1996–97 I-Divisioona season
# 1996–97 I-Divisioona season

The 1996–97 I-Divisioona season was the 23rd season of the I-Divisioona, the second level of Finnish ice hockey. 16 teams participated in the league, and Karhut won the championship. The top six teams from the final round qualified for the promotion and relegation round of the SM-liiga.

## Final round

| | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF–GA | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1. | Karhut | 44 | 26 | 7 | 11 | 194:149 | 59 |
| 2. | Kärpät Oulu | 44 | 26 | 4 | 14 | 196:154 | 56 |
| 3. | Pelicans Lahti | 44 | 26 | 3 | 15 | 168:119 | 55 |
| 4. | Haukat Järvenpää | 44 | 25 | 5 | 14 | 180:142 | 55 |
| 5. | FPS Forssa | 44 | 26 | 2 | 16 | 178:116 | 54 |
| 6. | Hermes Kokkola | 44 | 21 | 7 | 16 | 161:155 | 49 |
| 7. | Ahmat Hyvinkää | 44 | 20 | 7 | 17 | 153:137 | 47 |
| 8. | TuTo Hockey | 44 | 19 | 3 | 22 | 182:156 | 41 |

## Qualification round

| | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF–GA | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 9. | SaPKo Savonlinna | 44 | 25 | 6 | 13 | 172:144 | 56 |
| 10. | Jää-Kotkat Uusikaupunki | 44 | 23 | 3 | 18 | 166:144 | 49 |
| 11. | Kiekko-67 Turku | 44 | 19 | 6 | 19 | 135:137 | 44 |
| 12. | Titaanit Kotka | 44 | 19 | 3 | 22 | 153:158 | 41 |
| 13. | PiTa Helsinki | 44 | 15 | 1 | 28 | 142:178 | 31 |
| 14. | Koo-Vee | 44 | 13 | 4 | 27 | 137:199 | 30 |
| 15. | KooKoo Kouvola | 44 | 8 | 3 | 33 | 117:242 | 19 |
| 16. | Ketterä Imarta | 44 | 8 | 2 | 34 | 135:239 | 18 |

## Relegation

* Kiekko-67 Turku - Vaasan Sport 1:2 (5:3, 2:7, 1:2 OT)
* Diskos Jyväskylä - Titaanit Kotka 2:1 (5:3, 1:2, 4:1)
