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.
Clubs 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 HelsinkiKeravan 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 The following team changes have happened for the 2023–24 season:
To Mestis
Promoted from Suomi-sarja None
Relegated from Liiga None as Liiga is closed
Other Jokerit from the KHL
From Mestis
Promoted to Liiga None as Liiga is closed
Relegated to Suomi-sarja None
Other HK Zemgale/LLU did not receive a license Peliitat went bankrupt and thus did not receive a license
Regular season
The regular season consists of 48 matches. Rules for classification: 1) Total points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Penalty minutes.
Playoffs 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.
Bracket
Promotion and relegation
Promotion As the champion of Mestis in season 2022-23, Liiga decided to promote Kiekko-Espoo for the Liiga Season 2024-25.
Relegation 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.
References