2022–23 Naisten Liiga season

The 2022–23 Naisten Liiga season was the fortieth season of the Naisten Liiga, the premier level of women's ice hockey in Finland, since the league's establishment as the Naisten SM-sarja in 1982. The regular season began on 10 September 2022 and concluded on 19 February 2023.

HIFK Helsinki and KalPa Kuopio both finished the regular season at the top of the league, tied with 93 points in 36 games. HIFK were granted the regular season championship title by virtue of a higher goal difference, marking the first regular season victory in team history. Kiekko-Espoo, the reigning regular season champions from the previous four seasons (2018–19 to 2021–22), finished in third place.

HIFK swept all three rounds of the 2023 Aurora Borealis Cup playoffs to win the Aurora Borealis Cup for the first time in team history. Kiekko-Espoo, the reigning Finnish Champions from the 2022 Aurora Borealis Cup playoffs, claimed the franchise's third Finnish Championship silver medal and KalPa won Finnish Championship bronze for the fourth time.

In the qualification, RoKi Rovaniemi and Rauman Lukko overcame Naisten Mestis teams HIFK Akatemia and Kiekko-Espoo Akatemia to save themselves from relegation.

Season format
The Finnish Ice Hockey Association chose to streamline the Naisten Liiga season format after the 2021–22 season. Instead of the previous twenty-game preliminary series and ten-game divisional series, the ten teams play a single-series, four-cycle round-robin. For each team, the regular season comprises 36 games.

The top eight teams at the end of the season qualify for the Aurora Borealis Cup playoffs. The teams finishing the season ranked ninth and tenth play a promotion/relegation series against the top two teams of the Naisten Mestis.

The format change adds six games per team to the regular season schedule and matches the season structure of the league's closest neighbor, the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL).

Player signings
''Note: This section does not record all player signings. It is limited to player movements involving national team players (from any country), international import players, and extra-league signings.''

Pre-season

The 2022 Aurora Borealis Cup champions, Kiekko-Espoo, saw the single largest number of pre-season player departures, with a majority of departures involving Finnish national team players. Players from Kiekko-Espoo departing for other leagues included reigning Päivi Halonen Award winner and Playoff MVP Nelli Laitinen, who left to pursue a college ice hockey career with the Minnesota Golden Gophers; Ella Viitasuo and Kiira Yrjänen, who signed in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) with HV71 Dam; and Minttu Tuominen, who began the 2021–22 season as captain of Kiekko-Espoo but concluded the season in the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL) with the KRS Vanke Rays and signed in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) with the Metropolitan Riveters for the 2022–23 season. Several high-impact Kiekko-Espoo players signed with other Naisten Liiga teams, including reigning Best Forward for four consecutive seasons Elisa Holopainen and All-Star Sanni Rantala, who both signed with KalPa; Emilia Vesa, who signed with HIFK; and Emmi Leinonen, who retired from playing and joined HPK as an assistant coach.

HPK celebrated the career of all-time Naisten Liiga top point scorer and most games played record holder Riikka Noronen, who retired from playing in 2022 after 27 consecutive seasons in the league. The vacancy left by Noronen’s departure and other player movements made it possible for HPK to attract a number of international players, including Olympic medalist in speed skating and Czech national team forward Karolína Erbanová, Czech national under-18 team forward Barbora Juříčková, and Slovak national team centre Lucia Záborská. French national team goaltender Margaux Mameri was signed to replace Canadian Kassidy Sauvé, who departed HPK to sign in the PHF with the Buffalo Beauts. Sauvé had signed in the middle of the 2021–22 season as successor to starting netminder Noora Räty, who left HPK in January to rejoin the KRS Vanke Rays in the ZhHL.

KalPa also bid farewell to a franchise star with the retirement of their captain, the 2020 Player of the Year winner and a three-time All-Star, Tanja Niskanen. In addition to signing national team players Holopainen and Rantala from Kiekko-Espoo, KalPa attracted Finnish goaltender Aino Laitinen from the Budapest Jégkorong Akadémia of the European Women's Hockey League (EWHL).

TPS boasted both the 2021–22 regular season top point scorer in French national team centre Estelle Duvin, and the player with the most regular season assists in Maija Otamo (three-way tied with Elisa Holopainen and Michaela Pejzlová). In a major loss to the team's offensive production, the linemates both signed in the Swiss Women's League (SWHL A) with EV Bomo Thun for the 2022–23 season. Continuing the pattern of signing at least one French national team player to the roster in each season since 2020, TPS inked defenseman Raphaëlle Grenier.

Ilves goaltender Anni Keisala was named 2022 Naisten Liiga Player of the Year and Best Goaltender – in addition to being named Best Goaltender of the 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship – making her a highly sought after addition to a number of international teams. Her decision to sign in the SDHL with HV71 was one of the most significant moves of the pre-season. Ilves recruited internationally to fill Keisala's roster spot and brought in Canadian goaltender Camille Scherger from the UPEI Panthers women's ice hockey program of U Sports. Top defenceman Anna Kilponen, who began the 2021–22 season as captain of Ilves before concluding the season in the ZhHL with the KRS Vanke Rays, opted not to return to Finland and instead signed in the PHF with the Metropolitan Riveters.

Kiekko-Espoo’s Laitinen was not the only Naisten Liiga defenseman to embark on a college ice hockey career in the NCAA Division I, as Krista Parkkonen of HIFK, the 2020 Naisten Liiga Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Star, joined the Vermont Catamounts women's ice hockey program. HIFK saw relatively little turnover in comparison to their close neighbors in Espoo, with the departure of just Parkkonen and Czech forward Veronika Lorencová, who left for the EVB Eagles Südtirol of the EWHL and Italian Hockey League Women. The team acquired two Finnish national team players: Sanni Vanhanen, the youngest active member of the national team and the top Finnish scorer at the 2022 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship, who had previously played with the Tappara boys' under-17 teams in Finland's top U17 league and had been loaned to Ilves Naiset for a handful of games over the previous several seasons, and Emilia Vesa, a standout winger and former captain of Team Kuortane, who had played with Kiekko-Espoo since 2020.

2022–23 season

 * Naisten Mestis teams participating in the qualification series

Regular season
The 180-game regular season began on 10 September 2022 and concluded on 19 February 2023.

Standings
HIFK Helsinki claimed first place in the regular season for the first time in team history. They tied KalPa Kuopio in points, with 93 points each, but HIFK were awarded top rank by virtue of a higher goal difference. Kiekko-Espoo, the first place team from the 2021–22 regular season, finished in third place with 74 points. HPK Hämeenlinna improved from seventh place (first in the lower division series) in the 2021–22 regular season to fourth in 2022–23, amassing 67 points. Though Tampereen Ilves outperformed their 1.43 points per game (Pts/G) average from 2021–22, with a 1.64 Pts/G, they moved down the rankings from fourth to fifth place, season over season. Team Kuortane finished in sixth place for the second consecutive season, however, like Ilves, they notably improved their points per game from 1.15 to 1.53, season over season. TPS Turku fell from fifth to seventh place and Oulun Kärpät suffered the most dramatic fall in the standings, going from third to eighth place.

Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the regular season on 19 February 2023.

The following skaters were the top point scorers of teams not represented in the scoring leader table at the conclusion of the regular season on 19 February 2023, noted with their overall league scoring rank:


 * 25. Nea Tervonen (F), Kuortane: 33 GP, 12 G, 20 A, 32 Pts, 4 PIM
 * 39. Aliisa Toivonen (F), Lukko: 33 GP, 12 G, 12 A, 24 Pts, 28 PIM
 * 63. Iida Lappalainen (F), RoKi: 33 GP, 11 G, 6 A, 17 Pts, 26 PIM

Goaltenders
The following goaltenders had played at least one-third of their team's minutes in net at the conclusion of the regular season on 19 February 2023, sorted by save percentage.

Top backup goaltenders

The following goaltenders recorded the highest save percentages of those who had played a minimum of ten percent but fewer than one-third of their team’s minutes in net at the conclusion of the regular season on 19 February 2023.

Playoffs
HIFK swept all three rounds of the 2023 Aurora Borealis Cup playoffs to win the Aurora Borealis Cup for the first time in team history. Kiekko-Espoo, the reigning Finnish Champions from the 2022 Aurora Borealis Cup playoffs, claimed the franchise's third Finnish Championship silver medal and KalPa won Finnish Championship bronze for the fourth time.

Qualification
The qualification series (karsintasarja) began on 18 March and concluded on 2 April 2023. It was played as a double round-robin in which each team will face every opponent once at home and once away.

Two teams from the 2022 qualification series returned to the promotion/relegation tournament in 2023: Lukko and RoKi. In the 2022 series, RoKi successfully defended their place in the league and, after having been relegated to the Naisten Mestis in the 2021 Naisten Liiga qualifiction, Lukko earned promotion back to the Naisten Liiga via the relegation of Vaasan Sport Naiset.

Lukko and RoKi were joined by the top two teams of the Naisten Mestis regular season, HIFK Akatemia and Kiekko-Espoo Akatemia, the respective developmental squad of HIFK Naiset and Kiekko-Espoo Naiset, the Aurora Borealis Cup finalists. Both teams made their debut in the Naisten Liiga qualification and the series was the first in league history to feature the developmental squads of two teams active in the Naisten Liiga.

The series concluded with RoKi and Lukko overcoming HIFK Akatemia and Kiekko-Espoo Akatemia to save themselves from relegation. Both teams will remain in the Naisten Liiga for the 2023–24 season, while HIFK Akatemia and Kiekko-Espoo Akatemia will play in the season in the Naisten Mestis.

Player statistics

 * Scoring leaders

The following players were the qualification point leaders at the conclusion of the series on 2 April 2023.


 * Goaltenders

The following goaltenders had played a minimum of one qualification game at the conclusion of the series on 2 April 2023, sorted by save percentage.

Finnish Ice Hockey Association awards
Source: Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto
 * Riikka Nieminen Award (Player of the Year): Elisa Holopainen, KalPa
 * Tuula Puputti Award (Goaltender of the Year): Emilia Kyrkkö, Team Kuortane
 * Päivi Halonen Award (Defender of the Year): Siiri Yrjölä, HIFK
 * Katja Riipi Award (Forward of the Year): Elisa Holopainen, KalPa
 * Marianne Ihalainen Award (Top point scorer): Michaela Pejzlová, HIFK
 * Tiia Reima Award (Top goal scorer): Elisa Holopainen, KalPa
 * Sari Fisk Award (Best plus–minus): Michaela Pejzlová, HIFK
 * Noora Räty Award (Rookie of the Year): Sanni Vanhanen, HIFK
 * Emma Laaksonen Award (Fair-play player): Jenna Hietala, KalPa
 * Karoliina Rantamäki Award (Playoff MVP): Sanni Vanhanen, HIFK
 * Hannu Saintula Award (Coach of the Year): Saara Niemi, HIFK
 * Student Athlete Award: Michaela Pejzlová, HIFK
 * U18 Student Athlete Award: Kerttu Lehmus, Team Kuortane
 * Anu Hirvonen Award (Best Referee): Anniina Nurmi
 * Johanna Suban Award (Best Linesman): Salla Raitala

Player of the Month

 * September 2022: Emilia Kyrkkö (G), Team Kuortane
 * October 2022: Julia Liikala (F), HIFK
 * November 2022: Elisa Holopainen (F), KalPa
 * December 2022: Kiti Seikkula (F), HPK
 * January 2023: Emilia Vesa (F), HIFK
 * February 2023: Pauliina Salonen (F), TPS