2011–12 SM-liiga season


The 2011–12 SM-liiga season was the 37th season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. The title was won by JYP Jyväskylä who defeated Pelicans Lahti in the finals. The title was 2nd in team history.

Teams

Each team played four times against every other team, getting to 52 games. Additionally, the teams were divided to two groups, where teams would play one extra game. One group included Blues, HIFK, Jokerit, JYP, KalPa, Pelicans and SaiPa, while other had HPK, Ilves, Kärpät, Lukko, Tappara, TPS and Ässät.
Additionally, there were two games where teams could choose the opponents. These were played back-to-back in January and the choices were made in December, with team with lowest point total to that date was able to choose first. These pairs were: Ilves-Tappara, SaiPa-HPK, TPS-Lukko, Kärpät-Blues, JYP-HIFK, Jokerit-Pelicans and Ässät-KalPa.
Top six advanced straight to quarter-finals, while teams between 7th and 10th positions played wild card round for the final two spots. The last-placed team Ilves will play best-of-seven series against Mestis winner Sport.
TeamGPWOTWOTLLGFGA+/−P
KalPa60343716180139+41115
Pelicans60309318213155+58111
HIFK60336021194149+45111
JYP60307419168122+46108
Ässät60314520189150+39106
Jokerit602481315183155+28101
Kärpät60294423164148+1699
Blues601891023148165−1782
Lukko60217428162167−581
TPS60216330134180−4678
SaiPa601851324155176−2177
Tappara60204531132188−5673
HPK60156534132201−6962
Ilves601081032140199−5956

Playoffs

Wild card round (best-of-three)

Kärpät-TPS 2–0
Blues-Lukko 2–1

Quarterfinals (best-of-seven)

KalPa-Blues 3–4

Pelicans-Kärpät 4–3

HIFK-Jokerit 0–4

JYP-Ässät 4–0

Semifinals (best-of-seven)

Pelicans-Blues 4–1

JYP-Jokerit 4–1

Bronze Medal Game

Jokerit-Blues 4–3

Finals (best-of-seven)

Pelicans-JYP 1–4

Relegation (best-of-seven)

Ilves-Sport 4–1