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Junior ice hockey league in Finland From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The U20 SM-sarja ('Under-20 Finnish Championship Series') is the premier junior men's ice hockey league in Finland. It was previously known as the A-nuorten SM-sarja ('Junior A Finnish Championship Series') during 1945 to 1991 and the Nuorten SM-liiga ('Junior Finnish Championship League') during 1991 to 2020. The league was founded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 1945 and a Finnish Champion in men's under-20 ice hockey has been named annually since the league's inaugural season – with the exception of the 2019–20 season, in which the playoffs were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eighteen to twenty teams compete in the U20 SM-sarja regular season, which is played in a preliminary ranking stage followed by a divisional or group stage.
| |
| Formerly | Nuorten SM-liiga |
|---|---|
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Founded | 1945 |
| Founder | Finnish Ice Hockey Association |
| No. of teams | 18 |
| Country | Finland |
| Most recent champion(s) | Ässät U20 (2023–24) |
| Most titles | Tampereen Ilves U20 (22) |
| TV partner(s) | Ruutu |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Relegation to | U20 Mestis |
| Related competitions | Liiga |
| Official website | U20 SM-sarja |
Each team in the U20 SM-sarja is the junior development squad of a professional ice hockey club and shares the club's name. Most of the senior clubs of U20 teams play in the Liiga, the premier men's ice hockey league in Finland. Notable exceptions include Jokerit, Kiekko-Espoo, Rovaniemen Kiekko (RoKi), and TUTO Hockey, all of which play in the second-tier Mestis.
In conversation, the league and participating teams are referred to as U20, A-nuorten/A-nuoret, or U20-nuorten/U20-nuoret interchangeably – the terms originate in various naming structures used by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association over the history of the league.
Note: Oy is an abbreviation of osakeyhtiö, a type of limited company in Finland; Ab is the abbreviation of aktiebolag, the Swedish term for an osakeyhtiö. The abbreviations ry and rf refer respectively to the Finnish and Swedish terms for a registered non-profit organization in Finland (Finnish: rekisteröity yhdistys; Swedish: registrerad förening).
| Team name | Club's registered name | Location |
|---|---|---|
| HPK U20 | HPK Liiga Oy |  Hämeenlinna |
| Ilves U20 | Ilves Hockey Oy |  Tampere |
| Jokerit U20 | Jokerit Hockey Club Oy |  Helsinki |
| Jukurit U20 | Jukurit HC Oy |  Mikkeli |
| JYP U20 | JYP Jyväskylä Oy |  Jyväskylä |
| KalPa U20 | KalPa Hockey Oy |  Kuopio |
| Kiekko-Espoo U20 | Kiekko-Espoo ry |  Espoo |
| HIFK U20 or Kollit | HIFK Ishockey rf | Helsinki |
| KooKoo U20 | KooKoo Hockey Oy |  Kouvola |
| Kärpät U20 | Oulun Kärpät Oy |  Oulu |
| Lukko U20 | Rauman Lukko Oy |  Rauma |
| Pelicans U20 | Lahden Pelicans Oy |  Lahti |
| RoKi U20 | Rovaniemen Kiekko ry |  Rovaniemi |
| SaiPa U20 | Liiga-Saipa Oy |  Lappeenranta |
| Sport U20 | Hockey-Team Vaasan Sport Oy |  Vaasa |
| Tappara U20 | Tamhockey Oy | Tampere |
| TPS U20 | HC TPS Turku Oy |  Turku |
| TUTO Hockey U20 | TuTo Hockey Oy | Turku |
| Ässät U20 | HC Ässät Pori Oy |  Pori |
Source:[1]
Renamed, still in U20 SM-sarja
 |
At present, this list includes only those former clubs which won a Finnish Championship medal while playing in the U20 SM-sarja.[1]
Bold indicates U20 ice hockey team currently active and playing in the U20 Mestis.
| Year |  Champions |
 Runners-up |
 Third Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | Ilves | K-Kissat | – |
| 1946 | Ilves | ÅIFK | – |
| 1947 | Ilves | HJK | – |
| 1948 | Ilves | Tarmo | HJK |
| 1949 | Ilves | TBK | HJK |
| 1950 | K-Kissat | ÅIFK | Ilves |
| 1951 | TBK | K-Kissat | – |
| 1952 | Ilves | TBK | – |
| 1953 | Ilves | Lukko | HJK |
| 1954 | TBK | K-Kissat | Ilves |
| 1955 | KuPS | Ilves | TBK |
| 1956 | Tappara | TKT | KTP |
| 1957 | Tappara | Hermes | PPT |
| 1958 | Lukko | Tappara | Tarmo |
| 1959 | Tappara | TK-V | KalPa |
| 1960 | Ilves | TK-V | Tarmo |
| 1961 | Ilves | Tappara | Mikkelin Palloilijat |
| 1962 | Tappara | Ilves | LaKi |
| 1963 | Tappara | Ilves | LaKi |
| 1964 | Tarmo | TuTo | SaiPa |
| 1965 | Tappara | SaiPa | HPK / TPV |
| 1966 | Ilves | SaiPa | Rauman Hokki / Töölön Vesa |
| 1967 | Ilves | SaPKo | HIFK / Karhut |
| 1968 | Tappara | TPS | SaiPa |
| 1969 | TPS | Tappara | Reipas |
| 1970 | SaiPa | Ilves | Tappara |
| 1971 | KOOVEE | Ässät | Tappara |
| 1972 | Tappara | Jokerit | Ilves |
| 1973 | Tappara | Ilves | Ässät |
| 1974 | Ilves | Reipas | SaiPa |
| 1975 | Tappara | KOOVEE | Ilves |
| 1976 | Ilves | KOOVEE | Ässät |
| 1977 | Ilves | TPS | Kärpät |
| 1978 | Ilves | Kärpät | TPS |
| 1979 | Kärpät | Tappara | TPS |
| 1980 | Ässät | Jokerit | TPS |
| 1981 | Ilves | Tappara | Kärpät |
| 1982 | Ilves | HIFK | Tappara |
| 1983 | HIFK | Ilves | TPS |
| 1984 | HIFK | Ilves | TPS |
| 1985 | Kärpät | HIFK | TPS |
| 1986 | Tappara | Ilves | HIFK |
| 1987 | HIFK | Tappara | Kärpät |
| 1988 | Jokerit | Tappara | Kärpät |
| 1989 | K-Espoo | Tappara | HIFK |
| 1990 | K-Espoo | Tappara | HIFK |
| 1991 | Ilves | HIFK | JyP HT |
| 1992 | TPS | Ilves | Ässät |
| 1993 | Ilves | TPS | Ässät |
| 1994 | Ilves | TPS | JyP HT |
| 1995 | JyP HT | Ilves | K-Espoo |
| 1996 | Jokerit | KalPa | K-Espoo |
| 1997 | JyP HT | HPK | Ässät |
| 1998 | TPS | Jokerit | Tappara |
| 1999 | Jokerit | Ilves | TPS |
| 2000 | Jokerit | TPS | Lukko |
| 2001 | Tappara | HIFK | JYP |
| 2002 | SaiPa | TPS | HIFK |
| 2003 | HIFK | Jokerit | Blues |
| 2004 | Tappara | JYP | HIFK |
| 2005 | Ilves | TPS | JYP |
| 2006 | JYP | Kärpät | Blues |
| 2007 | Pelicans | Blues | HIFK |
| 2008 | KalPa | Ässät | JYP |
| 2009 | Blues | TPS | Lukko |
| 2010 | Kärpät | HIFK | Ilves |
| 2011 | JYP | Blues | Ilves |
| 2012 | HIFK | Jokerit | HPK |
| 2013 | HPK | Blues | Lukko |
| 2014 | Blues | Kärpät | Ässät |
| 2015 | TPS | HPK | Blues |
| 2016 | Ilves | Blues | KalPa |
| 2017 | HPK | Ässät | Lukko |
| 2018 | KalPa | Kärpät | HIFK |
| 2019 | Kärpät | Blues | Sport |
| 2020 | Playoffs cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | ||
| 2021 | Lukko | Kärpät | Tappara / TPS |
| 2022 | Lukko | KalPa | TPS |
| 2023 | Tappara | Jokerit | TPS |
| 2024 | Ässät | TPS | Tappara |
Source:[1]
In 2010, the Finnish Ice Hockey Association standardized the award categories across the top leagues in each competition class under its administration: the Mestis, the Naisten Liiga, the U20 SM-sarja, the U18 SM-sarja (B-nuorten SM-sarja), and the U16 SM-sarja (C-nuorten SM-sarja). New trophies were created for award categories not previously used by a league and existing awards were renamed after iconic players in Finnish ice hockey.[3]
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