2019–20 Liiga season


The 2019–20 Liiga season is the 45th season of the Liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. The last two game days of the regular season were scheduled to be played in front of an empty arena due to the Finnish government advising that all public events with more than 500 attendees will be cancelled or postponed. On 13 March, the rest of the season, which included the final round of the regular season and all of playoffs, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Finnish championship was not awarded for the first time since 1944 when the 1943–44 SM-sarja season was cancelled due to the Continuation War.

Teams

TeamCityHead coachArenaCapacityCaptain
HIFKHelsinkiJarno PikkarainenHelsingin jäähalliLennart Petrell14 Nov 2019
Jere Sallinen
HPKHämeenlinnaAntti PennanenPatria-areenaNiklas Friman
IlvesTampereKarri Kivi30 Sep 2019
Jouko Myrrä
Tampereen jäähalliEemeli Suomi
JukuritMikkeliPekka Kangasalusta6 Jan 2020
Marko Kauppinen
Kalevankankaan jäähalliMiika Roine
JYPPekka TirkkonenSynergia-areenaJuuso Vainio
KalPaKuopioTommi MiettinenNiiralan monttuTommi Jokinen
KooKooKouvolaJussi AhokasLumon arenaAlexander Bonsaksen
KärpätOuluMikko MannerOulun Energia AreenaLasse Kukkonen
LukkoRaumaPekka VirtaÄijänsuo ArenaTapio Laakso
PelicansLahtiVille Nieminen30 Nov 2019
Jesse Welling
Isku AreenaHannes Björninen
SaiPaLappeenrantaTero LehteräKisapuistoElmeri Kaksonen
SportVaasaAri-Pekka Pajuluoma23 Nov 2019
Risto Dufva
Vaasa ArenaErik Riska
TapparaTampereJukka RautakorpiTampereen jäähalliKristian Kuusela
TPSTurkuKalle Kaskinen1 Nov 2019
Marko Virtanen
HK ArenaLauri Korpikoski
PoriAri-Pekka SelinPorin jäähalliNiklas Appelgren

Regular season

Usually the top six advance straight to quarter-finals, while teams between 7th and 10th positions play wild card round for the final two spots. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the last game day of the season was not played and no playoffs were held. The top 4 teams of the unfinished regular season qualified for the Champions Hockey League and the 5th team to the Spengler Cup. The Liiga is a closed series and thus there is no relegation.

Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) 3-point wins 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points.