The Norwegian Hockey League will discuss the future series model at the general meeting on October 12.
After all, the Ice Hockey SM League accepts new license applications for the 2024–25 season from outside the current main league clubs.
The SM-liiga therefore reverses the decision of the extraordinary general meeting made earlier in the spring, according to which it would not accept license applications for the season in question.
This provides an opportunity for, among others, Kiekko-Espo and Jokeri, who have expressed their interest in the SM league. All interested parties will be in a hurry, because the deadline for applications is already October 31.
SM-liiga Oy organizes a general meeting on October 12, where the first concrete main lines regarding the league’s future series model are presented for decision. The solutions will be communicated publicly after the meeting.
– Not all points related to future serial models will be ready until the 12th, but we will try to give answers to certain key issues at that time. Those solutions will be the basis on which the final stages of the future work will be built, the president of the SM league Heikki Hiltunen describes in the league’s announcement.
The SM League started a process related to the future work in September 2022. Hiltunen understands, according to the release, that the long process “may have tested the patience of the Finnish hockey public”.
– However, there are such large-scale and far-reaching matters to deal with that we have to do careful work. Our responsibility for Suomi-kieko as a whole is great, commented Hiltunen.
The SM League previously justified that it does not accept applications while the transition phase of series systems is underway. According to the release, however, the shareholders have assessed that it does not cause decisive obstacles to the applications.
However, the series emphasizes that the licensing process primarily follows the agreement between the Finnish Ice Hockey Association and the League.
SM league license procedure: