The Swedish Hockey League (officially SHL; sv, Svenska Hockeyligan) is a professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

, and the highest division in the Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, and while

Swedish ice hockey champions The Swedish ice hockey champions ( sv, Svenska mästare i ishockey) is a title awarded annually to the winning playoff team of the top-tier ice hockey league in Sweden, which currently is the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) since 1975. It was first a ...

have been crowned through various formats since 1922, the title and the

Le Mat Trophy The Le Mat Trophy ( sv, Le Mat-pokalen, "Le Mat Cup") is the trophy awarded to Swedish champions in ice hockey, which since 1976 has been the winners of the SHL playoffs. The Le Mat is the oldest trophy competed for by professional athletes in S ...

have been awarded to the winner of the SHL playoffs since the league's inaugural 1975–76 season. In the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season, the SHL was the world's most evenly matched professional ice hockey league. During the 2011–12 season, the SHL was the most well attended ice hockey league in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, averaging 6,385 spectators per game, however in 2013–14, the SHL was third best in Europe, with an attendance average of 5,978. The SHL was the second most popular sports team league within Sweden, after the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

league

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

, which in the 2013 season had an average attendance of 7,627. The league was founded in 1975 as the Elitserien (in English the Swedish Elite League or SEL), and initially featured 10 teams, though this was expanded to 12 for the 1987–88 season. The league was renamed the SHL in 2013, and in 2014, a number of format changes were announced, including an expansion to 14 teams to be finalized prior to the 2015–16 season, and a new format for promotion from and relegation to

HockeyAllsvenskan HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league, and the second-highest league in the Sweden, Swedish ice hockey system (after the Swedish Hockey League, SHL). Since the 2009–10 ...

, the second tier league.

History

The

Swedish Ice Hockey Championship The Swedish Ice Hockey Championship ( sv, Svenska mästerskapet i ishockey; capitalised ''Swedish Championship'') is a former ice hockey in Sweden, Swedish ice hockey knockout tournament that was played every year between 1922 Swedish Ice Hockey C ...

was awarded for the first time in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

, only two years after

was introduced in Sweden by the American film director

Raoul Le Mat Raoul Le Mat (September 3, 1875 – February 15, 1947) was an American film director and ice hockey coach, most famous for introducing ice hockey in Sweden during the early 1920s. Together with Ernest Viberg and Thomas Cahill, Le Mat introduc ...

. At this point, the Swedish Championships were held as a separate tournament. It was not until the 1952–53 season that the championship was awarded to the winner of the top-tier hockey league, which at the time was Division I.

Expansion

The inaugural Elitserien season began on 5 October 1975, with the league consisting of 10 teams, each playing one another four times—two at home and two on the road—for a total of 36 games. There has been extensive discussion about the number of teams in the SHL. The league had 12 teams for over 20 years since an expansion from 10 teams in 1987, however, there was general agreement among hockey experts that the league needed to be expanded by at least two more teams. They meant that, apart from just the economic situation for some of the clubs, the competition from HockeyAllsvenskan had shown that more teams were needed in the top-tier league SHL. On 13 March 2014, the SHL and HockeyAllsvenskan announced that the SHL would be expanded to 14 teams, starting in the 2015–16 season. To make this change happen, at least two HockeyAllsvenskan teams would be promoted to the SHL in the 2014–15 season.

European-level play

In 2009,

Håkan Loob Håkan Per Loob (born 3 July 1960) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player for Färjestad BK of the Elitserien and the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is the head of European Scouting for the Calgary Flames afte ...

, the general manager of

Färjestad BK Färjestad Bollklubb (; abbreviated as FBK) is a Swedish professional ice hockey team based in Karlstad. Färjestad has had 21 Swedish Championship final appearances, winning ten times since the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserien) ...

, sent a letter to

Alexander Medvedev Alexander Ivanovich Medvedev (russian: Александр Иванович Медведев, ) (born 14 August 1955 in Shakhtyorsk, Sakhalin Oblast) is the current Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee of Russian energy company Gazprom ...

, the owner and president of the Russian

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

, on behalf of five SHL teams – Färjestad, Frölunda,

Djurgården Djurgården ( or ) or, more officially, ''Kungliga Djurgården'' (), is an island in central Stockholm, Sweden. Djurgården is home to historical buildings and monuments, museums, galleries, the amusement park Gröna Lund, the open-air museum ...

Linköping Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...

and

HV71 HV71 (), often referred to as just HV, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Jönköping, playing in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the first tier of Swedish ice hockey. The team played in the 2008–09 Champions Hockey League s ...

– that were reportedly "interested in discussing the future of European hockey". It was believed that these five teams had intended to leave the SHL league after the 2009–10 season; they terminated their

shareholders' agreement A shareholders' agreement (sometimes referred to in the U.S. as a stockholders' agreement) (SHA) is an agreement amongst the shareholders or members of a company. In practical effect, it is analogous to a partnership agreement. It can be said that ...

s with ''Hockeyligan'', the name at that time for the SHL's interest organisation. The teams also formed an interest group to investigate the possibility of forming a continental hockey league spanning several European countries. These plans were abandoned in November 2011, however, with Frölunda's

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

expressing hopes for the future of the

European Trophy European Trophy (previously named ''Nordic Trophy'' between 2006 and 2009) was an annually held ice hockey tournament, traditionally composed of teams from the higher-level ice hockey leagues in countries across Europe. With 32 participating tea ...

(which was disbanded with the formation of the

Champions Hockey League The Champions Hockey League is a European first-level ice hockey tournament. Launched in the 2014–15 season by 26 clubs, 6 leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the tournament features top teams across Europe. Backgrou ...

in 2013).

Renaming

On 17 June 2013, the league was renamed "Svenska hockeyligan", since this would allow for an easy English translation ("Swedish Hockey League") and a common acronym in the two languages ("SHL"), all of which was considered to be a better brand identity for investment.

Game

Each regular season SHL game is composed of three 20-minute periods, with an intermission of a maximum of 18 minutes between periods. If the game is tied following the 60-minute regulation time, a five-minute three-on-three sudden death

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society), ...

period is played. If a game still is tied after the overtime period, a

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

decides the game. In a shootout, the team that scores the most penalty shots out of three attempts wins the game. If the game is still tied after the first three penalty-shot rounds, the shootout continues round by round, until one team scores while the other team fails to score. During each period, there is one 70-second "power break" used to display commercials; each commercial is played after the first stoppage of play at least 10 minutes into the period. Power breaks do not, however, take place directly after a goal, penalty shot, icing call or during a powerplay.

Playoff games

In the event of a tied game during the playoffs, additional 20-minute overtime periods are played perpetually until one team scores. Unlike in the regular season, playoff overtime periods are played five-on-five. Only one game in Sweden has ever surpassed four full overtime periods, and no SHL games have surpassed three full overtime periods. The longest SHL game was the first game of the 1997 Swedish Championship semifinals, played on 23 March 1997 between

Leksands IF Leksands Idrottsförening is a Swedish ice hockey team from the town of Leksand in the region of Dalarna. The team plays in the top-tier league, SHL, after succeeding through the 2019 SHL qualifiers and thus earning promotion to the SHL. The c ...

and

. 6,012 spectators saw

Andreas Karlsson Andreas John Karlsson (born August 19, 1975) is a retired Swedish professional ice hockey player. Playing career Karlsson is a good skater and playmaker with good technical skills. During the season 2005–06 he has also shown that he is a ...

score the game-winning goal for Leksand after 59 minutes of overtime (almost three full overtime periods). See Longest ice hockey games in Sweden for other games. SHL games are played on an

ice hockey rink An ice hockey rink is an ice rink that is specifically designed for ice hockey, a competitive team sport. Alternatively it is used for other sports such as broomball, ringette, rinkball, and rink bandy. It is a rectangle with rounded corners and s ...

, which is rectangular

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...

with rounded corners and surrounded by a wall. It measures 30 by 60 meters (98.42 by 196.85 ft), conforming to international standards.

Teams

Counting from the formation of the SHL in 1975,

is the most successful team with ten Swedish Championship titles.

Brynäs IF Brynäs IF is a Swedish ice hockey team from Gävle. The club currently plays in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the top tier of ice hockey in Sweden. The club has played in the top-tier league since 1960, longer than any other team. History ...

and

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Name The club is named ...

are tied for the second most successful team with six championship titles. Counting from 1922, when the first Swedish championships were played, Djurgårdens IF is the most successful team with sixteen championship titles, followed by

with thirteen, as well as

with ten and

IK Göta IK Göta is a Sweden, Swedish sports club, which was very successful in several sports such as track and field, handball, bowling, field hockey, ice hockey, soccer (women only) and bandy during the 20th century. Their most famous and successful sp ...

with nine.

2021–22 season

Season structure

The SHL season is divided into a

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

from late September through the beginning of March, when teams play against each other in a pre-defined schedule, and a

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

s from March to April, which is an elimination tournament where two teams play against each other to win a

best-of-seven series There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

in order to advance to the next round. The final remaining team is crowned the Swedish champion, or ''Svenska mästare'' in Swedish, and receives the

Regular season

The regular season is a round-robin, where each team plays 52 games. Points are awarded for each game, where three points are awarded for winning in regulation time, two points for winning in overtime or shootout, one point for losing in overtime or shootout, and zero points for losing in regulation time. At the end of the regular season, the team that finishes with the most points is crowned the league champion and is awarded a prize sum of 1,000,000 SEK (approx. US$150,000) as a bonus. The six highest-ranked teams by points qualify directly for the playoffs. The four teams ranked 7–10 play a

best-of-three series There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

and battle for the two remaining playoff spots. The two lowest-ranked teams after the regular season have to play in the

relegation and promotion In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

series

Kvalserien Kvalserien, also known as ''Kvalserien till SHL'', was the Swedish round-robin ice hockey tournament to qualify for play in the next season of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL, previously named Elitserien), Sweden's top-level ice hockey league for ...

in order to qualify for the next season of the SHL. Before the 2013–14 season, the eight highest-ranked teams qualified for the playoffs. If two or more teams end up tied in points, the seeds are determined by the following tiebreaker format: #Best

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

#Most goals scored #Head-to-head results between the tied teams

Playoffs

The SHL

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

are an elimination tournament consisting of multi-game series where two teams battle to win a

best-of-three There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

best-of-seven There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly k ...

series in order to advance to the next round. The playoffs consist of four rounds: The eighth finals, the quarterfinals, the semifinals and the finals. In the first round, the eighth finals (known as Play In before the 2015–16 season), the 7th-ranked team from the regular season is paired against the 10th-ranked team and the 8th-ranked team is paired against the 9th-ranked teamen. In the quarterfinals, the six best teams from the regular season and the two winners of the eighth finals are paired seed-wise against each other, with the highest seed playing the lowest-remaining seed. In the semifinals, the teams are re-seeded, with the top remaining seed playing against the lowest remaining seed, and the other two remaining teams pairing off. In the finals, the two remaining teams face each other to determine the

. Before the 2013–14 season, the top-tier teams got to choose their opponents in the quarterfinals. The eighth finals are played as best-of-three series while the other rounds are played as best-of-seven series. In each series, the higher-ranked team of the two has home-ice advantage. Each series is played in an alternating home-away format, with the first game played at the higher seed's home venue. Any given series ends when one team has won more than half the maximum number of games needed to decide the series.

Relegation

The two lowest ranked teams after the regular season have to play in a relegation series called

together with four teams from the second tier league

. The top two teams of Kvalserien qualify for the next SHL season, while the other four are demoted to HockeyAllsvenskan.

Outdoor games

Between 2009 and 2013, the league hosted an outdoor game in the regular season in December every year. The first outdoor game was played on 28 December 2009, between

Frölunda HC Frölunda Hockey Club, previously known as the Frölunda Indians, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Gothenburg. They currently play in the highest Swedish league, the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), formerly the Elitserien, where th ...

and

Ullevi Ullevi, sometimes known as Nya Ullevi (, ''New Ullevi''), is a multi-purpose stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but since then has also hosted the World Allround Speed Skating Championships six times; the ...

. Frölunda came out on top with a 4–1 victory. 31,144 spectators saw the game, setting a new record for the largest attendance at an ice hockey league match in Sweden. The following year, Färjestad and Frölunda met again in an outdoor game, this time in

Karlstad Karlstad (, ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 65,856 inhabitants in 2020 with 95,167 inhabitants ...

. Färjestad won the game 5–2 in front of 15,274 spectators. The 2013 outdoor game was played on 14 December 2013, between

and

Skellefteå AIK Skellefteå AIK is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Skellefteå, Sweden. They currently play In the Swedish Hockey League. They play their home games in Skellefteå Kraft Arena, which seats 6,001 spectators. The team has won the Swed ...

Gamla Ullevi Gamla Ullevi () is a football stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden, that opened on 5 April 2009. The stadium replaced the city's previous main football stadium, also called Gamla Ullevi, and is the home ground of GAIS, IFK Göteborg and Örgryte IS. ...

. The game was promoted as "Julmatchen" (English: ''The Christmas game'') and was won by Skellefteå 4–1 in front of 13,452 spectators.

Notable players

Three players in SHL history have been awarded the

Golden Puck Guldpucken (''The Golden Puck'') is awarded annually to the ice hockey player of the year in Sweden. It is similar to the NHL's Hart Memorial Trophy. Normally it goes to a player in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the top-level ice hockey league ...

, as ice hockey player of the year in Sweden, more than once; Anders Andersson,

Leif Holmqvist Leif Erik "Honken" Holmqvist (born November 12, 1942) is a retired Swedish ice hockey goaltender. He is one of only three players to win the Golden Puck award twice, which he did while playing for AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simp ...

and

Peter Forsberg Peter Mattias Forsberg (; born 20 July 1973) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player and former assistant general manager of Modo Hockey. Nicknamed "Peter the Great" and "Foppa", Forsberg was known for his on-ice vision and physical pl ...

have all won it twice. The top five career scorers in the SHL are

Johan Davidsson Johan Markus Davidsson (born January 6, 1976) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player, who played last with HV71 in the Swedish elite league Elitserien. He was a long-time Elitserien player and captain of HV71, with which he has won th ...

(561 points),

Fredrik Bremberg Per Fredrik Bremberg (born Per Fredrik Lindquist on 21 June 1973) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player. He was drafted in the third round, 55th overall, by the New Jersey Devils in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. He played eight games in ...

(501),

(500), Stefan Nilsson (489) and Ove Molin (484). The top three career goal scorers are Håkan Loob (263 goals),

Magnus Wernblom Magnus Wernblom (born February 3, 1973) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey forward (ice hockey), forward who spent most of his active career playing for Modo Hockey in the Swedish Swedish Hockey League, Elitserien league, where he holds ...

(241) and Peter Gradin (214).

Joel Lundqvist Joel Per Lundqvist (born 2 March 1982) is a Swedish professional ice hockey centre for Frölunda HC of Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He serves as the team's captain. He is the identical twin brother of former National Hockey League goaltender Henri ...

, Jan Sandström and Johan Davidsson are the leaders in the number of SHL regular season games played, with Lundqvist having played 812 games, Sandström 800 and Davidsson 776.All-time player statistics at Eliteprospects.com
Retrieved 2014-06-13. The top three point-scoring forwards for the 2021–22 season were

Ryan Lasch Ryan Alan Lasch (born January 22, 1987) is an American professional ice hockey winger for Lahti Pelicans of the Finnish Liiga. Playing career After playing four years with St. Cloud State University, Lasch completed his collegiate career as th ...

(66 points),

Max Véronneau Maximilian Cross Véronneau is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing with the San Jose Barracuda in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League (NHL). V ...

(60) and

Linus Omark Linus Karl Heimer Omark (born 5 February 1987) is a Swedish professional ice hockey left winger currently with Genève-Servette HC of the National League (NL). Omark has previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Buffalo Sabre ...

(58). Véronneau was the top goal-scorers and thus the

Håkan Loob Trophy The Håkan Loob Trophy is the annual award for the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) player who scores the most goals during the regular season. It was created by Svenska Hockeyligan and Canal+ in honour of Håkan Loob Håkan Per Loob (born 3 July 19 ...

winner, with 34 goals. The top three point-scorers on

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

were Jonathan Pudas (44 points), Joel Persson (39) and

Joey LaLeggia Joseph LaLeggia (born June 24, 1992) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently playing for HV71 in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). LaLeggia was drafted 123rd overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers. P ...

(38). The top three goaltenders by

save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various goal-scoring sports that track saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse, it is a statistic that represents the percentage of shots on goal ...

among those who played more than 40% of their team's minutes were

Jhonas Enroth Jhonas Erik Enroth (born 25 June 1988), a Swedish professional ice hockey goaltender, who is currently playing with Örebro HK of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Buffalo Sabres, Dallas Stars ...

(.923),

Christoffer Rifalk Christoffer Rifalk (born July 6, 1996) is a Swedish professional ice hockey goaltender. He currently plays for Rögle BK of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). During his first full season with IK Oskarshamn IK Oskarshamn is an ice hockey club fr ...

(.921) and Gustaf Lindvall (.920).

Trophies and awards

The winning team of the SHL playoffs is named Swedish Champions and awarded the

. There is only one trophy that is awarded to players based on their statistics during the regular season; the

for the goal-scoring leader. One of the most prestigious individual awards is

Guldhjälmen Guldhjälmen (''The Gold Helmet'') is a Swedish ice hockey award, which is awarded annually to the's most valuable player of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) and of the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) as decided by a vote of each league’s pla ...

, which is awarded annually to the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. The voting is conducted by the players in the SHL.

Guldpucken Guldpucken (''The Golden Puck'') is awarded annually to the ice hockey player of the year in Sweden. It is similar to the NHL's Hart Memorial Trophy. Normally it goes to a player in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the top-level ice hockey league ...

is awarded annually to the ice hockey player of the year in Sweden. It is not necessarily awarded to a player in the SHL; for the 2005–06 season the award was given to

Kenny Jönsson Kenny Per Anders Jönsson (born October 6, 1974) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player. Playing career Jönsson was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1st round as the 12th overall selection in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. Afte ...

in the Swedish second-tier ice hockey league

. The award Årets Rookie (Rookie of the Year) is awarded annually by ''

Svenska Spel Svenska Spel ("Swedish Bets") is a state-owned company operating in the regulated gambling market in Sweden. For many years, state-owned Svenska Spel was the only company permitted to offer online gambling to people in Sweden, whether it be casino ...

'' and ''Svenska Hockeyligan'' to the best rookie player in the SHL. Starting in 2010, an annual playoff MVP was acknowledged. The playoff MVP award was later renamed the

Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) playoffs' most valuable player (MVP), as decided by SICO (Sweden's Ice hockey players Central Organisation). It was installed in 2010 and resembles the Conn Smythe Tr ...

in honour of Swedish goalkeeper

Stefan Liv Stefan Daniel Patryk Liv (born Patryk Śliż; 21 December 1980 – 7 September 2011) was a Swedish professional ice hockey, ice hockey player who played as a goaltender. Liv played professionally in Sweden, North America and Russia ...

after his death in the

2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash On 7 September 2011, YAK-Service Flight 9633, a Yakovlev Yak-42 air charter, charter flight operated by Yak-Service, YAK-Service carrying players and coaching staff of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl professional ice hockey team, crashed on take-off nea ...

Television and radio

SHL games are aired nationally in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, by

C More C More Entertainment AB is a pay television company that previously operated as Canal+. It targets Nordic countries and has a separate channel in Sweden (C More Film). The main competitors of C More Entertainment are Viasat Film and Viasat Sp ...

. One game from each round is selected and shown on

C More Sport C More Sport is a Scandinavian pay television sports network owned by C More Entertainment. It was launched as the Nordic version of ''Canal+ Sport'' on 1 May 2004, when C More introduced themed channels for movies and sports. On 1 September 2005 ...

, and simulcasted in

1080i 1080i (also known as Full HD or BT.709) is a combination of frame resolution and scan type. 1080i is used in high-definition television (HDTV) and high-definition video. The number "1080" refers to the number of horizontal lines on the screen. ...

high definition on

C More Sport HD C More Sport HD is a premium high-definition television channel owned by C More Entertainment, which is a part of TV4 AB. It broadcasts sports in high definition. The channel was launched on 3 February 2007, when the existing HD channel from C Mor ...

. The selected game is also aired on

Mobile TV Mobile television is television watched on a small handheld or mobile device. It includes service delivered via mobile phone networks, received free-to-air via terrestrial television stations, or via satellite broadcast. Regular broadcast stand ...

, available to

Telenor Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwide, ...

customers in Sweden with 3G phones. All 330 regular season games are available on

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

, via cable and satellite for C More customers, and also available via C More's streaming Internet TV. During the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

, SHL games were being broadcast in Canada by

Rogers Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then was r ...

. Starting in 2017, SHL is broadcast in the United States by

Eleven Sports Network Next Level Sports is an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television channel. The network also operates an online presence under the alternate brand For the Fans (FTF). History In March 2017, the U.S. international sports channel ...

Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio AB (, "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a licensing fee, the level of which is d ...

(SR) is the official radio broadcaster of the SHL. Each round is covered by ''Sportextra'' in

SR P4 P4 (''pe fyra'') is a national radio channel produced by the Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Radio. P4 was started in 1987 as a network of regional stations, but national programming was added in 1993 when P3 was relaunched as a specialist yo ...

with reports from all arenas; all games are available in their entirety on SR's

internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...

and to mobile phones via 3G.

Previous winners

Previous SHL regular season winners

*1976 –

*1977 –

*1978 –

*1979 –

Modo AIK Modo Hockey (or MoDo with uppercase letters) is a professional ice hockey club in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The team plays in Sweden's second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan. The club was founded in 1987 and has won one SHL championships; in 2007. ...

*1980 –

*1981 –

*1982 –

*1983 –

*1984 –

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

*1985 –

*1986 –

*1987 –

*1988 –

*1989 –

*1990 –

*1991 –

*1992 –

*1993 –

VIK Västerås HK Vik (Old Norse: vík) means wick or bay in Norwegian and Swedish (''vig'' in Danish), and it may refer to the following: Places Iceland *Vík í Mýrdal, a village in southern Iceland Iran * Vik, Iran, a village in Zanjan Province, Iran Norway * ...

*1994 –

*1995 –

*1996 –

Luleå HF Luleå Hockeyförening is an ice hockey club from Luleå, Sweden. The club has been playing in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the top tier of ice hockey in Sweden, since the 1984–85 season. They are the northernmost team in the league and h ...

*1997 –

*1998 –

*1999 –

Modo Hockey Modo Hockey (or MoDo with uppercase letters) is a professional ice hockey club in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The team plays in Sweden's second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan. The club was founded in 1987 and has won one SHL championships; in 2007. ...

*2000 –

*2001 –

*2002 –

*2003 –

*2004 –

*2005 –

*2006 –

*2007 –

*2008 –

*2009 –

*2010 –

*2011 –

*2012 –

*2013 –

*2014 –

*2015 –

*2016 –

*2017 –

Växjö Lakers Växjö Lakers Hockey Club (often referred to as the Växjö Lakers or VLH) is a Swedish ice hockey club from Växjö in Sweden. The club plays in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserien), the top-level league of Swedish ice hockey, and ...

*2018 –

*2019 –

*2020 –

*2021 –

*2022 –

Rögle BK Rögle BK (Rögle Bandyklubb) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Ängelholm that has been playing in the SHL since the 2015–16 season. Rögle has previously played in the SHL (previously named Elitserien) in 1992–1995–96 Elitse ...

Previous SHL playoff winners (Swedish champions)

*1976 –

*1977 –

*1978 –

*1979 –

*1980 –

*1981 –

*1982 –

*1983 –

*1984 –

*1985 –

Södertälje SK Södertälje Sportklubb, also known as Södertälje SK and often referred to as SSK, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club playing in HockeyAllsvenskan, the second highest level of pro hockey in Sweden. Södertälje were charter members of Eli ...

*1986 –

*1987 –

IF Björklöven IF Björklöven (often simply referred to as Björklöven or Löven) is a Sweden, Swedish professional ice hockey Club (organization), club in Umeå, Västerbotten, in northern Sweden. The club is currently playing in the second-tier league HockeyA ...

*1988 –

*1989 –

*1990 –

*1991 –

*1992 –

Malmö IF Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal popu ...

*1993 –

*1994 –

*1995 –

*1996 –

*1997 –

*1998 –

*1999 –

*2000 –

*2001 –

*2002 –

*2003 –

*2004 –

*2005 –

*2006 –

*2007 –

*2008 –

*2009 –

*2010 –

*2011 –

*2012 –

*2013 –

*2014 –

*2015 –

*2016 –

*2017 –

*2018 –

*2019 –

*2020 – ''Not held due to

COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden The COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden is part of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). As of , there have been confirmed cumulative cases and deaths with confirmed COVID-19 in Swed ...

'' *2021 –

*2022 –

Video games

Teams from the league are playable in the video games '' Elitserien 95'' for

Sega Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

, '' Elitserien 96'' for Sega Mega Drive and '' Elitserien 2001'' for PC. They also appear in

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...

NHL series ''NHL'' (colloquially referred to as Chel) is a series of professional ice hockey simulation video games developed by EA Vancouver and published yearly by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports brand. The game is developed under license from the Nat ...

since

NHL 2004 ''NHL 2004'', developed by the EA Black Box studios, is an ice hockey video game. It is the successor to ''NHL 2003''. The game adds three European Elite Leagues: Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), Sweden's Elitserien (SEL), and Finland's SM ...

References

External links

Official website (in Swedish)SHL in English
- Official English language news from SHL.se
Official statistics
– Official standings and statistics from the Swedish Ice Hockey Association
Eliteprospects
– Swedish Hockey League news in English

– SHL info in English {{Ice Hockey Leagues 1975 establishments in Sweden Sports leagues established in 1975 Professional ice hockey leagues in Sweden Top tier ice hockey leagues in Europe Organizations based in Stockholm

History

Expansion

European-level play

Renaming

Game

Playoff games

Teams

2021–22 season

Season structure

Regular season

Playoffs

Relegation

Outdoor games

Notable players

Trophies and awards

Television and radio

Previous winners

Previous SHL regular season winners

Previous SHL playoff winners (Swedish champions)

Video games

See also

References

External links