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Mestis

Mestis (from Finnish: Mestaruussarja, meaning 'Championship series', stylized as MEST1S) is the second-highest men's ice hockey league in Finland. The league was established by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 2000 to replace the I-divisioona ('First Division').

Being promoted to SM-liiga is possible if a Mestis team beats a SM-liiga club in the qualification series and matches all the criteria set by the SM-liiga. Mestis, however, is an open league where relegation and promotion are possible with the 3rd league, Suomi-sarja.

Mestis is also the highest league governed by the FIHA.

History

In the years 2000–2008, it was not practically possible for Mestis teams to get promoted to the SM-liiga, which was closed in 2000, but it was possible to drop down to the Suomi-sarja instead. However, KalPa was promoted to the SM-liiga in the spring of 2005, when the number of teams in the league was increased from 13 to 14 teams. For the 2008–2009 season, the SM-liiga qualifiers were brought back for a few seasons, but in the 2013–2014 season, the qualifiers were removed again. After the elimination of the qualifiers, Sport, KooKoo and Jukurit have been promoted to the SM-liiga through the license system.[1] The promotion and relegation between the SM-liiga was brought back for the 2024–25 season.

Mestis got a new team, HK Zemgale/LLU, from Latvia for the 2022–23 season.[1] HK Zemgale had never played in a Finnish league before and was added to Mestis to bring more entertainment and internationalization to Finnish ice hockey.[2]

According to Mestis themselves, they are talking with other international clubs about joining the Mestis league.[2][3]

Clubs

Mestis team map
Hermes
Hokki
IPK
IPK
Kiekko-Pojat
Ketterä
KeuPa HT
Kiekko-Vantaa
Jokerit
RoKi
RoKi
TuTo
TuTo
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Finnish teams in Mestis 2024–25

The team names are usually the traditional name of the club. All clubs are commonly known by the name of their team. Oy and Ab are the abbreviations for limited company in Finnish and Swedish respectively.

Past participants

Vaasan Sport vs TuTo in 2005
KooKoo vs Jukurit in 2007

Mestis timeline

Winners

Medal table:

References

  1. ^ a b "Jääkiekko | Jääkiekon Mestis levittäytyi jo Latviaan, mutta kustannusten kasvu hirvittää seuroja: "Se huolestuttaa"". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 22 September 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Latvian mestari HK Zemgale pelaa ensi kaudella Mestistä". mestis.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Mestis laajenee ulkomaille: latvialainen seura liittyy sarjaan". mtvuutiset.fi (in Finnish). 12 August 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Hirmujälkeä tehneestä joukkueesta tuli hetkessä SM-liigan 2000-luvun naurunaihe – hekuma vaihtui helvetilliseksi taipaleeksi: "Ei se ollut herkkua kenellekään"". mtvuutiset.fi (in Finnish). 11 December 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  5. ^ Lempinen, Marko (11 April 2014). "Tässä on liiganousija Sportin ensi kauden joukkue – pelaajabudjetti kasvaa dramaattisesti". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  6. ^ "MTV: Mikkelin Jukurit nousee SM-liigaan!". www.iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  7. ^ Pärnänen, Antti (30 September 2014). "Nyt se on varmaa: SM-liiga laajenee ja KooKoo nousee". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Zeltiņš: "Zemgale/LBTU" budžets būtiski mazāks nebūs - Hokeja ziņas" (in Latvian). 19 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Mestiksen otteluohjelma kaudelle 2023–24 julkaistu – Kiekko-Espoo ja Jokerit kohtaavat avausottelussa". mestis.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  10. ^ "Käräjäoikeus asetti Peliitat konkurssiin". Itä-Häme (in Finnish). 10 May 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.

External links