2020–21 Mestis season

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]

2020–21 Mestis
League	Mestis
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	September 2020 – April 2021
Number of teams	14
Regular season
Best record	K-Espoo
Runners-up	JoKP
Top scorer	Joonas Larinmaa (KeuPa HT)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVP	Marlo Koponen (Ketterä)
Finals champions	Ketterä
Runners-up	Hermes
Mestis seasons
← 2019–20 2021–22 →

Clubs

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

K-Vantaa – Peliitat 2-0 30.3.2021 K-Vantaa Peliitat 6-2 ref 1.4.2021 Peliitat K-Vantaa 1-3 ref K-Vantaa wins the series 2-0.

TUTO Hockey – Hermes 1-2 30.3.2021 TUTO Hockey Hermes 5-6 ref 1.4.2021 Hermes TUTO Hockey 1-3 OT2 ref 3.4.2021 TUTO Hockey Hermes 3-4 OT1 ref Hermes wins the series 2-1.

Quarter-finals

K-Espoo – Hermes 0-2 6.4.2021 K-Espoo Hermes 4-5 OT1 ref 8.4.2021 Hermes K-Espoo 2-1 OT1 ref Hermes wins the series 2-0. JoKP – K-Vantaa 2-1 6.4.2021 JoKP K-Vantaa 6-3 ref 8.4.2021 K-Vantaa JoKP 5-4 ref 10.4.2021 JoKP K-Vantaa 4-2 ref JoKP wins the series 2-1.

Ketterä – KOOVEE 2-0 6.4.2021 Ketterä KOOVEE 5-3 ref 8.4.2021 KOOVEE Ketterä 1-4 ref Ketterä wins the series 2-0. KeuPa HT – IPK 1-2 6.4.2021 KeuPa HT IPK 2-3 ref 8.4.2021 IPK KeuPa HT 0-4 ref 10.4.2021 KeuPa HT IPK 3-4 OT1 ref IPK wins the series 2-1.

Semi-finals

JoKP – Hermes 0-2 13.4.2021 JoKP Hermes 2-3 ref 15.4.2021 Hermes JoKP 3-1 ref Hermes wins the series 2-0.

Ketterä – IPK 2-0 13.4.2021 Ketterä IPK 4-3 ref 15.4.2021 IPK Ketterä 5-6 OT1 ref Ketterä wins the series 2-0.

Bronze medal game

21 April 2021 18:30

JoKP

0–4 (0–1, 0–1, 0–2)

IPK

PKS Areena, Joensuu Attendance: 20

Game reference
	Leevi Nikkinen	Goalies	Samu Pakarinen	Referees: Jani Pesonen Ville-Veikko Väkeväinen Linesmen: Joonas Hurskainen Markus Peltola
	0–1 03:33 – A. Ahola (B. Maia, J. Hämäläinen) 0–2 33:17 – M. Juusola (T. Kokkola, V. Järvinen) 0–3 46:19 – J. Hämäläinen (J. Nevalainen) 0–4 56:36 – N. Koskinen (J. Nevalainen) (ENG)
	14 min	Penalties	4 min
	16	Shots	30

Finals

20 April 2021 18:30

Ketterä

2–3 (1–1, 1–0, 0–2)

Hermes

Imatra Spa Areena, Imatra Attendance: 6

Game reference
	Santeri Lipiäinen	Goalies	Joel Blomqvist	Referees: Antti Hölli Pasi Nieminen Linesmen: Marko Aalto Janne Laukkala
	0–1 11:50 – J. Ketola (A. Lausniemi, J. Ahlgren) A. Rämö (N. Ahoniemi) – 13:22 1–1 N. Ahoniemi (R. Mäkitalo, S. Forsblom) (PP1) – 20:28 2–1 2–2 49:05 – A. Karjalainen (E. Ahopelto, E. Paasovaara) 2–3 57:07 – O. Uomala (A. Lausniemi, J. Reini) (PP1)
	6 min	Penalties	4 min
	48	Shots	29

22 April 2021 18:30

Hermes

2–7 (1–3, 1–0, 0–4)

Ketterä

Kokkolan jäähalli, Kokkola Attendance: 20

Game reference
	Joel Blomqvist	Goalies	Santeri Lipiäinen	Referees: Jonne Mäkisalo Joona Vares Linesmen: Petteri Niemelä Miro Skinnarla
	0–1 01:39 – N. Ahoniemi J. Rautiainen (J. Reini, E. Ahopelto) – 06:04 1–1 1–2 11:09 – M. Varttinen 1–3 16:45 – N. Ahoniemi (R. Mäkitalo, M. Tiihonen) (PP1) J. Ahlgren (H. Limma, T. Tuupanen) – 35:34 2–3 2–4 51:15 – E. Luhanka (R. Mäkitalo) 2–5 56:53 – J. Viskari (J-M Alanen, J. Liuksiala) (ENG) 2–6 58:14 – R. Mäkitalo (ENG) 2–7 59:59 – E. Luhanka (J. Hänninen, P. Kiesilä) (PP1)
	12 min	Penalties	4 min
	26	Shots	32

24 April 2021 17:00

Ketterä

5–9 (4–2, 0–2, 1–5)

Hermes

Imatra Spa Areena, Imatra Attendance: 6

Game reference
	Santeri Lipiäinen Severi Auvinen	Goalies	Vilho Heikkinen Joel Blomqvist	Referees: Pasi Nieminen Antti Hölli Linesmen: Janne Laukkala Marko Aalto
	S. Tanhua – 03:53 1–0 R. Mäkitaloa (A. Rämö, M. Tiihonen) – 05:50 2–0 2–1 07:06 – E. Ahopelto (E. Paasovaara, E. Takala) (PP1) H. Karjalainen (V. Paalanen) – 11:10 3–1 J. Viskari (J. Liuksiala, M. Koponen) – 15:50 4–1 4–2 19:34 – H. Limma (E. Ahopelto) 4–3 34:08 – S. Vesterinen (V. Heikkala, A. Lausniemi) 4–4 39:18 – H. Harju (S. Vesterinen, Z. Sedlák) 4–5 41:46 – E. Takala (E. Paasovaara, E. Ahopelto) (PP1) 4–6 43:28 – H. Harju (O. Uomala, Z. Sedlák) 4–7 46:05 – E. Ahopelto (E. Paasovaara, J. Ketola) 4–8 49:59 – V. Heikkala (J. Reini, A. Lausniemi) 4–9 51:21 – J. Ahlgren (H. Limma) S. Tanhua (P. Kiesilä) – 56:28 5–9
	35 min	Penalties	8 min
	29	Shots	29

27 April 2021 18:30

Hermes

3–4 2OT (1–2, 1–1, 1–0, 0–0, 0–1)

Ketterä

Kokkolan jäähalli, Kokkola Attendance: 20

Game reference
	Joel Blomqvist	Goalies	Santeri Lipiäinen	Referees: Jonne Mäkitalo Joona Vares Linesmen: Petteri Niemelä Miro Skinnarla
	Z. Sedlák (H. Harju, V. Meisaari) – 06:44 1–0 1–1 09:11 – M. Haaparanta (J-M Alanen, N. Ahoniemi) 1–2 09:59 – J. Viskari (J. Hallikas, J. Liuksiala) 1–3 21:41 – M. Tiihonen (H. Karjalainen) Z. Sedlák (O. Uomala, J. Reini) (PP1) – 35:46 2–3 Z. Sedlák (A. Lausniemi, O. Uomala) (PP1) – 41:03 3–3 3–4 91:15 – R. Mäkitalo (S. Forsblom)
	8 min	Penalties	10 min
	49	Shots	47

29 April 2021 18:30

Ketterä

8–3 (3–2, 4–0, 1–1)

Hermes

Imatra Spa Areena, Imatra Attendance: 6

Game reference
	Santeri Lipiäinen	Goalies	Joel Blomqvist Vilho Heikkinen	Referees: Joona Vares Jonne Mäkisalo Linesmen: Miro Skinnarla Petteri Niemelä
	H. Karjalainen (R. Reini, M. Koponen) – 00:46 1–0 R. Mäkitalo (A. Rämö, M. Tiihonen) – 02:32 2–0 J-M Alanen (M. Haaparanta, N. Ahoniemi) – 03:08 3–0 3–1 06:26 – J. Ahlgren (E. Ahopelto) 3–2 18:17 – O. Uomala (H. Harju, Z. Sedlák) (PP1) R. Mäkitalo (S. Forsblom) (SH1) – 25:46 4–2 R. Mäkitalo (A. Rämö, R. Reini) (PP1) – 27:23 5–2 H. Karjalainen (R. Reini) (PP1) – 28:31 6–2 H. Karjalainen (J-M Alanen, N. Ahoniemi) – 31:11 7–2 7–3 47:51 – T. Tuupanen (A. Lausniemi, J. Ketola) M. Haaparanta (J-M Alanen, N. Ahoniemi) – 50:16 8–3
	8 min	Penalties	14 min
	30	Shots	38

Ketterä wins the finals 3–2.

See also

• 2020–21 Liiga season

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.