Current season, competition or edition: 2025–26 SHL season | |
 | |
| Formerly | Elitserien (1975–2013) |
|---|---|
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Founded | 1975 |
| First season | 1975–76 |
| No. of teams | 14 |
| Country | Sweden |
| Most recent champions | Luleå HF (2nd title) |
| Most titles | Färjestad BK 10th title) |
| Broadcasters |
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| Relegation to | HockeyAllsvenskan |
| International cup | Champions Hockey League |
| Related competitions | Swedish Women's Hockey League |
| Official website | SHL.se |
TheSwedish Hockey League (SHL;Swedish:Svenska Hockeyligan) is a professionalice hockey league inSweden and the highest level of theSwedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, and whileSwedish ice hockey champions have been crowned through various formats since 1922, the title and theLe Mat Trophy have been awarded to the winner of the SHL playoffs since the league's inaugural1975–76 season.
The league was founded in 1975 as theElitserien (known in English as theSwedish Elite League orSEL),[1] and initially featured 10 teams, though this was expanded to 12 for the1987–88 season. The league was renamed the SHL in 2013,[2] and in 2014, a number of format changes were announced, including an expansion to 14 teams to be finalized prior to the2015–16 season, and a new format for promotion from and relegation toHockeyAllsvenskan, the second-tier league.[3]
Teams from the SHL participate in theIIHF's annualChampions Hockey League (CHL), competing for the European Trophy. Participation is based on the strength of the various leagues in Europe, which excludes the European/AsianKontinental Hockey League (KHL). Going into the2022–23 CHL season, the SHL wasranked the No. 1 league in Europe, allowing them to send their top five teams to compete in the CHL.
In 2025, for the 13th consecutive year,[4]The Hockey Writers ranked the SHL the third strongest professional hockey league in the world, behind the second ranked KHL and the top rankedNational Hockey League (NHL).[5]
TheSwedish Ice Hockey Championship was awarded for the first time in1922, only two years afterice hockey was introduced in Sweden by the American film directorRaoul Le Mat.[6] At this point, the Swedish Championships were held as a separate tournament. It was not until the1952–53 season that the championship was awarded to the winner of the top-tier hockey league, which at the time wasDivision I.
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.[7] 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.[8][9] On 13 March 2014, the SHL and HockeyAllsvenskan announced that the SHL would be expanded to 14 teams, starting in the2015–16 season. To make this change happen, at least two HockeyAllsvenskan teams would be promoted to the SHL in the 2014–15 season.[10]
In 2009,Håkan Loob, the general manager ofFärjestad BK, sent a letter toAlexander Medvedev, the owner and president of the RussianKontinental Hockey League, on behalf of five SHL teams – Färjestad,Frölunda,Djurgården,Linköping andHV71 – 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 theirshareholders' agreements withHockeyligan, the name at that time for the SHL's interest organisation.[11][12] 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'schairman expressing hopes for the future of theEuropean Trophy (which was disbanded with the formation of theChampions Hockey League in 2013).[13][14]
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.[2][15][16] In 2016,NordicBet became the title sponsor of the league.[17]
Each regular season SHL game is composed of three 20-minute periods, with an intermission of a maximum of 18 minutes between periods.[18] If the game is tied following the 60-minute regulation time, a five-minute three-on-threesudden deathovertime period is played. If a game still is tied after the overtime period, ashootout decides the game. In a shootout, the team that scores the mostpenalty 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.
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 betweenLeksands IF andFärjestad BK. 6,012 spectators sawAndreas Karlsson score the game-winning goal for Leksand after 59 minutes of overtime (almost three full overtime periods).[19][20] SeeLongest ice hockey games in Sweden for other games.
SHL games are played on anice hockey rink, which is rectangularice rink with rounded corners and surrounded by a wall. It measures 30 by 60 meters (98 by 197 ft), conforming to international standards.[21]
Counting from the formation of the SHL in 1975,Färjestad BK is the most successful team with tenSwedish Championship titles.Brynäs IF andDjurgårdens IF are tied for the second most successful team with six championship titles.[22] Counting from 1922, when the first Swedish championships were played, Djurgårdens IF is the most successful team with sixteen championship titles, followed byBrynäs IF with thirteen, as well asFärjestad BK with ten andIK Göta with nine.[23]
The league consists of 14 teams;Djurgårdens IF returned to the SHL after three seasons in the HockeyAllsvenskan, where they won the2024–25 title.[24]
Modo Hockey were relegated to the HockeyAllsvenskan at the end of the previous season, after two seasons in the SHL.[25]
The SHL season is divided into aregular season from late September through the beginning of March, when teams play against each other in a pre-defined schedule, and aplayoffs from March to April, which is an elimination tournament where two teams play against each other to win abest-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round. The final remaining team is crowned theSwedish champion, orSvenska mästare in Swedish, and receives theLe Mat Trophy.
The regular season is around-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 1,000,000SEK[26] (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 abest-of-three series and battle for the two remaining playoff spots. The two lowest-ranked teams after the regular season have to play in therelegation and promotion seriesKvalserien in order to qualify for the next season of the SHL. Before the2013–14 season, the eight highest-ranked teams qualified for the playoffs.[27]
If two or more teams end up tied in points, the seeds are determined by the followingtiebreaker format:
The SHLplayoffs are an elimination tournament consisting of multi-game series where two teams battle to win abest-of-three orbest-of-seven 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 team. 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 theSwedish ice hockey champions. Before the2013–14 season, the top-tier teams got to choose their opponents in the quarterfinals.[27]
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 hashome-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.
The two lowest ranked teams after the regular season have to play in a best-of-seven relegation series calledKvalserien, with the higher-ranked team having home-ice advantage. The winning team remains in the SHL, while the losing team is relegated to the second-tier league,HockeyAllsvenskan. The champion of HockeyAllsvenskan is promoted to the SHL, taking the place of the relegated team.
In the2010–11 season, the SHL was the world's most evenly matched professional ice hockey league.[28] During the2011–12 season, the SHL was the most well attended ice hockey league inEurope, averaging 6,385 spectators per game,[29] however in2013–14, the SHL was third best in Europe, with an attendance average of 5,978.[30] The SHL was the second most popular sports team league within Sweden, after thefootball leagueAllsvenskan, which in the 2013 season had an average attendance of 7,627.[31]
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, betweenFrölunda HC andFärjestad BK atUllevi. 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.[citation needed] The following year, Färjestad and Frölunda met again in an outdoor game, this time inKarlstad. Färjestad won the game 5–2 in front of 15,274 spectators. The 2013 outdoor game was played on 14 December 2013, betweenFrölunda HC andSkellefteå AIK atGamla Ullevi. The game was promoted as "Julmatchen" (English:The Christmas game) and was won by Skellefteå 4–1 in front of 13,452 spectators.[32][33]
Three players in SHL history have been awarded theGolden Puck, as ice hockey player of the year in Sweden, more than once;Anders Andersson,Leif Holmqvist andPeter Forsberg have all won it twice.
The top five career scorers in the SHL areFredrik Bremberg (581 points),Johan Davidsson (561 points),Håkan Loob (500),Stefan Nilsson (489) andOve Molin (484). The top three career goal scorers are Håkan Loob (263 goals),Magnus Wernblom (241) andPeter Gradin (214).Joel Lundqvist,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.[34]
The top three point-scoring forwards for the2021–22 season wereRyan Lasch (66 points),Max Véronneau (60) andLinus Omark (58). Véronneau was the top goal-scorers and thus theHåkan Loob Trophy winner, with 34 goals.[35] The top three point-scorers ondefence wereJonathan Pudas (44 points),Joel Persson (39) andJoey LaLeggia (38).[36] The top three goaltenders bysave percentage among those who played more than 40% of their team's minutes wereJhonas Enroth (.923),Christoffer Rifalk (.921) andGustaf Lindvall (.920).[37]
The winning team of the SHL playoffs is named Swedish Champions and awarded theLe Mat Trophy. There is only one trophy that is awarded to players based on their statistics during the regular season; theHåkan Loob Trophy for the goal-scoring leader.
One of the most prestigious individual awards isGuldhjälmen, which is awarded annually to theMost Valuable Player. The voting is conducted by the players in the SHL.Guldpucken 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 toKenny Jönsson in the Swedish second-tier ice hockey leagueHockeyAllsvenskan. The awardÅrets Rookie (Rookie of the Year) is awarded annually bySvenska Spel andSvenska Hockeyligan to the best rookie player in the SHL.[38][39]
Starting in 2010, an annual playoff MVP was acknowledged. The playoff MVP award was later renamed theStefan Liv Memorial Trophy in honour of Swedish goalkeeperStefan Liv after his death in the2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash.
SHL games are broadcast nationally inSweden byTV4 and streamed onTV4 Play. Selected games are shown inFinland byC More and inNorway byVG+. One game from each round is presented as the "Flagship Game" and shown onTV4 Hockey with a studio show before, between the periods and after the game. During the2004–05 NHL lockout, SHL games were being broadcast in Canada byRogers Sportsnet. In the beginning of the2023–24 season it was announced that all games would be available onHomeofHockey.tv in the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium and Spain with one selected game having English commentary.[40][41]
Sveriges Radio (SR) is the official radio broadcaster of the SHL.[42] Each round is covered bySportextra inSR P4 with reports from all arenas; all games are available in their entirety on SR'sinternet radio and to mobile phones viamobile network.[43]
Teams from the league are playable in the video gamesElitserien 95 [sv] andElitserien 96 [sv] forSega Mega Drive, andElitserien 2001 [sv] forPC. SinceNHL 2004, teams have appeared inEA Sports'NHL series
