The new season of the SM league starts on Tuesday next week.
In the SM league, you can see fierce tackles. In the photo from last season, Luko’s Sebastian Repo tackles Ässi’s Aleksi Heimosalme. Elmeri Elo / AOP
League informs on its website that he decided to change the principles of toughening the punishments for repeat offenders. The old calculation formula will be abandoned, and a simple three-step staircase will replace it.
For several years now, the League’s disciplinary delegation has used a mathematical calculation formula to make sentences harsher in cases where the offending player has a previous disciplinary history from the current and/or three previous League seasons.
This calculation formula will be waived for the 2023–24 season.
In the future, the disciplinary delegation can make the disciplinary punishments tougher for rookies with either one, two or a maximum of three matches.
The application of the ladder in each case is at the delegation’s discretion.
The review period is the current season and the previous season.
– We have investigated this matter carefully, and the message has been the same from all operators. Players, coaches and sports directors have felt that these reforms bring more fairness to discipline, says the League’s sports director Jussi Markkanen.
The background of the decision is the extensive internal investigation work carried out by the League after the 2022–23 season regarding both the rules of the series and the disciplinary lines prevailing in the series. Views were sought from players, coaches, sports directors, the League’s central office and club CEOs. The views of all parties were strongly in favor of the change made now.
With the decision made now, the League is also moving closer to the pan-European line, which is implemented in the main leagues of different countries for rookies.
The change in the disciplinary rules has been officially confirmed by the board of Jääkiekon SM-liiga Oy in accordance with the League’s management model.
On Thursday, the League announced the rule changes for the 2023–2024 season.
In the future, every big penalty (5+PR) will be checked on video, which also aims to improve the fairness of the sentences.
There was also a change in the punishment practices for fights. In the future, it is possible to award a mere 5-minute penalty for a fight without a game penalty, if, for example, the player participates in an exchange of blows only partially in order to defend himself.