Swedish Hockey League facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Swedish Hockey League

Formerly	Elitserien (1975–2013)
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	1975
Inaugural season	1975–76
No. of teams	14
Country	Sweden
Most recent champion(s)	Luleå HF (2nd title)
Most titles	Djurgårdens IF (16th title)
TV partner(s)	Sweden: TV4 Group Finland: C More Entertainment
Relegation to	HockeyAllsvenskan
International cup(s)	Champions Hockey League
Related competitions	Swedish Women's Hockey League
Official website	SHL.se

The Swedish Hockey League (SHL; Swedish: Svenska Hockeyligan) is a top professional ice hockey league in Sweden. It is the highest level of ice hockey in the country. The league currently has 14 teams.

The SHL started in 1975. Before that, Swedish ice hockey champions were crowned in different ways since 1922. Since the first SHL season in 1975–76, the winner of the SHL playoffs has received the championship title and the Le Mat Trophy.

When it began in 1975, the league was called the Elitserien (which means Swedish Elite League or SEL in English). It started with 10 teams. In 1987, it grew to 12 teams. The league changed its name to SHL in 2013. In 2014, new rules were made, including expanding to 14 teams by the 2015–16 season. There were also new rules for teams moving up from or down to HockeyAllsvenskan, which is the second-tier league.

SHL teams also play in the IIHF's yearly Champions Hockey League (CHL). This is a competition where top European teams play for a trophy. The SHL was ranked the number one league in Europe for the 2022–23 CHL season. This allowed them to send their top five teams to compete. In 2025, The Hockey Writers ranked the SHL as the third strongest professional hockey league in the world. It was behind the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

History of Swedish Hockey

The Swedish Ice Hockey Championship was first awarded in 1922. This was only two years after ice hockey was brought to Sweden. An American film director named Raoul Le Mat introduced the sport. At first, the Swedish Championships were a separate tournament. It was not until the 1952–53 season that the championship went to the winner of the top hockey league. At that time, the top league was called Division I.

League Expansion

The first Elitserien season started on October 5, 1975. It had 10 teams, and each team played every other team four times. This meant a total of 36 games for each team. There has been a lot of talk about how many teams should be in the SHL. The league had 12 teams for over 20 years after growing from 10 teams in 1987.

Many hockey experts agreed that the league needed at least two more teams. They felt that more teams were needed in the top SHL league. On March 13, 2014, the SHL announced that it would expand to 14 teams. This change started with the 2015–16 season. To make this happen, at least two teams from HockeyAllsvenskan moved up to the SHL in the 2014–15 season.

New Name for the League

On June 17, 2013, the league changed its name to "Svenska hockeyligan." This new name made it easy to translate to "Swedish Hockey League" in English. It also created a common short name, "SHL," in both languages. This was seen as a better way to brand the league and attract investments. In 2016, a company called NordicBet became the main sponsor of the league.

How SHL Games Are Played

Elitserien logo from 2007 until 2013

Each regular season SHL game has three 20-minute periods. There is a break of up to 18 minutes between periods. If the game is tied after 60 minutes, a five-minute overtime period is played. In overtime, there are only three players from each team on the ice. The first team to score wins (this is called sudden death).

If the game is still tied after overtime, a shootout decides the winner. In a shootout, each team takes three penalty shots. The team that scores more wins. If it's still tied after three shots, the shootout continues one shot at a time until one team scores and the other doesn't.

During each period, there is a 70-second "power break" for commercials. This break happens after the first stop in play at least 10 minutes into the period. Power breaks do not happen right after a goal, penalty shot, or during a powerplay.

Playoff Game Rules

In playoff games, if a game is tied, extra 20-minute overtime periods are played. They continue until one team scores. Unlike the regular season, playoff overtime periods have five players from each team on the ice. Only one game in Sweden has ever gone past four full overtime periods. No SHL games have gone past three full overtime periods.

The longest SHL game was on March 23, 1997. It was a semifinal game between Leksands IF and Färjestad BK. Andreas Karlsson scored the winning goal for Leksand after 59 minutes of overtime. This was almost three full overtime periods.

SHL games are played on an ice hockey rink. It is a rectangular ice rink with rounded corners and a wall around it. The rink is 30 meters by 60 meters (about 98 by 197 feet). This size follows international rules.

SHL Teams and Champions

Head coaches at the start of the 2011–12 season

Since the SHL started in 1975, Färjestad BK has been the most successful team. They have won ten Swedish Championship titles. Brynäs IF and Djurgårdens IF are tied for the second most successful, with six championship titles each.

If you count from 1922, when the first Swedish championships were played, Djurgårdens IF is the most successful team with sixteen titles. Brynäs IF has thirteen, Färjestad BK has ten, and IK Göta has nine.

How the Season Works

The SHL season has two main parts: the regular season and the playoffs. The regular season runs from late September to early March. During this time, teams play each other on a set schedule. The playoffs are an elimination tournament from March to April. In the playoffs, two teams play against each other in a series. The first team to win four games in a best-of-seven series moves on to the next round. The last team standing is crowned the Swedish champion. They receive the Le Mat Trophy.

Regular Season Play

The regular season is a round-robin. This means each team plays every other team. Each team plays 52 games. Points are given for each game:

• Three points for winning in regular time.
• Two points for winning in overtime or a shootout.
• One point for losing in overtime or a shootout.
• Zero points for losing in regular time.

At the end of the regular season, the team with the most points wins the league championship. They also get a bonus prize. The top six teams in points go straight to the playoffs. Teams ranked 7th to 10th play a special series to get the last two playoff spots. The two lowest-ranked teams after the regular season have to play in a special series called Kvalserien. This series decides if they stay in the SHL or move down to HockeyAllsvenskan.

If two or more teams have the same number of points, these rules decide who ranks higher:

• The team with the best goal difference (goals scored minus goals allowed).
• The team that scored the most goals.
• The results of games played between the tied teams.

Playoff Tournament

The SHL playoffs are an elimination tournament. Teams play in multi-game series. The first team to win a certain number of games wins the series and moves on. The playoffs have four rounds: the eighth finals, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals.

In the first round, the eighth finals, the 7th-ranked team plays the 10th-ranked team. The 8th-ranked team plays the 9th-ranked team. In the quarterfinals, the six best teams from the regular season join the two winners from the eighth finals. The highest-ranked team plays the lowest-ranked team remaining. In the semifinals, teams are re-ranked. The top remaining team plays the lowest remaining team. In the finals, the last two teams play to decide the Swedish ice hockey champions.

The eighth finals are best-of-three series (first to win two games). All other rounds are best-of-seven series (first to win four games). The higher-ranked team in each series gets to play more games at their home arena. Games are played alternating home and away. A series ends when one team has won more than half the games needed to win the series.

Moving Up and Down (Relegation)

The two teams with the lowest rankings after the regular season play in a best-of-seven relegation series called Kvalserien. The team that wins this series stays in the SHL. The team that loses moves down to the second-tier league, HockeyAllsvenskan. The champion of HockeyAllsvenskan then moves up to the SHL, taking the place of the team that was relegated.

Attendance and Outdoor Games

In the 2011–12 season, the SHL had the highest average attendance for an ice hockey league in Europe. They averaged 6,385 fans per game. In 2013–14, the SHL was third best in Europe, with an average of 5,978 fans. The SHL was the second most popular sports league in Sweden, after the football league Allsvenskan.

Between 2009 and 2013, the league held an outdoor game each December during the regular season. The first outdoor game was on December 28, 2009. It was between Frölunda HC and Färjestad BK at Ullevi. Frölunda won 4–1. A record 31,144 fans watched the game. This was the largest crowd for an ice hockey league match in Sweden.

Famous Players

Three players in SHL history have won the Golden Puck (Ice Hockey Player of the Year in Sweden) more than once. They are Anders Andersson, Leif Holmqvist, and Peter Forsberg, who each won it twice.

The top five players with the most points in SHL history are Johan Davidsson (561 points), Fredrik Bremberg (501), Håkan Loob (500), Stefan Nilsson (489), and Ove Molin (484). The top three goal scorers are Håkan Loob (263 goals), Magnus Wernblom (241), and Peter Gradin (214). Joel Lundqvist, Jan Sandström, and Johan Davidsson have played the most regular season games. Lundqvist played 812 games, Sandström 800, and Davidsson 776.

For the 2021–22 season, the top three point-scoring forwards were Ryan Lasch (66 points), Max Véronneau (60), and Linus Omark (58). Véronneau was the top goal-scorer with 34 goals, winning the Håkan Loob Trophy.

Awards and Trophies

A referee in an SHL game at Hovet in Stockholm.

The team that wins the SHL playoffs is named Swedish Champions. They are given the Le Mat Trophy. There is one trophy for players based on their regular season stats: the Håkan Loob Trophy for the player who scores the most goals.

One of the most important individual awards is Guldhjälmen. This award goes to the Most Valuable Player each year. The players in the SHL vote for this award. The Guldpucken is given each year to the best ice hockey player in Sweden. This award can go to a player not in the SHL. For example, in 2005–06, it went to Kenny Jönsson from the second-tier league. The Årets Rookie (Rookie of the Year) award is given to the best new player in the SHL.

Starting in 2010, a playoff MVP award was given. This award was later renamed the Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy. It honors Swedish goalkeeper Stefan Liv after he passed away in a plane crash in 2011.

Watching SHL Games

Hosts Tommy Åström and Niklas Wikegård inside the C More's ice hockey studio.

SHL games are shown on TV in Sweden by TV4 and streamed online on TV4 Play. Some games are shown in Finland by C More and in Norway by VG+. One game from each round is called the "Flagship Game." It is shown on TV4 Hockey with a studio show before, during, and after the game.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, SHL games were even shown in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet. At the start of the 2023-24 season, it was announced that all games would be available on HomeofHockey.tv in the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, and Spain. One selected game also had English commentary.

Sveriges Radio (SR) is the official radio broadcaster for the SHL. Each round is covered by Sportextra on SR P4. They give updates from all the arenas. All games can also be heard fully on SR's internet radio and on mobile phones.

Past Winners

SHL Regular Season Winners

SHL Playoff Winners (Swedish Champions)

Video Games

Teams from the SHL have been in video games like Elitserien 95 [sv] and Elitserien 96 [sv] for Sega Mega Drive. They were also in Elitserien 2001 [sv] for PC. Since NHL 2004, SHL teams have appeared in EA Sports' NHL series of games.

See also

In Spanish: Svenska hockeyligan para niños