2012–13 HockeyAllsvenskan season

The 2012–13 HockeyAllsvenskan season was the 8th season of the HockeyAllsvenskan (14th including seasons under the name "Allsvenskan"), the second-highest level of ice hockey in Sweden. The regular season began on 12 September 2012 and ended on 2 March 2013, with the following playoffs and Kvalserien tournaments running until 5 April 2013. Leksands IF, following a season marked by financial instability and scandal, secured first place in the regular season standings, and continued to the qualification round for the 2013–14 SHL/Elitserien season, along with second-place Södertälje SK, third place VIK Västerås HK, and playoff winner Örebro HK. Meanwhile, 13th- and 14th-ranked Tingsryds AIF and Karlskrona HK were forced to defend their places in HockeyAllsvenskan for the 2013–14 season.

This HockeyAllsvenskan season is notable for the participation of players from the National Hockey League (NHL) during the 2012–13 NHL lockout.

HockeyAllsvenskan had an average attendance of 3227 spectators in 2012–13, comfortably the highest attendance of any second-tier league in Europe (beating the 2nd Bundesliga with 2267), also making HockeyAllsvenskan the eighth most attended European hockey league. It was a 23.8 percent increase over the 2011–12 season's attendance average.

PlayOff-serien
PlayOff-serien, in previous seasons called Förkvalserien, was played between the teams ranked fourth through seventh in the regular season. They played a double round-robin tournament, the winner of which continued to the 2013 Kvalserien for the 2013–14 SHL season.

2013 Kvalserien till HockeyAllsvenskan
The two teams ranked 13th and 14th after the regular season, Tingsryds AIF and Karlskrona HK, were forced to play in the Kvalserien qualification series to defend their spots in HockeyAllsvenskan. They played a double round-robin tournament against the four playoff winners from third-tier Division 1 (IF Björklöven, HC Vita Hästen, Huddinge IK, and Piteå HC). The series began on 12 March 2013 and ended on 5 April 2013.

Umeå-based IF Björklöven, who were Swedish champions in 1987 and were in Sweden's top hockey league as recently as 2001, finished first in the standings, resulting in their return to HockeyAllsvenskan three years after their 2010 demotion to Division 1 due to financial difficulties.

The second and final spot in HockeyAllsvenskan was decided dramatically in the final round. Karlskrona went into the final round one point ahead of Tingsryd in the standings. Each team ended up losing their final match in game winning shots, resulting in Tingsryd being demoted to the 2013–14 Division 1 season.