Mestis Nationality Breakdown
Mestis is the second highest tier of ice hockey in Finland. The proportion of Finnish players in the league has been over 90% in all seasons except for the 2022-2023 season when Latvian team HK Zemgale participated in the league, and the share of Latvian players temporarily rose to nearly ten percent.
The first foreign players appeared in the 1977-1978 season when Canadian Bob Barnes and American Leverett Byrd arrived to strengthen JYP Jyväskylä and Sport Vaasa respectively. The all-time foreign points leader is Canadian Steve MacDonald, who played in the league across three different decades, amassing 525 (276+249) points in 389 games.
The chart below shows the relative proportions of different nationalities in Mestis since the 1974-1975 season. Season specific data used in the chart can be found on the nationality totals statistics pages.
Finland
Regular Season
Finnish Mestis players - 2024-2025 leadersAll-time records for Finnish Mestis playersSeason records for Finnish Mestis playersPlayoffs
Finnish Mestis players - 2024 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for Finnish Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for Finnish Mestis players - playoffs
Canada
Regular Season
Canadian Mestis players - 2024-2025 leadersAll-time records for Canadian Mestis playersSeason records for Canadian Mestis playersPlayoffs
Canadian Mestis players - 2023 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for Canadian Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for Canadian Mestis players - playoffs
Czech Republic
Regular Season
Czech Mestis players - 2024-2025 leadersAll-time records for Czech Mestis playersSeason records for Czech Mestis playersPlayoffs
Czech Mestis players - 2024 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for Czech Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for Czech Mestis players - playoffs
Russia
Regular Season
Russian Mestis players - 2023-2024 leadersAll-time records for Russian Mestis playersSeason records for Russian Mestis playersPlayoffs
Russian Mestis players - 2023 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for Russian Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for Russian Mestis players - playoffs
Latvia
Regular Season
Latvian Mestis players - 2024-2025 leadersAll-time records for Latvian Mestis playersSeason records for Latvian Mestis playersPlayoffs
Latvian Mestis players - 2024 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for Latvian Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for Latvian Mestis players - playoffs
Slovakia
Regular Season
Slovak Mestis players - 2023-2024 leadersAll-time records for Slovak Mestis playersSeason records for Slovak Mestis playersPlayoffs
Slovak Mestis players - 2023 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for Slovak Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for Slovak Mestis players - playoffs
United States
Regular Season
American Mestis players - 2024-2025 leadersAll-time records for American Mestis playersSeason records for American Mestis playersPlayoffs
American Mestis players - 2024 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for American Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for American Mestis players - playoffs
Estonia
Regular Season
Estonian Mestis players - 2024-2025 leadersAll-time records for Estonian Mestis playersSeason records for Estonian Mestis playersPlayoffs
Estonian Mestis players - 2024 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for Estonian Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for Estonian Mestis players - playoffs
Sweden
Regular Season
Swedish Mestis players - 2024-2025 leadersAll-time records for Swedish Mestis playersSeason records for Swedish Mestis playersPlayoffs
Swedish Mestis players - 2024 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for Swedish Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for Swedish Mestis players - playoffs
France
Regular Season
French Mestis players - 2023-2024 leadersAll-time records for French Mestis playersSeason records for French Mestis playersPlayoffs
French Mestis players - 2023 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for French Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for French Mestis players - playoffs
Italy
Regular Season
Italian Mestis players - 2023-2024 leadersAll-time records for Italian Mestis playersSeason records for Italian Mestis playersPlayoffs
Italian Mestis players - 2024 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for Italian Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for Italian Mestis players - playoffs
Switzerland
Regular Season
Swiss Mestis players - 2023-2024 leadersAll-time records for Swiss Mestis playersSeason records for Swiss Mestis playersPlayoffs
Swiss Mestis players - 2015 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for Swiss Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for Swiss Mestis players - playoffs
Norway
Regular Season
Norwegian Mestis players - 2019-2020 leadersAll-time records for Norwegian Mestis playersSeason records for Norwegian Mestis playersPlayoffs
Norwegian Mestis players - 2012 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for Norwegian Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for Norwegian Mestis players - playoffs
Denmark
Regular Season
Danish Mestis players - 2022-2023 leadersAll-time records for Danish Mestis playersSeason records for Danish Mestis playersPlayoffs
Danish Mestis players - 2022 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for Danish Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for Danish Mestis players - playoffs
South Korea
Regular Season
South Korean Mestis players - 2013-2014 leadersAll-time records for South Korean Mestis playersSeason records for South Korean Mestis playersPlayoffs
South Korean Mestis players - 2014 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for South Korean Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for South Korean Mestis players - playoffs
Hungary
Regular Season
Hungarian Mestis players - 2024-2025 leadersAll-time records for Hungarian Mestis playersSeason records for Hungarian Mestis playersPlayoffs
Hungarian Mestis players - 2015 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for Hungarian Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for Hungarian Mestis players - playoffs
Slovenia
Regular Season
Slovenian Mestis players - 2023-2024 leadersAll-time records for Slovenian Mestis playersSeason records for Slovenian Mestis playersPlayoffs
Slovenian Mestis players - 2009 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for Slovenian Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for Slovenian Mestis players - playoffs
Austria
Regular Season
Austrian Mestis players - 2016-2017 leadersAll-time records for Austrian Mestis playersSeason records for Austrian Mestis playersPlayoffs
Austrian Mestis players - 2014 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for Austrian Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for Austrian Mestis players - playoffs
Ukraine
Regular Season
Ukrainian Mestis players - 2023-2024 leadersAll-time records for Ukrainian Mestis playersSeason records for Ukrainian Mestis playersPlayoffs
Ukrainian Mestis players - 2024 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for Ukrainian Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for Ukrainian Mestis players - playoffs
Poland
Regular Season
Polish Mestis players - 1992-1993 leadersAll-time records for Polish Mestis playersSeason records for Polish Mestis players
Kazakhstan
Regular Season
Kazakh Mestis players - 2023-2024 leadersAll-time records for Kazakh Mestis playersSeason records for Kazakh Mestis playersPlayoffs
Kazakh Mestis players - 2023 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for Kazakh Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for Kazakh Mestis players - playoffs
United Kingdom
Regular Season
British Mestis players - 2022-2023 leadersAll-time records for British Mestis playersSeason records for British Mestis playersPlayoffs
British Mestis players - 2023 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for British Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for British Mestis players - playoffs
Australia
Regular Season
Australian Mestis players - 2006-2007 leadersAll-time records for Australian Mestis playersSeason records for Australian Mestis players
Belarus
Regular Season
Belarussian Mestis players - 2021-2022 leadersAll-time records for Belarussian Mestis playersSeason records for Belarussian Mestis playersPlayoffs
Belarussian Mestis players - 2022 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for Belarussian Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for Belarussian Mestis players - playoffs
Croatia
Regular Season
Croatian Mestis players - 2012-2013 leadersAll-time records for Croatian Mestis playersSeason records for Croatian Mestis players
Japan
Regular Season
Japanese Mestis players - 2022-2023 leadersAll-time records for Japanese Mestis playersSeason records for Japanese Mestis playersPlayoffs
Japanese Mestis players - 2023 leaders - playoffsAll-time records for Japanese Mestis players - playoffsSeason records for Japanese Mestis players - playoffs
Lithuania
Regular Season
Lithuanian Mestis players - 2024-2025 leadersAll-time records for Lithuanian Mestis playersSeason records for Lithuanian Mestis players
Germany
Regular Season
German Mestis players - 2006-2007 leadersAll-time records for German Mestis playersSeason records for German Mestis players