2016–17 Mestis season

The 2016–17 Mestis season was the 17th season of Mestis, the second highest level of ice hockey in Finland after Liiga. Previous seasons champion Jukurit got a place in the Liiga. IPK got promoted from Suomi-sarja at the end of last season. Espoo United got a place in Mestis after Espoo Blues suffered bankruptcy and the league was exceptionally played with 13 teams.
At the end of the season SaPKo won both the regular season and the playoffs. Hokki and IPK retained their place in Mestis, while JYP-Akatemia was relegated. Hokki faced bankruptcy during the off-season and thus Imatran Ketterä were awarded a place in Mestis for the next season.
==Clubs==
Team 	City 	Home arena, capacity 	Founded	Head coach
Espoo United 	Espoo 	Espoo Metro Areena, 6,982	2016 	Timo Hirvonen
Hermes 	Kokkola 	Kokkolan jäähalli, 4,200 	1953 	Antti Karhula
Hokki 	Kajaani 	Kajaanin Jäähalli, - 	1968 	Jari Laukkanen
Iisalmen Peli-Karhut	Iisalmi 	Kankaan jäähalli, - 	1966 	Jukka Niiranen17.1.2017 Janne Sinkkonen
Jokipojat 	Joensuu 	Mehtimäki Ice Hall, 4,800	1953 	Ari Aaltonen20.2.2017 Jouni
JYP-Akatemia 	Jyväskylä 	Synergia Areena, 4,618 	2008 	Jukka Ahvenjärvi
KeuPa HT 	Keuruu 	Keuruun Jäähalli, 1,100 	1995 	Mikko Heiskanen
Kiekko-Vantaa 	Vantaa 	Trio Areena, 3,700 	1994 	Simo Mälkiä
LeKi 	Lempäälä 	Masku Areena, 800 	1904 	Miikka Kuusela
Peliitat 	Heinola 	Versowood Areena, 2,975 	1984 	Marko Tuomainen
Rovaniemen Kiekko 	Rovaniemi 	Lappi Areena, 3,500 	1979 	Petteri Hirvonen13.2.2017 Juha Juujärvi
SaPKo 	Savonlinna	Winter Salon rink, 2,833 	1929 	Pasi Räsänen
Tuto 	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.
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Penalty minutes.
==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===
==Relegation qualification==
Bottom three teams of Mestis face the top two teams of Suomi-Sarja in a relegation qualification, where two top teams will get a place in Mestis for the next season. Each team will play against each other twice.
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Penalty minutes.
==See also==
2016–17 Liiga season
==References==
Category:Mestis seasons
Mestis
Mestis