Elitserien

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This article is about the ice hockey league. For other leagues named Elitserien, see Elitserien (disambiguation).
Elitserien
Current season or competition:
2013–14 Elitserien season
Elitserien logo.svg
Official Elitserien logo
Formerly Division I
Sport Ice hockey
Founded 1975
No. of teams 12
Country(ies)  Sweden
Most recent champion(s) Skellefteå AIK (2nd title)
TV partner(s) TV4 Group
Official website Hockeyligan.se

Elitserien, (also known as the Swedish Elite League or the SEL, as it is often unofficially called in English[1]) is a professional ice hockey league composed of twelve teams in Sweden. It is the highest-level ice hockey league in Sweden[2] and, based on average player salaries in 2006, is ranked as the fourth highest paying professional ice hockey league in the world (behind the National Hockey League, Russian Superleague (now the KHL), and the Czech Extraliga).[3] As of 2010–11, Elitserien is the world's most evenly matched professional ice hockey league.[4] In the 2011–12 season, Elitserien was the most attended league in Europe, averaging 6,385 spectators per game.[5] However, the following season saw a 10.5% attendance drop to 5,717 spectators per game; as a result, Elitserien fell down to fourth place in the European attendance rankings.[6][7]

The first season under the name Elitserien was played in 1975–76. The Swedish ice hockey championships have been played in various forms since 1922.

A large majority of the players in Elitserien, approximately 70% during the 2006–07 season,[8] constitutes Swedes. According to the Swedish Ice Hockey Association (SIHA) there were 99 foreign players in the teams' rosters, and a total of 127 foreigners registered with the twelve Elitserien teams, at the start of the 2006–07 season.[9]

Contents

History [edit]

The Swedish ice hockey championships was awarded for the first time in Swedish history in 1922, only two years after ice hockey was introduced in Sweden by the American film director Raoul Le Mat. IK Göta won the first championships final.[10]

Elitserien under its current name started on October 5, 1975, in which each team played a total of 36 games.[11] Originally the league consisted of 10 teams but expanded in 1987 with an additional two teams.

Game [edit]

Main article: Ice hockey

Each Elitserien regulation game is an ice hockey game played between two teams and is 60 minutes long. The game is composed of three 20-minute periods with an intermission of a maximum of 18 minutes between periods.[12] At the end of the 60-minute regulation time, the team with the most goals wins the game. If a game is tied after regulation time, overtime ensues to force a winner. During the regular season, overtime is a five-minute, four-player on four-player sudden death period, in which the first team to score a goal wins the game. If a game still is tied after the overtime period, a shootout will decide 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, a sudden death shootout will decide the game, meaning that the first team to miss a penalty shot (while the other team scores) loses the game.

In the playoffs, an unlimited number of sudden-death 20 minute five-on-five periods occur until one team scores. While a game can theoretically continue forever, only a handful of games have ever surpassed four overtime periods, and none have gone beyond six.[13]

Elitserien games are played on a hockey rink, which is rectangular ice rink with rounded corners and surrounded by a wall. It measures 30 by 60 meters (98.42 by 196.85 ft), conforming to international standards.[14]

Teams [edit]

Head coaches of all twelve Elitserien teams, photographed in September 2011.

Elitserien originated in 1975 with ten teams, and after expansion in 1987 currently consists of twelve teams. The two lowest ranked teams after the regular season have to play in a regulation series called Kvalserien together with four teams from the second tier league HockeyAllsvenskan. The top two teams of Kvalserien qualify for the next Elitserien season, while the other four are demoted to HockeyAllsvenskan. Theoretically, there is a possibility that two 'new' teams will play in Elitserien at the beginning of each season.

Counting from the start of Elitserien in 1975, Färjestad BK is the most successful team with nine Swedish Championship titles, commonly called SM-guld in Swedish. The second most successful team is Djurgårdens IF with six championship titles.[15] Counting from 1922, when the first Swedish championships were played, Djurgårdens IF is the most successful team with sixteen championship titles, followed by Brynäs IF with twelve and IK Göta with nine.[16]

The future of Elitserien has been uncertain, especially its relation to ice hockey in the rest of Europe. In 2009, Håkan Loob, the general manager of Färjestad BK, sent a letter to Alexander Medvedev, the owner and president of the Russian Kontinental Hockey League, on behalf of five Elitserien teams – Färjestad, Frölunda, Djurgården, Linköping and HV71 – that were reportedly "interested in discussing the future of European hockey". It was believed that these five teams had intended to leave the Elitserien league after the 2009–10 season; they terminated their shareholders' agreements with Hockeyligan, who governs the Elitserien league.[17][18] However, this never happened, and the plans to unite with other European leagues were officially put down in November 2011.[19][20]

There has also been extensive discussion about the number of teams in the Elitserien. Currently the Elitserien league has 12 teams. However, there is general agreement among hockey experts that the league needs to be expanded by at least two more teams. (The second tier league HockeyAllsvenskan currently has 14 teams.) They mean that, apart from just the economical situation for some of the clubs, the competition from HockeyAllsvenskan has shown that more teams are needed in the top-tier league Elitserien.[21][22] Hockeyligan has stated that they are looking into ways of improving the Elitserien, including but not limited to an expansion of the league to 14 teams.[23]

2013–14 season [edit]

Elitserien team map
Team City Arena Capacity
AIK Stockholm Hovet 8,094
Brynäs IF Gävle Läkerol Arena 8,585
Frölunda HC Gothenburg Scandinavium 12,044
Färjestad BK Karlstad Löfbergs Lila Arena 8,647
HV71 Jönköping Kinnarps Arena 7,000
Leksands IF Leksand Tegera Arena 7,650
Linköpings HC Linköping Cloetta Center 8,500
Luleå HF Luleå Coop Arena 6,300
Modo Hockey Örnsköldsvik Fjällräven Center 7,600
Skellefteå AIK Skellefteå Skellefteå Kraft Arena 6,001
Växjö Lakers Växjö Vida Arena 5,700
Örebro HK Örebro Behrn Arena 5,150

Season structure [edit]

The Elitserien season is divided into a regular season from late September through the beginning of March, when teams play against each other in a pre-defined schedule, and a playoffs from March to the beginning of April, which is an elimination tournament where two teams play against each other to win a best-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round. The final remaining team is crowned the Swedish champion, or Svenska mästare in Swedish.

Regular season [edit]

The regular season is a round-robin, where each team plays 55 games in an unbalanced schedule. Points are awarded for each game, where three points are awarded for a win, two points for winning in overtime or shootout, one point for losing in overtime or shootout, and zero points for a loss 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[24] (approx. 150,000 USD) as a bonus. The eight highest ranked teams by points qualify for the playoffs. The two lowest ranked teams after the regular season have to play in the relegation and promotion series Kvalserien in order to qualify for the next season of Elitserien.

If two or more teams end up tied in points, the seeds are determined by the following tiebreaker format:

  1. Best goal difference
  2. Most goals scored
  3. Head-to-head results between the tied teams

Playoffs [edit]

The Elitserien Playoffs is an elimination tournament, where two teams battle to win a best-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round. The first round of the playoffs, or quarterfinals, consists of the first seed choosing which team to play against from the seventh or eighth seed; the second choosing from the remaining two lowest seeded; the third choosing between the remaining two lowest seeded after second's pick; and the fourth playing against the sole remaining team. In the second round, 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 third round, the finals, the two remaining teams face each other.

In each series, the higher-ranked team of the two will have home-ice advantage. Four of the seven games are played at this team's home venue — the second and fourth, and, when necessary, the fifth and seventh games — with the other games played at the lower-ranked team's home venue.

Relegation [edit]

The two lowest ranked teams after the regular season have to play in a regulation series called Kvalserien together with four teams from the second tier league HockeyAllsvenskan. The top two teams of Kvalserien qualify for the next Elitserien season, while the other four are demoted to HockeyAllsvenskan.

Notable players [edit]

See also: List of current Elitserien team rosters

Three players in Elitserien history have been awarded the Golden Puck (as ice hockey player of the year) more than once; Anders Andersson, Leif Holmqvist and Peter Forsberg have all won it twice.

The top five point scoring forwards for the 2011–12 season were Robert Rosén, Jakob Silfverberg, Nicklas Danielsson, Per-Åge Skrøder and Bud Holloway. The top goal scorer was Richard Gynge.[25] The top three scorers on defence were Ryan Gunderson, Ilkka Heikkinen, and Magnus Johansson[25] and the top three goaltenders (by save percentage) were Frederik Andersen, Joacim Eriksson, and Viktor Fasth.[26]

The top five career scorers in Elitserien are Fredrik Bremberg (581 points), Johan Davidsson (561), Jörgen Jönsson (535), Jan Larsson (527) and Anders Carlsson (526). The top career goal scorers are Lars-Gunnar Pettersson (271 goals), Magnus Wernblom (266) and Håkan Loob (263). Mikael Håkanson, David Petrasek and Roger Åkerström are the leaders in Elitserien games played, with Håkanson and Petrasek both having played 808 regular season games and Åkerström 804.[27]

Trophies and awards [edit]

At the end of the Elitserien playoffs the Swedish Champions are awarded the Le Mat Trophy. There is only one trophy that is awarded to players based on their statistics during the regular season; the Håkan Loob Trophy for the goal-scoring leader.

One of the most prestigious individual awards is Guldhjälmen, which is awarded annually to the Most Valuable Player; the voting is conducted by the players in Elitserien. Guldpucken is awarded annually to the ice hockey player of the year in Sweden. It is not necessarily awarded to a player in Elitserien; for the 2005–06 season the award was given to Kenny Jönsson in the Swedish second highest ice hockey league HockeyAllsvenskan. The award Årets Rookie (Rookie of the Year) is awarded annually by Svenska Spel and Svenska Hockeyligan to the best rookie player in Elitserien.[28][29] Starting in 2010, an annual playoff MVP was acknowledged. The playoff MVP award was later renamed the Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy.

Hosts Tommy Åström and Niklas Wikegård in the C More hockey studio.

Television and radio [edit]

Elitserien games are aired nationally in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway, by C More. One game from each round is selected and shown on C More Sport, and simulcasted in 1080i high definition on C More Sport HD. The selected game is also aired on Mobile TV, available to Telenor customers in Sweden with 3G phones.[30] All 330 regular season games are available on pay-per-view,[31] via cable and satellite for C More customers, and also available via C More's streaming Internet TV. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout Elitserien games were being broadcasted in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet.

Sveriges Radio (SR) is the official radio broadcaster of Elitserien.[32] Each round is covered by Sportextra in SR P4 with reports from all arenas, all games are available in their entirety on SR's internet radio and to mobile phones via 3G.[33]

Previous winners [edit]

Previous Elitserien regular season winners [edit]

Previous Elitserien playoff winners (Swedish Champions) [edit]

See also: List of Swedish ice hockey champions

Video games [edit]

Teams from the league are playable in the video games Elitserien 95 for Sega Mega Drive, Elitserien 96 for Sega Mega Drive and Elitserien 2001 for PC. They also appear in EA Sports' NHL series since NHL 2004.

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Meltzer, Bill (2006-12-20). "World Junior hosts boast rich hockey heritage". NHL.com. Retrieved 2007-03-07. [dead link]
  2. ^ "2008 European League Ranking". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 2009-04-14. 
  3. ^ http://www.hockey-site.com/professional-hockey.html
  4. ^ "Elitserien most evenly matched". International Ice Hockey Federation. 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-07-23. 
  5. ^ "SC Bern 10th time on top". International Ice Hockey Federation. 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2012-03-17. 
  6. ^ "Swiss on top of Europe". International Ice Hockey Federation. 2013-03-13. Retrieved 2013-03-13. 
  7. ^ Bodin, Uffe (2013-03-13). "Det svenska publikraset". Hockeysverige (in Swedish). Retrieved 2013-03-13. 
  8. ^ Wennerholm, Mats (2007-02-01). "Nationalitet på spelarna i ligan" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet.se. Retrieved 2007-03-28. 
  9. ^ "Utlänningsrekord i elitserien" (in Swedish). svt.se. 2007-01-17. Retrieved 2007-03-12. 
  10. ^ "Nu börjar jakten på Le Mat" (in Swedish). Hockeyligan.se. 2007-03-06. Archived from the original on 2007-03-21. Retrieved 2007-03-12. 
  11. ^ "Elitserien" (in Swedish). Hockeyligan.se. Archived from the original on 2007-03-10. Retrieved 2007-03-12. 
  12. ^ "Kap 1 ALLMÄNNA BESTÄMMELSER" (in Swedish). Swedish Ice Hockey Association. Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2007-03-07. 
  13. ^ "De längsta matcherna genom tiderna" (in Swedish). Swedish Ice Hockey Association. Archived from the original on 2006-12-30. Retrieved 2007-03-07. 
  14. ^ "MARKERINGAR och MÅTT" (in Swedish). Swedish Ice Hockey Association. Archived from the original on 2006-12-30. Retrieved 2007-03-12. 
  15. ^ "Svenska Mästare" (in Swedish). Hockeyligan.se. 2007-01-14. Retrieved 2007-03-12. 
  16. ^ "Visste du att..." (in Swedish). Swedish Ice Hockey Association. Archived from the original on 2006-10-10. Retrieved 2007-03-14. 
  17. ^ "KHL Owner Medvedev Interested in Buying NHL Team". The Canadian Press. Retrieved 2009-05-05. 
  18. ^ "Elitserieklubbar vill starta liga med KHL" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. 2009-04-28. Retrieved 2011-11-01. 
  19. ^ Pettersson Kymmer, Peter (2011-11-16). "Skippar Europaligan". Göteborgsposten (in Swedish). gp.se. Retrieved 2011-11-18. 
  20. ^ "Svenska planer på Europaliga läggs ned". Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå (in Swedish). hockey.expressen.se. 2011-11-17. Retrieved 2011-11-18. 
  21. ^ Nyström, Magnus (2011-03-30). "Dags för 14 lag i elitserien". Expressen (in Swedish). bloggar.expressen.se. Retrieved 2011-11-18. 
  22. ^ "Elitserien kan utökas till 14 lag". Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå (in Swedish). svd.se. 2011-01-29. Retrieved 2011-11-18. 
  23. ^ Nordström, Maria (2011-04-12). "Planer på Europaliga skjuts upp ytterligare". Sundsvalls Tidning (in Swedish). st.nu. Retrieved 2011-11-18. 
  24. ^ "HV71 – Seriesegrare 2007/2008" (in Swedish). Svenska Hockeyligan AB. 2008-03-08. Retrieved 2008-03-09. 
  25. ^ a b "Hockeyligan.se - Statistik". Hockeyligan.se. 2012-04-15. 
  26. ^ "Hockeyligan.se - Statistik". Hockeyligan.se. 2012-04-15. 
  27. ^ Eliteprospects
  28. ^ "Patric Hörnqvist kandidat till Årets Rookie" (in Swedish). Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 2007-02-28. Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2007-03-20. 
  29. ^ "Årets Rookies" (in Swedish). Hockeyligan.se. 2007-01-17. Retrieved 2007-03-20. 
  30. ^ "Telenor sänder Elitserien live i mobiltelefonen" (in Swedish). Privata Affärer. 2007-09-20. Retrieved 2008-06-28. 
  31. ^ "Alla matcher i elitserien visas i tv" (in Swedish). Expressen. 2007-08-09. Retrieved 2008-07-02. 
  32. ^ Östberg, Anders (2005-09-12). "Sveriges Radio satsar på elitserien" (in Swedish). Hockeymagasinet. Retrieved 2008-06-28. 
  33. ^ Brohult, Linus (2006-11-01). "Elitserien och Allsvenskan via 3G-radio" (in Swedish). Mobil. Retrieved 2008-06-28. 

External links [edit]

Elitserien
Teams
Arenas
Seasons
Awards
Related topics
Elitserien rosters by team
Top-level ice hockey leagues of Europe
International
National
Related topics
Defunct leagues
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