Elitserien
In Sweden, Elitserien is the name of the highest-level league in various sports. The by far most well-known is that in ice hockey, where the first season under this name was played in 1975-1976.
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Organization
The present Elitserien contains 12 teams, playing 50 games each. There is a slight weight towards geographically closer opponents. Since 1999, every game is played to a decisive result, first by means of an extension, and then by single penalty shots. The score system works as follows:
- win during ordinary time gives 3 points
- win in overtime or penalty shots gives 2 points
- loss in overtime or penalty shots gives 1 point
- loss after ordinary time gives 0 points
Since 2002, the winning team receives 1 million SEK (US$150,000) as a bonus.
The playoffs
The playoffs begin when Elitserien has finished. The eight best teams compete to win the gold medal in the Swedish ice hockey championship (SM-Guld). All playoff series are conducted in a best-of-seven format. The winning team of Elitserien earns the advantage of playing on home ice in all decisive playoff games. Färjestads BK and Djurgårdens IF hold the record of 6 wins each since the beginning of the league.
Team number 9 and 10 have finished their season, while number 11 and 12 play qualification rounds to stay in Elitserien.
Teams in the 2004-2005 league
- Brynäs IF, Gävle
- Djurgårdens IF, Stockholm
- Färjestads BK, Karlstad
- HV 71, Jönköping
- Linköpings HC, Linköping
- Luleå HF, Luleå
- Malmö Redhawks, Malmö
- MODO Hockey, Örnsköldsvik
- Mora IK, Mora
- Södertälje SK, Södertälje
- Timrå IK, Timrå
- Västra Frölunda HC, Gothenburg
NHL players from Elitserien
- Peter Forsberg (from MODO Hockey 1991; returned to MODO 2004)
- Nicklas Lidström (from Västerås IK 1991)
- Markus Näslund (from MODO Hockey 1993)
- Tommy Salo (from Västerås IK 1994; returned to MODO 2004)
- Mats Sundin (from Djurgårdens IF 1994)
- Daniel Alfredsson (from Västra Frölunda HC 1995)
- Henrik Zetterberg (from Timra IK 2002; returned to Timra IK 2004)
- Daniel Sedin (from MODO Hockey 2000)
- Henrik Sedin (from MODO Hockey 2000)
External links
- Swedish Icehockey federation
- Internet Hockey Database - standings and statistics
- Official statistics - Official standings and statistics from Swehockey
- EliteProspects - Elitserien news in English