2018–19 Mestis season

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The 2018–19 Mestis season is the 19th season of Mestis, the second highest level of ice hockey in Finland after Liiga. KOOVEE was promoted from Suomi-sarja due to Espoo United declaring bankruptcy at the end of last season.

2018–19 Mestis
League	Mestis
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	September 2018 – April 2019
Number of teams	12
Regular season
Best record	Hermes
Runners-up	LeKi
Top scorer	Miro-Pekka Saarelainen (K-Vantaa)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVP	Sameli Ventelä (Ketterä)
Finals champions	Ketterä
Runners-up	KeuPa HT
Mestis seasons
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

Clubs

Imatran Ketterä

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Mestis team map

Team	City	Home arena, capacity	Founded	Head coach
Hermes	Kokkola	Kokkolan jäähalli, 4,200	1953	Janne Tuunanen
IPK	Iisalmi	Kankaan jäähalli, 1,326	1966	~~Janne Sinkkonen~~ 3.1.2019 Tommi Miettinen^[1]
Jokipojat	Joensuu	Mehtimäki Ice Hall, 4,800	1953	Jouni Varis
Ketterä	Imatra	Imatra Spa Areena, 1,200	1957	Maso Lehtonen
KeuPa HT	Keuruu	Keuruun Jäähalli, 1,100	1995	Niko Härkönen
K-Vantaa	Vantaa	Trio Areena, 2,004	1994	~~Simo Mälkiä~~ 28.1.2019 Reijo Ruotsalainen^[2]
KOOVEE	Tampere	Hakametsä 2, 1050	1929	Juha Pajuoja
LeKi	Lempäälä	Masku Areena, 800	1904	Miikka Kuusela
Peliitat	Heinola	Versowood Areena, 2,975	1984	~~Jani Keinänen~~ 9.2.2019 Vesa Petäjä^[3]
RoKi	Rovaniemi	Lappi Areena, 3,500	1979	Santeri Immonen
SaPKo	Savonlinna	Talvisalo ice rink, 2,833	1929	Pasi Räsänen
TUTO Hockey	Turku	Marli Areena, 3,000	1929	Miika Elomo

Regular season

Top eight advance to the Mestis playoffs while the bottom two face the top two teams from Suomi-sarja for a relegation playoff. Since the highest series of Finnish hockey is a closed series no team will be promoted to Liiga.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Final result
1	Hermes	50	29	3	2	16	180	133	+47	95	Advance to playoffs
2	LeKi	50	26	7	3	14	194	155	+39	95
3	Ketterä	50	22	7	7	14	163	141	+22	87
4	SaPKo	50	22	5	5	18	177	159	+18	81
5	TUTO Hockey	50	20	8	4	18	151	130	+21	80
6	Jokipojat	50	19	6	8	17	151	151	0	77
7	RoKi	50	18	5	7	20	138	164	−26	71
8	KeuPa HT	50	18	5	5	22	151	139	+12	69
9	IPK	50	20	3	2	25	160	180	−20	68
10	K-Vantaa	50	17	4	6	23	138	158	−20	65
11	Peliitat	50	14	6	9	21	134	158	−24	63	Qualification to the relegation playoffs
12	KOOVEE	50	13	3	4	30	141	210	−69	49	Qualification to the relegation playoffs

Source: Tilastopalvelu.fi

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

Playoffs

Playoffs are being played in three stages. Each stage is a best-of-7 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

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals

	1	Hermes	2

	8	KeuPa HT	4
						2	LeKi	2

						8	KeuPa HT	4
	2	LeKi	4

	7	RoKi	2
											3	Ketterä	4

											8	KeuPa HT	1
	3	Ketterä	4

	6	Jokipojat	1
						3	Ketterä	4			Third place

						5	TUTO Hockey	0
	4	SaPKo	2								2	LeKi	0

	5	TUTO Hockey	4								5	TUTO Hockey	1

Quarterfinals

Hermes – KeuPa HT 2-4
19.3.2019	Hermes	KeuPa HT	5-0 ref
21.3.2019	KeuPa HT	Hermes	3-4 OT2 ref
23.3.2019	Hermes	KeuPa HT	1-3 ref
25.3.2019	KeuPa HT	Hermes	6-3 ref
27.3.2019	Hermes	KeuPa HT	2-3 OT1 ref
29.3.2019	KeuPa HT	Hermes	6-3 ref
KeuPa HT wins the series 4-2.

Ketterä – Jokipojat 4-1
19.3.2019	Ketterä	Jokipojat	2-4 ref
21.3.2019	Jokipojat	Ketterä	2-3 OT1 ref
23.3.2019	Ketterä	Jokipojat	2-1 ref
25.3.2019	Jokipojat	Ketterä	3-7 ref
27.3.2019	Ketterä	Jokipojat	7-0 ref
Ketterä wins the series 4-1.

LeKi – RoKi 4-2
19.3.2019	LeKi	RoKi	2-1 ref
20.3.2019	LeKi	RoKi	4-2 ref
23.3.2019	RoKi	LeKi	2-5 ref
24.3.2019	RoKi	LeKi	8-6 ref
26.3.2019	LeKi	RoKi	2-3 OT1 ref
28.3.2019	RoKi	LeKi	2-6 ref
LeKi wins the series 4-2.

SaPKo – TUTO Hockey 2-4
19.3.2019	SaPKo	TUTO Hockey	1-5 ref
20.3.2019	TUTO Hockey	SaPKo	0-1 ref
22.3.2019	SaPKo	TUTO Hockey	1-3 ref
24.3.2019	TUTO Hockey	SaPKo	5-0 ref
27.3.2019	SaPKo	TUTO Hockey	9-2 ref
28.3.2019	TUTO Hockey	SaPKo	3-2 OT1 ref
TUTO Hockey wins the series 4-2.

Semifinals

LeKi – KeuPa HT 2-4
2.4.2019	LeKi	KeuPa HT	2-4 ref
4.4.2019	KeuPa HT	LeKi	3-2 ref
6.4.2019	LeKi	KeuPa HT	3-2 ref
8.4.2019	KeuPa HT	LeKi	3-6 ref
10.4.2019	LeKi	KeuPa HT	5-8 ref
12.4.2019	KeuPa HT	LeKi	4-2 ref
KeuPa HT wins the series 4-2.

Ketterä – TUTO Hockey 4-0
2.4.2019	Ketterä	TUTO Hockey	5-3 ref
4.4.2019	TUTO Hockey	Ketterä	1-2 ref
6.4.2019	Ketterä	TUTO Hockey	5-2 ref
8.4.2019	TUTO Hockey	Ketterä	2-3 ref
Ketterä wins the series 4-0.

Bronze medal game

17 April 2019
18:30

1–3
(0–0, 0–2, 1–1)

TUTO Hockey

Masku Areena, Lempäälä
Attendance: 611

Kimmo Rautiainen

Goalies

Julius Pohjanoksa

Referees:
Juho Ylä-Rotiala
Pekka Virta
Linesmen:
Niklas Narvanmaa
Oskari Isolauri

	0–1	23:03 – Friman (A. Mäkinen, M. Mäkinen)
	0–2	35:21 – Rouhiainen (Salminen, Viitasalo)
Vanhatalo (Laakso, Latvala)	1–2
	1–3	59:52 – M. Mäkinen EN

4 min

Penalties

6 min

29

Shots

33

Finals

16 April 2019
18:30

Ketterä

5–4
(1–1, 2–2, 2–1)

Kisapuisto, Lappeenranta^[5]
Attendance: 4,820

Karolus Kaarlehto

Goalies

Referees:
Ville Vuohtoniemi
Sakari Suominen
Linesmen:
Miro Skinnarla
Joni Pekkala

	0–1	11:29 – Mörsky (Pelamo, Jani Siekkinen) PP1
Lipiäinen – 17:39	1–1
Alho (Ventelä, Rasmus Hämäläinen) – 21:11	2–1
	2–2	23:03 – Pihlajamäki (Stråka, Pulliainen
	2–3	24:52 – Luhtalampi (Lehtonen)
Kestilä (Karjalainen, Mäntykivi) – 28:29	3–3
Jääskeläinen PS – 47:59	4–3
	4–4	54:22 – Pelamo PP1
Lipiäinen (Juntheikki) – 59:51	5–4

8 min

Penalties

8 min

36

Shots

22

18 April 2019
18:30

2–3
(1–1, 0–2, 1–0)

Ketterä

Keuruu Ice Hall, Keuruu
Attendance: 900

Karolus Kaarlehto

Goalies

Referees:
Janne Mäkisalo
Mika Levänen
Linesmen:
Joonas Hurskainen
Onni Hautamäki

Viinikainen (Siekkinen, Tervo) – 05:03	1–0
	1–1	11:13 – Jääskeläinen (Lipiäinen, Juntheikki) PP
	1–2	24:32 – Jääskeläinen (Juntheikki, Lipiäinen) PP
	1–3	29:27 – Lippojoki (Juntheikki, Lipiäinen)
Siekkinen (Pelamo, Honka)	2–3

10 min

Penalties

8 min

20

Shots

30

20 April 2019
17:00

Ketterä

2–1 OT1
(0–0, 0–1, 1–0, 1–0)

Imatra Spa Areena, Imatra
Attendance: 1,225

Karolus Kaarlehto

Goalies

Referees:
Ville Vuohtoniemi
Sakari Suominen
Linesmen:
Miro Skinnarla
Joni Pekkala

	0–1	26:18 – Kumpulainen (Huttu, Pihlajamäki)
Niemi (Paalanen, Haaparanta) – 51:50	1–1
Karjalainen – 61:05	2–1

8 min

Penalties

6 min

35

Shots

29

22 April 2019
17:00

KeuPa HT

2–1 OT1
(0–0, 1–0, 0–1, 1–0)

Keuruu Ice Hall, Keuruu
Attendance: 749

Goalies

Karolus Kaarlehto

Referees:
Janne Mäkisalo
Mika Levänen
Linesmen:
Joonas Hurskainen
Onni Hautamäki

Turtiainen (Huttu, Kumpulainen) PP1 – 38:58	1–0
	1–1	55:55 – Mäntykivi (Karjalainen, Hämäläinen) PP1
Huttu (Ollitervo) – 63:24	2–1

8 min

Penalties

4 min

20

Shots

22

24 April 2019
18:30

Ketterä

3–2
(2–2, 1–0, 0–0)

Imatra Spa Areena, Imatra
Attendance: 1,300

Karolus Kaarlehto

Goalies

Referees:
Ville Vuohtoniemi
Sakari Suominen
Linesmen:
Miro Skinnarla
Joni Pekkala

	0–1	10:28 – Huttu (Viinikainen, Kumpulainen)
Juntheikki (Ventelä) – 12:16	1–1
Hämäläinen SH1 – 13:46	2–1
	2–2	15:52 – Piipponen
Ripatti (Jääskeläinen) – 39:51	3–2

10 min

Penalties

10 min

38

Shots

29

Ketterä wins the finals 4-1.

Relegation playoffs

The bottom two teams faced the top two teams from Suomi-sarja for a best-of-7 series were the winners got a place in Mestis for the next season. Peliitat and KOOVEE both won their series and thus avoided relegation.

Peliitat – Hunters 4-0
23.3.2019	Peliitat	Hunters	4-0 ref
26.3.2019	Hunters	Peliitat	2-4 ref
28.3.2019	Peliitat	Hunters	6-0 ref
30.3.2019	Hunters	Peliitat	2-5 ref
Peliitat wins the series 4-0 and avoids relegation.

KOOVEE – Hokki 4-0
24.3.2019	KOOVEE	Hokki	4-2 ref
26.3.2019	Hokki	KOOVEE	1-5 ref
28.3.2019	KOOVEE	Hokki	3-2 ref
30.3.2019	Hokki	KOOVEE	2-3 ref
KOOVEE wins the series 4-0 and avoids relegation.

See also

2018–19 Liiga season

References

^ Kouvalainen, Miska (2019-01-03). "IPK teki vihdoin muutoksia valmennukseensa - Janne Sinkkonen ulos, Tommi Miettinen tilalle" (in Finnish). Jatkoaika.com. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
^ "Kiekko-Vantaan päävalmentaja vaihtuu - Reijo Ruotsalainen korvaa Simo Mälkiän" (in Finnish). mestis.fi. 2019-01-28. Archived from the original on 2019-07-10. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
^ "Peliittojen ja Jani Keinäsen tiet eroavat - Vesa Petäjä Peliittojen penkin taakse" (in Finnish). mestis.fi. 2019-02-09. Archived from the original on 2019-07-10. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
^ "Sarjataulukko". Jatkoaika.com. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
^ Due to semi-final matches at Imatra being sold out Ketterä wanted to give as many fans as possible an opportunity to enjoy ice hockey in a bigger stadium in the neighboring town of Lappeenranta for the first game of the finals.

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