Ice hockey is the most popular sport in Finland in terms of television viewership and game attendance figures.

[5] As of 2020, approximately 1.3% of the Finnish population was registered with the International Ice Hockey Federation, ranking Finland second in the world for percentage of population participating in ice hockey[a] and the highest percentage of any country outside of North America.

Viipurin Reipas were champions in the inaugural year and remain one of the oldest ice hockey teams in Finland, still competing today under the name Lahti Pelicans.

[8][9][10] Since 2011, the association has operated a financial support system for minor and junior ice hockey players from low-income families.

In total, the program has distributed approximately 6.7 million euros to youth hockey players since 2011.

It was created 1975 as the first domestic professional ice hockey league and replaced the SM-sarja as the top national division.

The Naisten Liiga is the elite league for women's ice hockey in Finland; established in 1982 and has been in continuous operation since the 1982–83 season.

It is possible for a newly created team to gain promotion to the Naisten Liiga in the span of their inaugural season, as Stadin Gimmat (HIFK Naiset) did in 2018–19.

Each age group has the same three-tier structure as the senior leagues, i.e. there is a top-level SM-sarja, a second-tier Mestis, and a third-tier Suomi-sarja for U16, U18, and U20.