Naisten Mestis

Naisten Mestis (Women's Championship Series; from Mestaruussarja meaning 'Championship series') is the second-highest women’s ice hockey league in Finland. The league was founded as Naisten I-divisioona (Women’s First Division) in 1985 by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association when the number of teams playing in the Naisten SM-sarja (now 'Naisten Liiga') was limited. It was renamed Naisten Mestis prior to the 2012-13 season.

For the Finnish men's second-tier ice hockey league, see Mestis.

Naisten Mestis
Current season, competition or edition:
2020–21 Naisten Mestis season
FormerlyNaisten I-divisioona
SportIce hockey
Founded1985
FounderFinnish Ice Hockey Association
Inaugural seasonas Naisten I-divisoona, 1985–86
as Naisten Mestis, 2012–13
AdministratorKai Halme
No. of teams18 in Qualifiers
6 in Regular season
CountryFinland
Most recent
champion(s)		RoKi Naiset
(2020)
TV partner(s)Ruutu
FanSeat
Promotion toNaisten Liiga
Relegation toNaisten Suomi-sarja
Official websiteleijonat.fi

Series format

The Mestis season format has changed many times since the founding of the league in 1985. The current format was introduced for the 2019–20 season.

Qualifiers

With the exception of the Naisten SM-liiga teams, all club representative teams start the season in the Mestis Qualifiers (Finnish: Karsinta). Each team is grouped into a division (Finnish: lohko) of five to eight teams; the number of divisions is determined by the total number of teams competing and each division is loosely defined by geographic location, with proximate teams being grouped. Each team plays a total of fifteen or sixteen matches within their division. The points earned in the games determine the team’s ranking within their division; victories earn three points, overtime victories earn two points, and overtime losses earn one point. Teams that rank forth or lower in each division at the end of the qualifiers do not qualify to play in the Mestis and continue the season in the Naisten Suomi-sarja. The qualifying round runs from the beginning of the season in September to late November or early December.

Cross qualifiers

The team with the highest point total from each division of the qualifiers moves on the cross qualifying round (Finnish: ristiinkarsinta). If there are an odd number of divisions, the team with the highest point total of all remaining teams also moves on. The cross qualifiers are a round-robin tournament, each team faces all other participating teams once. The two teams earning the highest point totals at the end of the tournament continue their seasons in the Lower Division (Finnish: Alempi jatkosarja) of the Naisten Liiga and have the opportunity to gain promotion to the Naisten Liiga for the following season. The teams ranked third and lower in the cross qualifiers continue the season in the Naisten Mestis regular season. The cross qualifying round is played in late November and/or early December.

Regular season

The teams ranked third and lower in the cross qualifiers and the teams that finished second or third in each division of the qualifiers fill the ranks of the Mestis regular season. If the number of divisions is odd, the third ranked team from the qualifiers with smallest point total does not qualify and moves to the Naisten Suomi-sarja so that an even number of teams is maintained in the Mestis. Each team in the regular season plays an equal number of games against each of the other teams. The regular season runs from January to March.

Teams participating in the 2020–2021 season
Salo HT
PaRa
Rockets
UJK
KJT Haukat
SaiPa
LL-89
TeKi
YJK
Location of teams in Lohko 1, Lohko 2, and Lohko 3 of the Naisten Mestis qualification series.
Location of teams in the Naisten Mestis regular season.

Qualifiers

Lohko 1

  1. IFK Mariehamn, Mariehamn
  2. KOOVEE, Tampere[1]
  3. Salo HT, Salo
  4. Panelian Raikas (PaRa), Eura
  5. Rockets, Loimaa
  6. Jää-Kotkat Uusikaupunki (UJK), Uusikaupunki

[2]

Lohko 2

  1. HIFK Akatemia, Helsinki
  2. JYP, Jyväskylä
  3. Kiekko-Espoo Akatemia, Espoo
  4. KJT Haukat, Tuusula
  5. Pelicans, Lahti[3]
  6. Saimaan Pallo (SaiPa), Lappeenranta

[4]

Lohko 3

  1. Alavuden Peli-Veikot (APV), Alavus
  2. KalPa Akatemia, Kuopio
  3. Kärpät Akatemia, Oulu
  4. LL -89 Red Lights, Lapinlahti
  5. TeKi, Raahe
  6. YJK, Ylivieska

[5]

Regular season
Team Location Home venue Head coach Captain
APV Naiset Alavus Alavus Areena Noora Mäkiranta Niina Lehtimäki
HIFK Akatemia Helsinki Malmin jäähalli Antti Borgenström Anniina Koskinen
Kiekko-Espoo Akatemia Espoo Leppävaaran jäähalli Johanna Leskinen Linda Österlund
KOOVEE Naiset Tampere Tesoman jäähalli Petri Kettunen Minna Halttunen
Oulun Kärpät Naiset II
or Kärpät Akatemia		 Oulu Raksila 2 jäähalli Jari Moilanen Veera Pitkänen
PaRa Naiset Eura Panelian jäähalli Ari Mutta Laura Välimaa

Series champions

The manner in which the Mestis Championship is won has changed many times since the founding of the league in 1985. It has, for example, been awarded to the most successful team in the regular season, the winner of Mestis playoffs (which have repeatedly changed format or not been held), or to the team able to win promotion through the Naisten Liiga qualification/relegation series. The winner of the Naisten Mestis has not been historically guaranteed a place in the Naisten Liiga for the following season.

See also

References

Content in this article is translated from the existing Finnish Wikipedia article at fi:Naisten Mestis; see its history for attribution.

  1. Lahtinen, Matias (22 July 2020). "Tampereella kasattiin loppukevään aikana uusi naisten kiekkoseura – KOOVEE Naiset aloittaa syksyllä Mestis-karsinnoista". Jatkoaika.com (in Finnish). Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  2. "Naisten Mestis karsinta, lohko 1". tilastopalvelu.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  3. Urpunen, Janne (12 September 2019). "Miksi Lahti on naisjääkiekon musta aukko?". Etelä-Suomen Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  4. "Naisten Mestis karsinta, lohko 2". tilastopalvelu.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  5. "Naisten Mestis karsinta, lohko 3". tilastopalvelu.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
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