The Naisten Suomi-sarja (lit.'Women's Finland Series'), distinguished as the Jääkiekon naisten Suomi-sarja (lit.'Ice Hockey Women's Finland Series'), is the third-tier women's national ice hockey league in Finland.[1] It was established by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 2003 and is the lowest tier of national ice hockey competition, below the premier Auroraliiga and secondary Naisten Mestis, but above regional leagues (Finnish: Naisten alueelliset harrastesarjat).
Season format
2023–24 season
Beginning in the 2023–24 season, the Naisten Mestis adopted the ten team, 36-game format used by the Auroraliiga. Since then, all teams not playing in the Auroraliiga or Naisten Mestis and any new teams play in the Naisten Suomi-sarja by default. The top teams in the Naisten Suomi-sarja have the opportunity to earn promotion to the Naisten Mestis in a promotion/relegation series against the bottom ranked Naisten Mestis teams at the end of the season.[2]
Previous formats
2022–23 season
Excepting the ten teams of the Naisten Liiga, all women's ice hockey teams competing at the national level began the season in the Naisten Mestis qualifiers (Finnish: karsinta). The Naisten Mestis qualifiers, which were contested during September to December 2022, involved eighteen teams divided into three groups of five to seven teams. In the closed groups, each team played every other team at least twice. The top eight teams at the end of the qualifiers continued in the Naisten Mestis and the remaining teams filled the ranks of the Naisten Suomi-sarja.[2]
2016–2022 seasons
With the exception of the eight Naisten SM-sarja teams, all women's teams started the season in the Naisten Mestis qualifiers. The top eight teams qualified for the Naisten Mestis regular season and the remaining teams continued the season in the Naisten Suomi-sarja.
The best four teams of the Naisten Suomi-sarja regular season earned placement in the finals of the Naisten Mestis. The other teams continued the season in the final series of the Naisten Suomi-sarja. The series winner was determined in the final tournament.[3]