U20 SM-sarja


The U20 SM-sarja is the premier junior men's ice hockey league in Finland. It was previously known as the A-nuorten SM-sarja during 1945 to 1991 and the Nuorten SM-liiga during 1991 to 2020. The league was founded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 1945 and a Finnish Champion in men's under-20 ice hockey has been named annually since the league's inaugural season – with the exception of the 2019–20 season, in which the playoffs were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eighteen to twenty teams compete in the U20 SM-sarja regular season, which is played in a preliminary ranking stage followed by a divisional or group stage.

Teams

Each team in the U20 SM-sarja is the junior development squad of a professional ice hockey club and shares the club's name. Most of the senior clubs of U20 teams play in the Liiga, the premier men's ice hockey league in Finland. Notable exceptions include Jokerit, Kiekko-Espoo, Rovaniemen Kiekko, and TUTO Hockey, all of which play in the second-tier Mestis.
In conversation, the league and participating teams are referred to as U20, A-nuorten/A-nuoret, or U20-nuorten/U20-nuoret interchangeably – the terms originate in various naming structures used by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association over the history of the league.

2020–21 season

Note: Oy is an abbreviation of osakeyhtiö, a type of limited company in Finland; Ab is the abbreviation of aktiebolag, the Swedish term for an osakeyhtiö. The abbreviations ry and rf refer respectively to the Finnish and Swedish terms for a registered non-profit organization in Finland.
Team nameClub's registered nameLocation
HPK U20HPK Liiga Oy Hämeenlinna
Ilves U20Ilves Hockey Oy Tampere
Jokerit U20Jokerit Hockey Club Oy Helsinki
Jukurit U20Jukurit HC Oy Mikkeli
JYP U20JYP Jyväskylä Oy Jyväskylä
KalPa U20KalPa Hockey Oy Kuopio
Kiekko-Espoo U20Kiekko-Espoo ry Espoo
HIFK U20 or KollitHIFK Ishockey rf Helsinki
KooKoo U20KooKoo Hockey Oy Kouvola
Kärpät U20Oulun Kärpät Oy Oulu
Lukko U20Rauman Lukko Oy Rauma
Pelicans U20Lahden Pelicans Oy Lahti
RoKi U20Rovaniemen Kiekko ry Rovaniemi
SaiPa U20Liiga-Saipa Oy Lappeenranta
Sport U20Hockey-Team Vaasan Sport Oy Vaasa
Tappara U20Tamhockey Oy Tampere
TPS U20HC TPS Turku Oy Turku
TUTO Hockey U20TuTo Hockey Oy Turku
Ässät U20HC Ässät Pori Oy Pori

Source:
Renamed, still in U20 SM-sarjaJyP HT and JyP, now JYPEspoo Blues, now Kiekko-EspooKiekkoreipas, Hockey-Reipas, and Reipas Lahti, now ''Pelicans''

Former clubs

At present, this list includes only those former clubs which won a Finnish Championship medal while playing in the U20 SM-sarja.
Bold indicates U20 ice hockey team currently active and playing in the U20 Mestis.

Champions by year

Source:

Awards

In 2010, the Finnish Ice Hockey Association standardized the award categories across the top leagues in each competition class under its administration: the Mestis, the Naisten Liiga, the U20 SM-sarja, the U18 SM-sarja, and the U16 SM-sarja. New trophies were created for award categories not previously used by a league and existing awards were renamed after iconic players in Finnish ice hockey.