HockeyAllsvenskan

HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is the second-highest league in the Swedish ice hockey system (after the SHL). As of 2012–13, HockeyAllsvenskan has by far the highest average attendance of any second-tier league in Europe, averaging 3,227 spectators per game. Since the 2009–10 season, the league consists of fourteen teams.

Previous leagues called Allsvenskan
During seasons 1948–49 through 1974–75 Allsvenskan was the semi-official name of the first-level league, the official name being Division 1 norra (north) and södra (south), comprising six teams each until 1955–56 and eight teams each from 1956–57 to 1973–74. In 1974–75 it was played as one Division 1 league with sixteen teams, leading up to the start in 1975–76 season of the present SHL.

The second highest-level league had been called Division 2 since 1941–42, and was divided into eight groups from 1957–58 on. The winners of these groups played in two qualification leagues, a northern and a southern one, from which two teams each were promoted. In the 1974–75 season the grouping was changed to have six groups. Each qualification league contained the winners of three groups and one each of the teams on places nine and ten in the sixteen-team league Allsvenskan.

When the then-named Elitserien started in 1975–76 as the top level with ten teams, the new second highest-level league was called Division 1, in four groups. After a couple of years, it was settled into ten teams each in these. Until the 1981–82 season the Division 1 leagues were played over the entire season and followed by play-offs and Kvalserien, the qualification league for the Elitserien.

In 1982–83, however, the name Allsvenskan came back, for a league starting after the Christmas and New Year's break of the season. The top two teams of each Division 1 league were promoted to the new Allsvenskan. The top two teams in the Allsvenskan played a best-of-five final for promotion to Elitserien. The teams 3–6 in the Allsvenskan continued with play-offs and possibly Kvalserien for the second open spot in the Elitserien.

For the 1987–88 season the Elitserien was expanded from ten to twelve teams, and now also the two last teams in Elitserien by the end of the year were moved down for play in the Allsvenskan together with the top eight Division 1 teams. Still with a best of five final between the top two teams, and play-offs for teams 3–8.

From the 1996–97 season, the Elitserien changed and played with all twelve teams for the entire season. The Allsvenskan changed back to the eight top teams from Division 1 only. The best of five final was also abandoned. From here on, the top two teams were promoted directly to Kvalserien, while the teams finishing 3-6 played play-offs for two more spots in Kvalserien.

In the 1999–2000 season, Allsvenskan Norra (north) and Södra (south) was inaugurated as a completely new second-level league, consisting of twelve teams each. The top four teams from each of them were promoted for the later half of the season to the same kind of league as recent years Allsvenska, but the name of that league was changed to SuperAllsvenskan.

For the 2005–06 season the number of teams was decreased from 2x12 to 16 (currently 14), and the present HockeyAllsvenskan was born.

Present HockeyAllsvenskan
The league is played as a round-robin tournament where all teams play each other four times during one season.

After the regular season, four teams from the league play along with the two last placed teams from the SHL in a series called Kvalserien, where the two winning teams are promoted to the SHL for the next season, while the bottom four teams are relegated to HockeyAllsvenskan.

The top three finishing teams of the league advance to this Kvalserien directly, and the teams ranked 4 through 7 battle for the fourth spot. Up until season 2009-10 they have met in two playoff rounds, but from the 2010-11 season they play a "pre-qualification" round robin league in six rounds, facing at home and away.

The two last placed teams from HockeyAllsvenskan have to play in the Kvalserien qualification against four Division 1 (tier III) teams to avoid relegation.

For the 2009–10 season, the number of teams in the league was decreased from sixteen to fourteen. In the 2008–09 season the last placed team was directly relegated, and the teams ranked fourteen and fifteen played in the qualification league, from which only the best team was qualified for the next HockeyAllsvenskan season.

Attendance increase
HockeyAllsvenskan has seen a steady increase in average attendance per game since the first season of HockeyAllsvenskan in 2005–06. In the 2011–12 season, HockeyAllsvenskan had the highest average attendance number of any second-tier league in Europe, averaging 2,606 spectators per game. The following season, 2012–13, the average attendance increased to 3,227 spectators per game, a 23.8% increase over the 2011–12 season; HockeyAllsvenskan remained the European second-tier league with the highest average attendance as a result. This dramatic increase can be explained by the fact that Djurgårdens IF, who replaced Rögle BK's position in the league as a result of the 2012 Kvalserien, averaged 6,184 spectators per game compared to Rögle who just averaged 2,973 spectators; as well as the fact that Karlskrona HK and Asplöven HC, who replaced IF Sundsvall Hockey and Borås HC as a result of the 2012 Kvalserien for HockeyAllsvenskan, averaged 2,161 spectators per game (combined) while Sundsvall and Borås just averaged 1,033 spectators. Also, Örebro HK increased their average attendance from 2,445 to 3,618 spectators per game. Overall, in seven years, the average attendance has increased from 1,996 in the 2005–06 season to 3,227 spectators per game in the 2012–13 season, an increase of 61.7%.

Television
Since the 2009–10 season, Viasat Hockey has taken over the television broadcasts from TV4 Sport. Some games on Viasat are also broadcasted on the TV10 channel. s24.se airs games online on streaming Internet TV.

2005–06 season
Halmstad played in HockeyAllsvenskan this season, but due to the club's bankruptcy the team was disqualified. In Kvalserien, Malmö Redhawks and Skellefteå AIK were promoted to play in Elitserien for the 2006–07 season. Leksand and Södertälje were both relegated from Elitserien.

Arboga and Hammarby had to play the relegation rounds but managed to keep their spots in the league, coming in second respectively third after Huddinge, who had been relegated one year previously, but made it back after one year in Division 1.

2006–07 season
In the qualification rounds for Elitserien, Södertälje advanced to Elitserien while Malmö only finished third and remained in HockeyAllsvenskan.

This season Huddinge and Arboga had to play in the qualification series to stay in the league, but Arboga decided not to play because of their bad economic state of affairs. This meant that Arboga joined Division 1 in the 2007–08 season. Huddinge won the qualification series and thus continued to play in HockeyAllsvenskan for yet another season, while Borås finished second and advanced to HockeyAllsvenskan.

2007–08 season
In a closely played qualification battle for Elitserien, Rögle advanced to Elitserien at the cost of Mora who finished fourth and went on to play in HockeyAllsvenskan for another season.

Huddinge and Hammarby finished last in the league this year and had to play in the qualification series to stay up. Hammarby, however, decided not to play because of economic issues (the team later went bankrupt). Huddinge did not survive the qualification group which was won by the following season's newcomers IF Troja/Ljungby and Mariestad BoIS HC. However, in the summer, Nyköpings Hockey was relegated to Division 1, not meeting the financial demands for being approved to play in the HockeyAllsvenskan, and Huddinge was promoted to fill in that spot.

2008–09 season
The 2008–09 season became the last season with sixteen teams in HockeyAllsvenskan. On May 30, 2008, the board of the SIHA decided to decrease the number of teams to fourteen, starting from the 2009–10 season.

In Kvalserien, none of the four top teams from HockeyAllsvenskan succeeded in qualifying for the highest division this year. Instead, the two Elitserien teams Södertälje and Rögle managed to keep their spots.

Because of the decreased number of teams for the next season, the last placed team, Mariestad, was directly relegated to the lower division instead of joining the teams placed 14th and 15th who had to play the qualification group against four teams from Division 1. With just one team qualifying for HockeyAllsvenskan this season, neither Nybro Vikings IF (third) nor Huddinge IK (fourth) succeeded in staying in the second division. Instead, Örebro HK took the available place in HockeyAllsvenskan for the 2009–10 season.

2009–10 season
In Kvalserien, AIK IF managed to promote to Elitserien at the expense of Rögle.

Sundsvall and Oskarshamn ended up at the bottom of the league table and had to play a qualification series to requalify for HockeyAllsvenskan. There Tingsryd came in second after Oskarshamn, earning promotion at the expense of Sundsvall. However, in June the Swedish Ice Hockey Association (SIHA) decided not to grant Björklöven elite license for the upcoming season due to financiary concerns and thus Björklöven were relegated to Division 1 and Sundsvall was offered a spot in HockeyAllsvenskan next season.

2010–11 season
In Kvalserien, Växjö managed to promote to Elitserien at the expense of Södertälje.

The qualification system for the teams 4–7 to qualify for Kvalserien was changed this season. Instead of a kind-of-playoff series, a "pre-qualification" system was used. The 4th ranked team from HockeyAllsvenskan started with 4 points, the 5th ranked team with 3 points, the 6th ranked team with 2 points, and the 7th ranked team with 1 point. The teams met each other two times, giving a total of 6 rounds. The 7th ranked team, which was Mora, won the pre-qualification and thus reached the Kvalserien.

Troja/Ljungby and Tingsryd ended at 13th and 14th place respectively and thus were forced to play in the Kvalserien for HockeyAllsvenskan. Troja/Ljungby and Tingsryd ended 1st and 2nd respectively in the Kvalserien and thus stayed in HockeyAllsvenskan for the 2011–12 season. This also meant that no team from Division 1 qualified for HockeyAllsvenskan this season.

2011–12 season
In Kvalserien, Rögle promoted to Elitserien at the expense of Djurgården. Rögle became the first HockeyAllsvenskan playoff team in history to promote to Elitserien.

In Kvalserien for HockeyAllsvenskan, Borås re-qualified for HockeyAllsvenskan and Karlskrona promoted to HockeyAllsvenskan for the first time in the club's history, at the expense of Sundsvall. However, the SIHA did not grant Borås elite license for the 2012–13 season and Borås were therefore relegated to Division 1 while Asplöven, the 3rd-ranked team from the HockeyAllsvenskan Kvalserien, took over their spot for the next HockeyAllsvenskan season.