Quote:
Originally Posted by paul-laus
I have a question that I'm hoping somebody can answer who is familiar with Finnish hockey.
I understand that all teams in the SM-Ligga have feeder teams in terms of their junior clubs. Would I be correct in assuming that the SM-Ligga teams have both an under-20 team that plays for a junior title and also feeds the parent club as well as an under-18 team that plays for that age groups title and feeds the under 20-team?Is this the same system in the 2nd division Mestis? And do other hockey nations like Sweden, Czech, and Slovakia use a similar system? Thanks for any help.
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Yes, that is generally the system across Europe. Can't speak for all countries of course.
Most of the Mestis teams also have junior teams, but there are exceptions. For example JYP-Akatemia is just a feeder team for JYP to help juniors make the jump to play against men.
In Finland, all SM-liiga teams' U20 teams have an automatic spot in the U20 SM-liiga, but in the U18 nad U16 it's up for grabs for everyone.