The 2022–23 SHL season was the 48th season of the
Swedish Hockey League
The Swedish Hockey League (SHL; ) is a professional ice hockey league in Sweden and the highest level of the ice hockey in Sweden, Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, and while Li ...
(SHL). The regular season began on 17 September 2022 and ended on 9 March 2023, where it was then followed by the playoffs and the relegation playoffs.
The
Växjö Lakers
The Växjö Lakers Hockey Club (often referred to as the Växjö Lakers or VLH) are a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Växjö in Sweden. The club plays at the Vida Arena and plays in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserien), ...
completed their second league and playoff double in three seasons; having finished three points clear of
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 ...
after the 52-game regular season, the two teams met again in the playoff final with the Lakers prevailing 4–1 in the best-of-seven series.
Teams
The league consists of 14 teams;
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 ...
returned to the SHL after one season in the
HockeyAllsvenskan
HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league, and the second-highest league in the Swedish ice hockey system, after the Swedish Hockey League, SHL. Since the 2009–10 season, t ...
, where they won the
2021–22 title.
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. Djurgårdens IF is an s ...
were relegated to the HockeyAllsvenskan at the end of the previous season, and as a result,
Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
was not represented by a top-division team for the first time. In the end of the season, Brynäs was relegated for the first time ever, leaving Färjestad as the only team to have played every season in the league since it was founded.
Regular season
Each team played 52 games, playing each of the other thirteen teams four times: twice on home ice, and twice away from home. Points were awarded for each game, where three points were 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 finished with the most points was crowned the league champion.
Standings
Statistics
Scoring leaders
The following shows the top ten players who led the league in points, at the conclusion of the regular season. If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown.
Leading goaltenders
The following shows the top ten goaltenders who led the league in
goals against average
Goals against average (GAA), also known as average goals against (AGA), is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on spo ...
, provided that they had played at least 40% of their team's minutes, at the conclusion of the regular season.
Playoffs
Ten teams qualify for the playoffs: the top six teams in the regular season have a bye to the quarterfinals, while teams ranked seventh to tenth meet each other (7 versus 10, 8 versus 9) in a preliminary playoff round.
Format
In the first round, the 7th-ranked team meets the 10th-ranked team and the 8th-ranked team meets the 9th-ranked team for a place in the second round. In the second round, the top-ranked team will meet the lowest-ranked winner of the first round, the second-ranked team will face the other winner of the first round, the third-ranked team will face the sixth-ranked team, and the fourth-ranked team will face the fifth-ranked team. In the third round, the highest remaining seed is matched against the lowest remaining seed. In each round the higher-seeded team is awarded
home advantage
In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home (sports), home team ...
. The meetings are in the first round played as
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 ...
series, and in the later rounds as
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 kn ...
series. In the eighth-finals, the higher-seeded teams play at home for game 2 (plus 3 if necessary) while the lower-seeded teams play at home for game 1. In the later rounds, the higher-seeded teams are at home for games 1 and 3 (plus 5 and 7 if necessary) while the lower-seeded teams are at home for games 2 and 4 (plus 6 if necessary).
Playoff bracket
Eighth-finals
(7) IK Oskarshamn vs. (10) Luleå HF
(8) Leksands IF vs. (9) Rögle BK
Quarter-finals
(1) Växjö Lakers vs. (10) Luleå HF
(2) Skellefteå AIK vs. (9) Rögle BK
(3) Färjestad BK vs. (6) Frölunda HC
(4) Örebro HK vs. (5) Timrå IK
Semi-finals
(1) Växjö Lakers vs. (6) Frölunda HC
(2) Skellefteå AIK vs. (4) Örebro HK
Finals
(1) Växjö Lakers vs. (2) Skellefteå AIK
Statistics
Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in points, at the conclusion of the playoffs. If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown.
Leading goaltenders
The following shows the top five goaltenders who led the league in
goals against average
Goals against average (GAA), also known as average goals against (AGA), is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on spo ...
, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, at the conclusion of the playoffs.
Play Out
The two bottom-placed teams from the regular season played a best-of-seven series, with the winner remaining in the SHL and the loser relegated to the second tier, the
HockeyAllsvenskan
HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league, and the second-highest league in the Swedish ice hockey system, after the Swedish Hockey League, SHL. Since the 2009–10 season, t ...
. The higher-seeded team held
home advantage
In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home (sports), home team ...
over the series, playing at home for the odd-numbered games while the lower-seeded team was at home for the even-numbered games.
Brynäs IF
Brynäs IF is a Swedish professional ice hockey team from Gävle. The club currently plays in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), promoted from the HockeyAllsvenskan, the second tier of ice hockey in Sweden, following the 2023–24 season. The ...
's defeat in the series ended their 63-year run in the Swedish top flight.
SHL awards
References
External links
*
SHL on eurohockey.comSHL on eliteprospects.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:SHL Season 2022-23
2022-23
SHL