The big clubs are outraged by the SM league’s decision. Iltalehti’s expert Pekka Virta is very concerned about the athleticism and interest of the expanding series.
There is a big dispute in Jääkiekon SM-liiga Oy, which has fifteen shareholders. According to Iltalehti’s information, the league’s major clubs would have strongly wanted to reduce the number of teams in the series to twelve and distribute the playoff income according to success.
– At Thursday’s press conference, mutual understanding between the clubs was sought. Everyone who works with the sport knows that consensus is quite far away. The series is divided into large and small. The big ones had a clear desire to reduce the number of teams. For example, the small clubs that have paid for the league license in recent history will not give up their place, comments Iltalehti’s ice hockey expert Pekka Virta.
The increase in the number of teams in the series is a knock-out for bigger clubs.
– It would be in everyone’s interest to have a really strong 12-team league. Such a product would have more money, and with that the top players would stay in Finland, says Virta.
Of course, the major clubs have a significant financial interest in getting more betting games and thereby increasing the general interest of the series, but there is also a genuine concern for the future of Finnish ice hockey in the background.
– Now we went in the wrong direction, as there are not enough quality players at the moment either. I am sure that this solution is not a sporting victory for Finnish ice hockey. Like Jukka Jalonen said Maikkar, in these decisions we do not think about the interests of Finnish ice hockey, but about our own interests.
Jokers bad blood
Behind the scenes of the ice hockey championship league, a fiery dispute is brewing between big and small clubs. Jaakko Stenroos/AOP
Kiekko-Espoo will probably be promoted to the SM league for the 2024–25 season, even though the club’s most recent financial statements are gross. With a turnover of 950,000 euros, a loss of 400,000 euros, equity of only 88,000 euros and debt capital (practically short-term debt) of 234,000 euros.
But Espoo’s athletic success in Mestis is enough for the league according to the license conditions in use: gold, silver and a regular season win in the previous three seasons.
After Espoo, we are at the maximum number according to the league’s recent announcement, i.e. sixteen main league teams.
Jokerit wants to join the league in the 2025–26 season, but it has to get there by playing. The decision says that the league community still has no sympathy for the Helsinki gentlemen. The bad blood caused by the KHL trip is still boiling, even though the organization’s ownership base and managers have changed.
– If it were to happen that a current league club voluntarily leaves the series, the Jokers’ opponent in the qualifiers would be even tougher. And before that you should beat Mestis. It’s not exactly a joke, says Virta.
The half-breed is hiding
The recent decisions of the SM League were rather inconclusive. Mika Kylmäniemi / AOP
What will be left for Mestis when Espoo and Jokerit at some point play in the main series?
– It looks similar to the two teams from the capital region before, Virta answers.
Iltalehti presented a sports model, which would have had the first and second series of 12+12 teams under the same umbrella organization.
– Mestis has great cities and there are clubs at the tail end of the league at the moment, for whom the second division would be a better option. Genuine stories and interest could have been born in the second series. In the future, it is difficult to see such a thing when Mestis operates with a player budget of 100,000 euros.
A notable detail at Thursday’s SM league press conference was when the chairman Heikki Hiltunen mentioned that a league club can give up its league place voluntarily. The comment sounded like a foreshadowing.
– What kind of golden handshake does a club leave with? How much would be paid for a league share, the expert ponders.
The only tension
THE FACTS
The new decisions of the SM league
1. Starting from spring 2025 and from then on, there will be annual qualifiers between the team that finished last in the League and the winner of Mestis. The potential aspirant is required to fulfill the Liiga’s valid license conditions.
2. From spring 2024 onwards, Mesti’s victory in that season, in addition to winning the League qualifiers, will be added to the Liiga’s license conditions as a condition for promotion to the Liiga.
3. The number of teams in the league will be limited to a maximum of 16 from the 2025–26 season.
4. In the event that the club gives up its place in the series, the vacant place will not be filled.
When 16 teams play in the league in the future, there will be more meaningless matches. It means that the interest of the regular season decreases even more.
– When you didn’t dare to do anything radical, you have to create a serial program that is more interesting than the current one.
Will there be 12 teams in the playoffs in the future? The four best of the regular season directly to the second round of the playoffs, and the teams ranked 5–12 to the first round played with the best-of-five system?
If 10 teams go to the playoffs according to the current model, will the last two or four of the regular season have playout series? Playouts for the jumbo league qualification?
– The series was opened before the break. The qualifiers are the only operational model of the new decisions that increases the league’s interest. Therefore, other than the last team in the regular season must also be under pressure from relegation.
Many consider the recent decisions of the SM League to be historic, but in the big picture they are quite small.
– The company was good when people in the sport were listened to, for example by returning the qualifiers. But in the long run, this ties the hands to big sporting changes that will grow hockey, Virta states.