1996-97 was the 22nd season that Division 1 operated as the second tier of

ice hockey in Sweden Ice hockey in Sweden has a history going back to at least 1912 and is one of the country's most popular sports. The sport was first organized in the country by the Swedish Football Association (SvFF), which was a member of the IIHF in 1912. The i ...

, below the top-flight Elitserien (now the SHL).

Format

Division 1 was divided into four starting groups of 10 teams each. The top two teams in each group qualified for the Allsvenskan, while the remaining eight teams had to compete in a qualifying round. The teams were given zero to seven bonus points based on their finish in the first round. The top two teams from each qualifying round qualified for the playoffs. The last-place team in each of the qualifying groups was relegated directly to Division 2, while the second-to-last-place team had to play in a relegation series to retain their spot in Division 1 for the following season. Of the eight teams in the Allsvenskan, the top two qualified directly for the

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 f ...

. The third-sixth place teams qualified for the second round of the playoffs. The two playoff winners qualified for the Kvalserien, in which the top two teams qualified for the following Elitserien season.

Regular season

Northern Group

First round

Qualification round

Western Group

First round

Qualification round

Eastern Group

First round

Qualification round

Southern Group

First round

Qualification round

Allsvenskan

Playoffs

First round

Timrå IK Timrå IK is a professional Swedish ice hockey team based in Timrå, north of Sundsvall. It competes in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), which is the top-tier league in Sweden, since being promoted by winning 2021 SHL qualifiers. Previous sea ...

- Nyköpings HC 0:2 (5:6 OT, 2:3 OT) * Sunne IK -

Västerviks IK Västerviks Ishockeyklubb (English language, English: ''Vasterviks Ice hockey club'') – commonly known as Västerviks IK or VIK – is a Professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Västervik, Sweden. They currently play in the s ...

0:2 (3:4, 2:4) *

Uppsala AIS Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the capital Stockholm, it is ...

Kiruna IF Kiruna IF is an ice hockey club based in Kiruna, Sweden. , they will play in Hockeyettan (formerly named Division 1), the third level of ice hockey in Sweden. Their home arena is the Lombiahallen. The club was founded in 1988 as Team Kiruna IF, ...

0:2 (2:3, 1:2 OT) *

Tingsryds AIF Tingsryds Allmänna Idrottsförening, commonly known as Tingsryds AIF, (sometimes abbreviated TAIF) is an ice hockey club based in Tingsryd, Sweden. The club is playing in HockeyAllsvenskan HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAlls ...

Grums IK Grums IK is a Swedish sports club based in the town of Grums, founded in 1920. The ice hockey club, Grums IK Hockey, currently competes in Division 2, the fourth tier league in ice hockey in Sweden. The football club, Grums IK Fotboll, currently ...

2:0 (3:0, 5:3)

Second round

Mora IK Mora IK (or Mora Ishockeyklubb) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Mora in northern Dalarna. After failing the 2019 SHL qualifiers, Mora has been relegated for play in the second-tier league, HockeyAllsvenskan. Mora has previously p ...

2:0 (5:3, 3:2 OT) *

Skellefteå AIK Skellefteå AIK is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Skellefteå. 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 Swedish Ch ...

2:1 (2:0, 3:4, 5:0) *

Linköpings HC Linköpings may refer to: *Linköpings ASS, Linköpings Allmänna Simsällskap is a Swedish swim team *Linköpings FC, an association football club *Linköpings FF, premier men's football team *Linköpings HC, Linköpings Hockey Club See also< ...

- Nyköpings HC 2:0 (5:2, 7:3) *

Huddinge IK Huddinge IK (or ''Huddinge Hockey''), is a Swedish ice hockey team from Huddinge, a southern suburb in Stockholm County. The team is currently playing in the third highest league in Sweden, Hockeyettan. In the middle of the 1990s, a women's floo ...

0:2 (1:2, 1:2)

Third round

2:0 (5:2, 3:0) *

1:2 (3:2 OT, 2:3, 2:3 OT)

Elitserien promotion

External links

Season
on hockeyarchives.info {{DEFAULTSORT:1996-97 Division 1 season (Swedish ice hockey) Swedish Division I seasons Swed 2