Swedish Hockey League

Elitserien, (also known as the Swedish Elite League or the SEL, as it is often unofficially called in English is a professional ice hockey league composed of twelve teams in Sweden. It is the highest-level ice hockey league in Sweden 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). As of 2010–11, Elitserien is the world's most evenly matched professional ice hockey league. It's also the most attended league in Europe, averaging 6,385 spectators per game in the 2011–12 regular season.

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, 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.

History
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.

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

Game
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. 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.

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.

Teams
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. 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.

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, Djurgårdens IF Hockey, Linköpings HC 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. However, this never happened, and the plans to unite with other European leagues were officially put down in November 2011.

There has also been extensive discussion about the amount of teams in the Elitserien. Currently the Elitserien league has 12 teams. However, there has been good 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. 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.

Season structure
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
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 (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
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
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.

Trophies and awards
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; season 2005–06 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.

Previous Elitserien regular season winners

 * 1976 - Brynäs IF
 * 1977 - Brynäs IF
 * 1978 - Brynäs IF
 * 1979 - Modo AIK
 * 1980 - Leksands IF
 * 1981 - Skellefteå AIK
 * 1982 - Färjestad BK
 * 1983 - Färjestad BK
 * 1984 - AIK


 * 1985 - Djurgårdens IF
 * 1986 - Färjestad BK
 * 1987 - Färjestad BK
 * 1988 - Djurgårdens IF
 * 1989 - Djurgårdens IF
 * 1990 - Färjestad BK
 * 1991 - Djurgårdens IF
 * 1992 - Färjestad BK
 * 1993 - VIK Västerås HK


 * 1994 - Leksands IF
 * 1995 - Djurgårdens IF
 * 1996 - Luleå HF
 * 1997 - Leksands IF
 * 1998 - Djurgårdens IF
 * 1999 - Modo Hockey
 * 2000 - Djurgårdens IF
 * 2001 - Djurgårdens IF
 * 2002 - Färjestad BK


 * 2003 - Västra Frölunda HC
 * 2004 - HV71
 * 2005 - Frölunda HC
 * 2006 - HV71
 * 2007 - Färjestad BK
 * 2008 - HV71
 * 2009 - Färjestad BK
 * 2010 - HV71
 * 2011 - HV71
 * 2012 – Luleå HF

Previous Elitserien playoff winners (Swedish Champions)

 * 1976 - Brynäs IF
 * 1977 - Brynäs IF
 * 1978 - Skellefteå AIK
 * 1979 - Modo AIK
 * 1980 - Brynäs IF
 * 1981 - Färjestad BK
 * 1982 - AIK
 * 1983 - Djurgårdens IF
 * 1984 - AIK


 * 1985 - Södertälje SK
 * 1986 - Färjestad BK
 * 1987 - IF Björklöven
 * 1988 - Färjestad BK
 * 1989 - Djurgårdens IF
 * 1990 - Djurgårdens IF
 * 1991 - Djurgårdens IF
 * 1992 - Malmö IF
 * 1993 - Brynäs IF


 * 1994 - Malmö IF
 * 1995 - HV71
 * 1996 - Luleå HF
 * 1997 - Färjestad BK
 * 1998 - Färjestad BK
 * 1999 - Brynäs IF
 * 2000 - Djurgårdens IF
 * 2001 - Djurgårdens IF
 * 2002 - Färjestad BK


 * 2003 - Västra Frölunda HC
 * 2004 - HV71
 * 2005 - Frölunda HC
 * 2006 - Färjestad BK
 * 2007 - Modo Hockey
 * 2008 - HV71
 * 2009 - Färjestad BK
 * 2010 - HV71
 * 2011 - Färjestad BK
 * 2012 - Brynäs IF