2020–21 Mestis season

2020–21 Mestis
LeagueMestis
SportIce hockey
DurationSeptember 2020 – April 2021
Number of teams14
Regular season
Best recordK-Espoo
  Runners-upJoKP
Top scorerJoonas Larinmaa (KeuPa HT)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVPMarlo Koponen (Ketterä)
Finals championsKetterä
  Runners-upHermes
Mestis seasons

The 2020–21 Mestis season was the 21st season of Mestis, the second highest level of ice hockey in Finland after Liiga. Due to promotion/relegation games being cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in the last season both semi-finalists from last seasons Suomi-sarja (K-Espoo and FPS) were promoted to Mestis. Therefore, this seasons consisted of 14 teams.[1]

Clubs

Team City Home arena, capacity Founded Head coach
FPS Forssa Forssa Ice Hall, 3,000 1931 Finland Asko Rantanen
Hermes Kokkola Kokkolan jäähalli, 4,200 1953 Finland Jere Härkälä
Hokki Kajaani Kajaanin jäähalli, 2,372 1968 Finland Niko Eronen
IPK Iisalmi Kankaan jäähalli, 1,358 1966 Finland Niko Härkönen
JoKP Joensuu PKS Areena, 4,800 1953 Finland Joni Petrell 19.1.2021
Finland Benjamin Laurinkari
Ketterä Imatra Imatra Spa Areena, 1,200 1957 Finland Maso Lehtonen
KeuPa HT Keuruu Keuruun Jäähalli, 1,100 1995 Finland Tomas Westerlund
K-Espoo Espoo Espoo Metro Areena, 6,982 2018 Finland Janne Tuunanen
K-Vantaa Vantaa Trio Areena, 2,004 1994 Finland Mika Niskanen
KOOVEE Tampere Tampere Ice Stadium, 7,300 1929 Finland Juuso Hahl
Peliitat Heinola Versowood Areena, 2,686 1984 Finland Vesa Petäjä
RoKi Rovaniemi Lappi Areena, 3,500 1979 Finland Santeri Immonen
SaPKo Savonlinna Talvisalo ice rink, 2,833 1929 Finland Pasi Räsänen
TUTO Hockey Turku Kupittaan jäähalli, 3,000 1929 Finland Antti Virtanen

Regular season

Initially the plan was to have each team play 50 games in total but due to the season being on hold from 2 December 2020 to 10 February 2021 the teams were unable to play the full season.[2][3] Due to this points-per-game determines the order of the teams. SaPKo and RoKi decided not to continue the season when it resumed in February 2021.[4]

Top six advanced straight to the quarter-finals, while teams between 7th and 10th positions played a wild card round for the final two spots. Since the highest series of Finnish hockey is a closed series no team will be promoted to Liiga.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD W+ Pts PPG Final Result
1 K-Espoo 31 17 6 8 108 84 24 3 60 1.94 Advance to Quarterfinals
2 JoKP 31 17 5 9 107 89 18 3 59 1.90
3 Ketterä 31 17 5 9 130 92 38 1 57 1.84
4 KeuPa HT 31 17 4 10 112 102 10 2 57 1.84
5 IPK 30 14 6 10 108 94 14 5 53 1.77
6 KOOVEE 28 13 3 12 89 93 −4 2 44 1.57
7 K-Vantaa 29 11 7 11 89 85 4 2 42 1.45 Advance to Wild-card round
8 TUTO Hockey 30 11 6 13 98 104 −6 3 42 1.40
9 Hermes 30 8 9 13 86 96 −10 4 37 1.23
10 Peliitat 31 9 5 17 92 113 −21 4 36 1.16
11 FPS 30 10 1 19 77 103 −26 1 32 1.07
12 Hokki 30 6 7 17 79 107 −28 2 27 0.90
13 SaPKo 18 6 5 7 62 68 −6 4 27 1.50 Did not finish the season
14 RoKi 18 7 3 8 57 64 −7 0 24 1.33
Source: Liiga

Rules for classification: 1) Points-per-game; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Penalty minutes.[5]

Playoffs

Playoffs are being played in four stages. Each stage before the final is a best-of-3 series, with the final being a best-of-5 series. The teams are reseeded after the quarterfinals, so that the best team by regular season performance to make the semifinals faces the worst team in the semifinals.

Bracket

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


Wild-card round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Bronze medal game

21 April 2021
18:30		JoKP0–4
(0–1, 0–1, 0–2)		IPKPKS Areena, Joensuu
Attendance: 20
Game reference
Leevi NikkinenGoaliesSamu PakarinenReferees:
Jani Pesonen
Ville-Veikko Väkeväinen
Linesmen:
Joonas Hurskainen
Markus Peltola
0–103:33 – A. Ahola (B. Maia, J. Hämäläinen)
0–233:17 – M. Juusola (T. Kokkola, V. Järvinen)
0–346:19 – J. Hämäläinen (J. Nevalainen)
0–456:36 – N. Koskinen (J. Nevalainen) (ENG)
14 minPenalties4 min
16Shots30

Finals

20 April 2021
18:30		Ketterä2–3
(1–1, 1–0, 0–2)		HermesImatra Spa Areena, Imatra
Attendance: 6
Game reference
Santeri LipiäinenGoaliesJoel BlomqvistReferees:
Antti Hölli
Pasi Nieminen
Linesmen:
Marko Aalto
Janne Laukkala
0–111:50 – J. Ketola (A. Lausniemi, J. Ahlgren)
A. Rämö (N. Ahoniemi) – 13:221–1
N. Ahoniemi (R. Mäkitalo, S. Forsblom) (PP1) – 20:282–1
2–249:05 – A. Karjalainen (E. Ahopelto, E. Paasovaara)
2–357:07 – O. Uomala (A. Lausniemi, J. Reini) (PP1)
6 minPenalties4 min
48Shots29
22 April 2021
18:30		Hermes2–7
(1–3, 1–0, 0–4)		KetteräKokkolan jäähalli, Kokkola
Attendance: 20
Game reference
Joel BlomqvistGoaliesSanteri LipiäinenReferees:
Jonne Mäkisalo
Joona Vares
Linesmen:
Petteri Niemelä
Miro Skinnarla
0–101:39 – N. Ahoniemi
J. Rautiainen (J. Reini, E. Ahopelto) – 06:041–1
1–211:09 – M. Varttinen
1–316:45 – N. Ahoniemi (R. Mäkitalo, M. Tiihonen) (PP1)
J. Ahlgren (H. Limma, T. Tuupanen) – 35:342–3
2–451:15 – E. Luhanka (R. Mäkitalo)
2–556:53 – J. Viskari (J-M Alanen, J. Liuksiala) (ENG)
2–658:14 – R. Mäkitalo (ENG)
2–759:59 – E. Luhanka (J. Hänninen, P. Kiesilä) (PP1)
12 minPenalties4 min
26Shots32
24 April 2021
17:00		Ketterä5–9
(4–2, 0–2, 1–5)		HermesImatra Spa Areena, Imatra
Attendance: 6
Game reference
Santeri Lipiäinen
Severi Auvinen		GoaliesVilho Heikkinen
Joel Blomqvist		Referees:
Pasi Nieminen
Antti Hölli
Linesmen:
Janne Laukkala
Marko Aalto
S. Tanhua – 03:531–0
R. Mäkitaloa (A. Rämö, M. Tiihonen) – 05:502–0
2–107:06 – E. Ahopelto (E. Paasovaara, E. Takala) (PP1)
H. Karjalainen (V. Paalanen) – 11:103–1
J. Viskari (J. Liuksiala, M. Koponen) – 15:504–1
4–219:34 – H. Limma (E. Ahopelto)
4–334:08 – S. Vesterinen (V. Heikkala, A. Lausniemi)
4–439:18 – H. Harju (S. Vesterinen, Z. Sedlák)
4–541:46 – E. Takala (E. Paasovaara, E. Ahopelto) (PP1)
4–643:28 – H. Harju (O. Uomala, Z. Sedlák)
4–746:05 – E. Ahopelto (E. Paasovaara, J. Ketola)
4–849:59 – V. Heikkala (J. Reini, A. Lausniemi)
4–951:21 – J. Ahlgren (H. Limma)
S. Tanhua (P. Kiesilä) – 56:285–9
35 minPenalties8 min
29Shots29
27 April 2021
18:30		Hermes3–4 2OT
(1–2, 1–1, 1–0, 0–0, 0–1)		KetteräKokkolan jäähalli, Kokkola
Attendance: 20
Game reference
Joel BlomqvistGoaliesSanteri LipiäinenReferees:
Jonne Mäkitalo
Joona Vares
Linesmen:
Petteri Niemelä
Miro Skinnarla
Z. Sedlák (H. Harju, V. Meisaari) – 06:441–0
1–109:11 – M. Haaparanta (J-M Alanen, N. Ahoniemi)
1–209:59 – J. Viskari (J. Hallikas, J. Liuksiala)
1–321:41 – M. Tiihonen (H. Karjalainen)
Z. Sedlák (O. Uomala, J. Reini) (PP1) – 35:462–3
Z. Sedlák (A. Lausniemi, O. Uomala) (PP1) – 41:033–3
3–491:15 – R. Mäkitalo (S. Forsblom)
8 minPenalties10 min
49Shots47
29 April 2021
18:30		Ketterä8–3
(3–2, 4–0, 1–1)		HermesImatra Spa Areena, Imatra
Attendance: 6
Game reference
Santeri LipiäinenGoaliesJoel Blomqvist
Vilho Heikkinen		Referees:
Joona Vares
Jonne Mäkisalo
Linesmen:
Miro Skinnarla
Petteri Niemelä
H. Karjalainen (R. Reini, M. Koponen) – 00:461–0
R. Mäkitalo (A. Rämö, M. Tiihonen) – 02:322–0
J-M Alanen (M. Haaparanta, N. Ahoniemi) – 03:083–0
3–106:26 – J. Ahlgren (E. Ahopelto)
3–218:17 – O. Uomala (H. Harju, Z. Sedlák) (PP1)
R. Mäkitalo (S. Forsblom) (SH1) – 25:464–2
R. Mäkitalo (A. Rämö, R. Reini) (PP1) – 27:235–2
H. Karjalainen (R. Reini) (PP1) – 28:316–2
H. Karjalainen (J-M Alanen, N. Ahoniemi) – 31:117–2
7–347:51 – T. Tuupanen (A. Lausniemi, J. Ketola)
M. Haaparanta (J-M Alanen, N. Ahoniemi) – 50:168–3
8 minPenalties14 min
30Shots38

Ketterä wins the finals 3–2.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Lisenssikomitean päätöksiä - Forssan Palloseuralle Mestis-lisenssi" (in Finnish). mestis.fi. 2020-05-18. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  2. ^ "Mestis-kausi starttaa torstaina - näin pelataan" (in Finnish). mestis.fi. 2020-09-23. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  3. ^ "Jääkiekkoliiton alaisten sarjojen syyskausi keskeytetään 2.12. alkaen" (in Finnish). finhockey.fi. 2020-12-01. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  4. ^ "Mestiksen runkosarja jatkuu ensi viikolla jo torstaina - näin pelataan" (in Finnish). mestis.fi. 2021-02-05. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  5. ^ "Sarjataulukko". Jatkoaika.com. Retrieved 2019-03-08.