IPK took the final series against Imatra Ketterä with match wins 4–3. In the seventh match, IPK was stronger than Mestis’ perennial success in their packed home hall.
Emma Hyuppa,
STT Sports
Iisalmi Peli-Karhut has won the ice hockey Mesti championship for the first time in its history. In the seventh final match, IPK beat Imatra Ketterä 3–0 in their home arena.
Three-time Mestis champion Ketterä had won the previous two matches and tied the final series at 3–3. The decisive stoppage game was watched by 1,450 spectators in the sold-out Kankaa Ice Hall in Iisalmi.
It was the first time that a series of seven games was needed to decide the championship of Mestis.
– There have been all kinds of adversity, but our team was persistent. We won two tied games, IPK’s head coach Marko Tuomainen said in an MTV TV interview.
In addition to the final series, Tuomainen referred to the semi-final series played against Kokkola’s Hermes, which stretched to the seventh game.
On Saturday night, IPK started scoring in the fifth minute of the opening set. He was responsible for the superiority goal Austin Alger. There were four seconds left in the first period when Leo Ring took a 2–0 lead. The final score was 3–0 to the net of the visitors from Imatra Henri Knuutinen at the beginning of the third period. IPK goalkeeper Paavo Kohonen was not surprising.
– A great decision for this trip. Everyone gave their soul and heart. The whole community has deserved this, praised head coach Tuomainen.
IPK became Mesti in 2016. In eight years, it has achieved one bronze in 2021.
Ketterla’s medal is the fifth in a row. A year ago, it achieved silver, when the championship was won by Kiekko-Espoo, who will move up to the SM league next season. This season, Kiekko-Espoo’s season ended with a semifinal loss against Ketterä. The Espoo club ended up with the bronze.