2023–24 Mestis season

The 2023–24 Mestis season was the 24th season of Mestis, the second level of ice hockey in Finland. 13 teams participated in the league. This season marked the return of Jokerit to Finnish hockey after 10 years in the KHL.[1]

2023–24 Mestis season
LeagueMestis
SportIce hockey
DurationSeptember 2023 – April 2024
Number of teams13
TV partner(s)C More
Regular Season
Best recordIPK
  Runners-upKetterä
Promoted to LiigaKiekko-Espoo
Relegated to Suomi-sarjaFPS
Playoffs
ChampionsIPK
  Runners-upKetterä
Mestis seasons

Clubs

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Updated 25 July 2023.

Team City Home arena, capacity Founded Head coach
FPS   Forssa Forssa Ice Hall, 3,000 1931   Asko Rantanen
Hermes   Kokkola Kokkolan jäähalli, 4,200 1953   Tuukka Poikonen
Hokki   Kajaani Kajaanin jäähalli, 2,372 1968   Pasi Räsänen
IPK   Iisalmi Kankaan jäähalli, - 1966   Niko Härkönen
Jokerit   Helsinki Keravan jäähalli, 2,000

Helsinki Ice Hall, 8,200

1967   Tero Määttä
JoKP   Joensuu Mehtimäki Ice Hall, 4,800 1953   Kari Martikainen
Kiekko-Espoo   Espoo Espoo Metro Areena, 6,900 2018   Tomas Westerlund
Ketterä   Imatra Imatra Spa Areena, 1,300 1957   Tuomo Ropo
KeuPa HT   Keuruu Keuruun Jäähalli, 1,100 1995   Sami Ryhänen
KOOVEE   Tampere Tampere Ice Stadium, 7,300 1929   Miikka Kuusela
Kiekko-Vantaa   Vantaa Trio Areena, 3,700 1994   Jani Manninen
RoKi   Rovaniemi Lappi Areena, 3,500 1979   Maso Lehtonen
TUTO Hockey   Turku Rajupaja Areena, 3,000 1929   Hermanni Vidman

Team changes

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The following team changes have happened for the 2023–24 season:

To Mestis

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Promoted from Suomi-sarja

  • None

Relegated from Liiga

  • None as Liiga is closed[2]

Other

From Mestis

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Promoted to Liiga

  • None as Liiga is closed[2]

Relegated to Suomi-sarja

  • None

Other


Regular season

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The regular season consists of 48 matches.

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Final Result
1 IPK 48 32 4 4 8 205 123 +82 108 Advance to Quarterfinals
2 Ketterä 48 29 5 1 13 192 115 +77 98
3 Jokerit 48 23 10 5 10 179 120 +59 94
4 K-Espoo 48 26 2 5 15 166 130 +36 87
5 TUTO Hockey 48 22 6 7 13 145 142 +3 85
6 Hermes 48 22 4 6 16 180 147 +33 80
7 JoKP 48 18 5 8 17 146 158 −12 72 Advance to Wild-card round
8 RoKi 48 18 6 5 19 165 177 −12 71
9 K-Vantaa 48 19 3 7 19 164 158 +6 70
10 KOOVEE 48 13 6 3 26 122 174 −52 54
11 KeuPa HT 48 11 7 5 25 122 180 −58 52
12 Hokki 48 9 4 6 29 112 166 −54 41 Qualification to relegation playoffs
13 FPS 48 5 3 3 37 95 203 −108 24
Source: Mestis

Rules for classification: 1) Total points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Penalty minutes.

Playoffs

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Playoffs are being played in four stages. Wild-card round is a best-of-3 series, with the quarter-finals, the semifinals and the final being best-of-7 series. The teams are reseeded after the first two stages, so that the best team by regular season performance to make the quarter-finals and the semifinals faces the worst team in the corresponding stage.[3]

Bracket

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Wild-card round (best-of-3) Quarter-finals (best-of-7) Semi-finals (best-of-7) Finals (best-of-7)
1 IPK 4
7 JoKP 2 8 RoKi 2
10 KOOVEE 0 1 IPK 4
2 Hermes 3
2 Ketterä 4 (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round)
7 JoKP 1
1 IPK 4
2 Ketterä 3
3 Jokerit 2
8 K-Vantaa 0 6 Hermes 4
9 RoKi 2 3 Ketterä 4 Bronze medal game
4 K-Espoo 0
4 K-Espoo 3 3 K-Espoo 3
5 TUTO Hockey 3 4 Hermes 1


Promotion and relegation

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Promotion

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As the champion of Mestis in season 2022-23, Liiga decided to promote Kiekko-Espoo for the Liiga Season 2024-25.[5]

Relegation

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In the first round of relegation playoffs the 12th and 13th seated teams will play against each other. The loser will be relegated to the Suomi-sarja for next season.

In the second round of relegation playoffs, the winner of the first round will play against the champion of Suomi-sarja. The winner of this round will play next season in Mestis and the loser will be in Suomi-sarja.

Both 1st and 2nd rounds are played as a best-of-7 series.[3]

1st round of relegation playoffs 2nd round of relegation playoffs
1 Hokki (Stays in Mestis) 4
12 Hokki 4 2 Pyry (Stays in Suomi-sarja) 0
13 FPS (relegated) 1

References

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  1. ^ "13 joukkuetta sai Mestis-lisenssin – Jokereiden paluulle sinetti". mestis.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  2. ^ a b "SM-liiga sulkeutuu, Pelicans saa jatkaa". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). 2000-04-20. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  3. ^ a b c "Mestiksen otteluohjelma kaudelle 2023–24 julkaistu – Kiekko-Espoo ja Jokerit kohtaavat avausottelussa". mestis.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  4. ^ "Jokerien paluulle viimein sinetti! Seuralta merkittävä paljastus kotipeleistään Mestiksessä". mtvuutiset.fi (in Finnish). 2023-05-03. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  5. ^ "Kiekko-Espoon tiedote Liiga-projektista". Kiekko Espoo (in Finnish). 2024-03-05. Retrieved 2024-03-17.