | |
---|---|
International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) - EWHL Super Cup | |
Americas | Canada & United States |
Asia | Japan - Kazakhstan - Korea - Kuwait |
Intercontinental | European Women's Hockey League - Women’s Hockey League (ZhHL) |
Europe | Austria - Bulgaria - Czech Republic - Denmark - Estonia - Finland - France - Germany - Great Britain - Iceland - Italy - Latvia - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Turkey - Ukraine |
Oceania | Australia - New Zealand |
Defunct leagues | CWHL (2007–2019) - Interliga (2003–04) - NWHL (1999–2007) - Western Canada (2004–2011) - Premier Hockey Federation (2015-2023) |
Defunct tournaments | IIHF European Women's Champions Cup - Low Countries Cup |
This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Auroraliiga. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA). |
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