Big things come in small packages, or so the old saying goes. For a great example of this, look no further than the Nordic Nation of Finland. Nestled between the two hockey superpowers of Sweden and Russia, Finland has developed its own unique hockey culture. That hockey culture has given the country of 5.5 million people a disproportionately large share of of achievements and accolades on the world stage. Widely regarded as a member of “The Big Six” (Russia, Canada, Sweden, USA, Czech Republic and Finland), Finland has won three World Championships, five U20 World Junior Championships and has finished runner up at two Olympic games.

 

Some of the greatest hockey players of all time have hailed from Finland, including Teemu Selanne, Jari Kurri, Saku Koivu, Pekka Rinne, Patrik Laine and countless others. Producing NHL stars and winning major trophies on an international stage requires a major amount of work and development at a grassroots level for any country, but for a nation with a population that's smaller than the U.S. State of Wisconsin it is truly a remarkable achievement. Much of the credit for this belongs to the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, which has spent an inordinate amount of money, time and resources on developing young players.

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The top flight domestic league of Finland is SM-Liiga. It was founded as a professional league in 1975 to supplant the amateur SM-Sarja, SM-Liiga (commonly referred to in Finland simply as “Liiga”), has grown to become one of the top professional hockey leagues in Europe, and the world.

 

As of the 2020-2021 season, the league consists of 15 teams. Historically, the top teams in the league have typically been Karpat, Tappara, HIFK and TPS. Teams like KalPa, Assat, JYP, HPK, Pelicans and Lukko have always been very competitive, whilst teams like KooKoo, Sport, Ilves, SaiPa and Jukurit usually finish near the bottom. However despite differences in budget between some of the clubs, the gap between the top teams and the bottom teams is lesser than some other European leagues.

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The division below SM-Liiga is known as the Mestis. The Mestis is also a highly competitive professional league, however obviously the quality is below the top division. In the past, SM-Liiga has experimented with several different types of promotion and relegation between the two leagues, including both play-ins and automatic promotion. Currently, SM-Liiga is a closed league and if a team from the Mestis wants to play in the top division they must meet certain specific financial qualifications.

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Clubs in SM-Liiga will typically sign up to four North American imports, depending on the team's philosophy and budget. This is a very small number of imports compared to some other European leagues, and therefore the quality of North American players that sign in SM-Liiga is high. Generally speaking, a North American import will be expected to have a minimum of AHL experience and some of the top teams may even expect some NHL experience. Salaries are very good in SM-Liiga, however they vary wildly depending on the team. Salaries will typically range from 35,000 euros to upwards of 150,000 Euros. Some former North American imports to find success in SM-Liiga are: Brock Trotter, Eric Perrin, Chad Rau, Jerry D'Amigo and David Mcintyre.

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Jan-Mikael Jarvinen played parts of 11 seasons in SM-Liiga, I asked him to define the league for an outsider.

“It's a very hard working league where was team has its own strong system.” I also asked him, what type of player is generally successful in Finland. “Good skaters who can read the game well, and who can play with and without the puck”.

Both replies should not be a surprise to anyone who has followed SM-Liiga. It is an extremely professional league that has generated a large amount of NHL and international talent. SM-Liiga is a great league for players who are already established, and who have proven themselves at an elite level or players who have been elite at a lower level and are looking to step up in competition.

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If you're interested in learning more about the Finnish SM-Liiga or any other league in Europe, please email dave@bishopsports.ca

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Dave Bishop is a hockey agent, and the proprietor of Bishop Sports Corporation. He also works as a Keeper of the Stanley Cup through The Hockey Hall of Fame. If you'd like more information on playing in Europe, please email Dave at dave@bishopsports.ca