Story Summary
SM-liiga’s much-discussed ‘super season’, which began only a week ago, will already break for almost a week because the coming weekend is reserved for Champions Hockey League matches. After Wednesday’s big round, Liiga games will not resume until next Tuesday.
Key Facts
- The SM-liiga season began a week before the interview and will take an almost week-long pause this week.
- After Wednesday’s big round, Liiga matches will restart next Tuesday.
- Liiga sports director Jussi Markkanen answered questions about the schedule.
- The upcoming weekend is reserved for CHL matches under an agreement between Liiga and the CHL.
- The CHL weekend pauses all leagues; Liiga is most affected because other leagues begin next week.
- Liiga was granted an exception to play during the CHL’s first weekend because of this season’s special circumstances and high game count.
- Liiga is committed to the CHL and regards the existing agreement as appropriate; Markkanen said he does not see a need for further discussion on how CHL matches should be played.
- Liiga expects the total number of matches to fall in future seasons; the league began the regular season earlier (1 September) and will end the regular season slightly later (23 March) so player workloads remain essentially unchanged from previous years.
- Markkanen described the schedule-making task as a normal, annual puzzle and noted pressures such as new arenas hosting many other events and the Jyväskylä arena renovation.
IHM Discussion
The interruption so early in the campaign is a scheduling consequence of Liiga’s commitment to the CHL and the practical demands of fitting a longer, busier season into a crowded calendar. Markkanen presents the pause as an element of a negotiated calendar rather than a fault line: Liiga accepted the CHL agreement and even obtained a one-off exemption to play during CHL’s opening weekend. That exception underlines the flexibility applied this year to accommodate what the league calls a ‘special’ season with an elevated number of fixtures.
Markkanen’s emphasis on starting earlier (1 September) and finishing the regular season later (23 March) is an explicit attempt to keep individual player loads steady despite the expanded overall programme. He frames the calendar as a balancing act: by moving the envelope of the season outward, the league aims to avoid increasing per-player game counts versus prior years. At the same time, practical constraints complicate scheduling. New arenas bring event competition, and the renovation at Jyväskylä’s rink imposes local pressures that the league has had to factor in.
Why It Matters
The pause affects teams’ competitive rhythms and preparation plans. For clubs with CHL commitments, the weekend is devoted to continental fixtures, shaping training and travel arrangements. The break also interrupts a short run of league fixtures. Markkanen insists this is a planned element of the season structure, not a symptom of poor scheduling, and that the arrangement should not increase player workload once the full schedule is complete. Fans and clubs will still be watching how the timing works in practice, particularly with arenas hosting competing events and local infrastructure projects adding pressure to the calendar.
Mini Q&A
Why does Liiga pause for almost a week so early in the season?
The coming weekend is reserved for Champions Hockey League (CHL) matches under an agreement between Liiga and the CHL, so the leagues pause for that weekend, Markkanen said.
How could Liiga play last week while the CHL was already running?
Liiga negotiated an exception to play during the CHL’s first weekend because this is a special season with a large number of games, Markkanen said.
Will this season increase player workload?
No; Markkanen said the league started earlier (1 September) and will finish the regular season a bit later (23 March) so player load should remain essentially identical to previous years.
Is Liiga considering changing how CHL matches are scheduled?
Markkanen said Liiga is committed to the CHL and regards the existing agreement as good; he did not see a need for further discussion on how CHL matches should be played.
Coach Mark Comment
From a coaching perspective, an early break in the league calendar requires a clear plan. Teams can use the time to manage recovery and revisit details, but they must also retain enough intensity to return sharp for the next league round. Practice loads should reflect each group’s recent schedule, with CHL travel and fixtures adding a further consideration for the clubs involved.
What Comes Next
After Wednesday’s scheduled round of matches, SM-liiga’s domestic games will pause for the CHL weekend and resume the following Tuesday. The league began the regular season on 1 September and plans for the regular season to finish on 23 March, measures Markkanen says will keep individual player workloads comparable to previous seasons.
IHM Final View
Liiga’s short, early pause is a direct outcome of its CHL commitment and the practicalities of fitting an expanded season into busy arenas’ calendars. Jussi Markkanen presents the arrangement as negotiated and deliberate: an exception was secured for the CHL’s opening weekend, the season window has been widened to protect player load, and the league views the schedule as a routine but complex annual puzzle. The real test will be how teams manage the stop-start rhythm in practice, and whether the stretched calendar achieves the intended effect of preserving player welfare while fulfilling continental commitments.