The board of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association granted Jokerit a conditional berth in the Mestis league on Tuesday.
Mestis is the highest level under the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, but Finland's preeminent professional league is Liiga, which is a separate company and does not fall under the association.
As part of its conditional offer to Jokerit, the team's parent company needs to complete ownership arrangements and recapitalise financially by the end of March.
"Jokerit had a plan on paper on how to put money into the team and expand their ownership base. We made it a condition that these steps must be implemented by the end of March," said Harri Nummela, the association's chair.
Jokerit last played in a Finnish league in the 2013-2014 season, which was followed by an eight-year stint in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Jokerit left the KHL last spring after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"Jokerit's return is a good thing for Finnish ice hockey, as it supports the path for players and brings more competition, interest and vitality to the Mestis league," the hockey boss Nummela told Yle.
Nummela pointed out that the parent company still needs to fulfil its conditions for its place in the league, including report to the licensing committee on its funding sources.
New home arena in Kerava
At the same time, the board decided to reverse the earlier decision to reduce the number of teams in the league. With Jokerit's possible berth in Mestis, 14 teams are set to play in the league for the 2023-24 season.
Nummela also said that Jokerit's home arena for next season will be the Keravan Jäähalli, a 1,500 seat arena in a suburb some 30km north of Helsinki.
Jarmo Koskinen, who is the figurehead of the company trying to return Jokerit to Finnish hockey, said in a press release that the team would try to play between 4 and 10 games in Helsinki. These games would occur at either the Helsinki Ice Hall or their former home arena Helsinki Halli, which was formerly known as Hartwall Arena.
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