# 2020–21 SHL season

The 2020–21 SHL season was the 46th season of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). The regular season began in September 2020 and ended on 3 April 2021, it was then followed by the playoffs and the relegation playoffs. The league consisted of the 14 teams that competed in the 2019–20 season; because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden, no relegation or promotion took place after the previous season. The Växjö Lakers won the regular season for the third time in club history. In the SHL qualifier, Brynäs IF defeated HV71 in five games to stay in the SHL. The Växjö Lakers won the Le Mat Trophy for the third time, defeating Rögle BK by 4 games to 1 in the playoffs final.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden, many of the teams have had their players affected, causing many regular season games to be moved forward and the end of the regular season to be postponed multiple times.

## Teams

| Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
| Brynäs IF | Gävle | Monitor ERP Arena | 7,909 |
| Djurgårdens IF | Stockholm | Hovet | 8,094 |
| Frölunda HC | Gothenburg | Scandinavium | 12,044 |
| Färjestad BK | Karlstad | Löfbergs Arena | 8,647 |
| HV71 | Jönköping | Husqvarna Garden | 7,000 |
| Leksands IF | Leksand | Tegera Arena | 7,650 |
| Linköping HC | Linköping | Saab Arena | 8,500 |
| Luleå HF | Luleå | Coop Norrbotten Arena | 6,300 |
| Malmö Redhawks | Malmö | Malmö Arena | 13,000 |
| IK Oskarshamn | Oskarshamn | Be-Ge Hockey Center | 3,275 |
| Rögle BK | Ängelholm | Catena Arena | 5,150 |
| Skellefteå AIK | Skellefteå | Skellefteå Kraft Arena | 6,001 |
| Växjö Lakers | Växjö | Vida Arena | 5,700 |
| Örebro HK | Örebro | Behrn Arena | 5,150 |

## Regular season

Each team played 52 games, playing each of the other thirteen teams four times: twice on home ice, and twice away from home. Points were awarded for each game, where three points were awarded for winning in regulation time, two points for winning in overtime or shootout, one point for losing in overtime or shootout, and zero points for losing in regulation time. At the end of the regular season, the team that finished with the most points was crowned the league champion.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Växjö Lakers | 52 | 27 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 153 | 112 | +41 | 102 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 2 | Rögle BK | 52 | 27 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 164 | 124 | +40 | 98 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 3 | Leksands IF | 52 | 25 | 7 | 5 | 15 | 156 | 134 | +22 | 94 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 4 | Skellefteå AIK | 52 | 24 | 8 | 5 | 15 | 154 | 122 | +32 | 93 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 5 | Luleå HF | 52 | 24 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 150 | 131 | +19 | 88 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 6 | Örebro HK | 52 | 25 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 154 | 144 | +10 | 87 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 7 | Frölunda HC | 52 | 27 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 133 | 131 | +2 | 84 | Qualification to Eighth-finals |
| 8 | Färjestad BK | 52 | 18 | 11 | 5 | 18 | 157 | 143 | +14 | 81 | Qualification to Eighth-finals |
| 9 | Malmö Redhawks | 52 | 19 | 4 | 2 | 27 | 123 | 151 | −28 | 67 | Qualification to Eighth-finals |
| 10 | Djurgårdens IF | 52 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 26 | 139 | 151 | −12 | 65 | Qualification to Eighth-finals |
| 11 | IK Oskarshamn | 52 | 18 | 2 | 5 | 27 | 142 | 163 | −21 | 63 | |
| 12 | Linköping HC | 52 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 28 | 132 | 166 | −34 | 62 | |
| 13 | Brynäs IF | 52 | 14 | 4 | 7 | 27 | 131 | 176 | −45 | 57 | Qualification to Play Out |
| 14 | HV71 (R) | 52 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 30 | 127 | 167 | −40 | 51 | Qualification to Play Out |

### Statistics
#### Scoring leaders

The following shows the top ten players who led the league in points, at the conclusion of the regular season. If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown.
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
| Marek Hrivík | Leksands IF | 44 | 14 | 37 | 51 | +9 | 26 |
| Daniel Zaar | Rögle BK | 52 | 18 | 32 | 50 | +10 | 22 |
| Daniel Viksten | Färjestad BK | 51 | 25 | 23 | 48 | +10 | 2 |
| Emil Pettersson | Växjö Lakers | 52 | 22 | 26 | 48 | +10 | 20 |
| Carter Camper | Leksands IF | 46 | 14 | 32 | 46 | +6 | 8 |
| Simon Ryfors | Rögle BK | 51 | 25 | 20 | 45 | +12 | 53 |
| Jonatan Berggren | Skellefteå AIK | 49 | 12 | 33 | 45 | +11 | 18 |
| Joakim Lindström | Skellefteå AIK | 52 | 12 | 33 | 45 | +4 | 42 |
| Linus Klasen | Luleå HF | 50 | 14 | 28 | 42 | +5 | 43 |
| Jesper Frödén | Skellefteå AIK | 52 | 22 | 18 | 40 | +12 | 49 |

#### Leading goaltenders

The following shows the top ten goaltenders who led the league in goals against average, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, at the conclusion of the regular season.
| Player | Team(s) | GP | TOI | W | T | L | GA | SO | Sv% | GAA |
| Viktor Fasth | Växjö Lakers | 31 | 1876:48 | 19 | 3 | 9 | 56 | 5 | 93.34 | 1.79 |
| Arvid Söderblom | Skellefteå AIK | 22 | 1298:34 | 12 | 2 | 7 | 44 | 4 | 92.18 | 2.03 |
| Christoffer Rifalk | Rögle BK | 33 | 1950:11 | 16 | 5 | 11 | 66 | 4 | 91.62 | 2.03 |
| Jesper Wallstedt | Luleå HF | 22 | 1316:55 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 49 | 2 | 90.77 | 2.23 |
| Gustaf Lindvall | Skellefteå AIK | 32 | 1835:39 | 19 | 1 | 11 | 71 | 2 | 91.99 | 2.32 |
| Oscar Alsenfelt | Malmö Redhawks | 41 | 2365:43 | 16 | 3 | 20 | 94 | 2 | 92.00 | 2.38 |
| Janne Juvonen | Leksands IF | 50 | 2862:50 | 28 | 2 | 18 | 115 | 4 | 91.56 | 2.41 |
| Jhonas Enroth | Örebro HK | 32 | 1928:00 | 19 | 2 | 11 | 78 | 3 | 90.90 | 2.43 |
| Niklas Rubin | Frölunda HC | 33 | 1868:08 | 17 | 0 | 15 | 78 | 3 | 90.01 | 2.51 |
| Henrik Haukeland | Färjestad BK | 31 | 1832:27 | 13 | 4 | 12 | 78 | 3 | 90.98 | 2.55 |
| Mantas Armalis | Djurgårdens IF | 31 | 1791:38 | 15 | 1 | 13 | 76 | 1 | 90.97 | 2.55 |

## Playoffs

Ten teams qualify for the playoffs: the top six teams in the regular season have a bye to the quarterfinals, while teams ranked seventh to tenth meet each other (7 versus 10, 8 versus 9) in a preliminary playoff round.

### Format

In the first round, the 7th-ranked team meets the 10th-ranked team and the 8th-ranked team meets the 9th-ranked team for a place in the second round. In the second round, the top-ranked team will meet the lowest-ranked winner of the first round, the 2nd-ranked team will face the other winner of the first round, the 3rd-ranked team will face the 6th-ranked team, and the 4th-ranked team will face the 5th-ranked team. In the third round, the highest remaining seed is matched against the lowest remaining seed. In each round the higher-seeded team is awarded home advantage. The meetings are in the first round played as best-of-three series, in the third round as best-of-five series and in the second and fourth rounds as best-of-seven series. In the eighth-finals, the higher-seeded teams play at home for game 2 (plus 3 if necessary) while the lower-seeded teams play at home for game 1. In the semi-finals, the higher-seeded teams are at home for games 1 and 2 (plus 5 if necessary) while the lower-seeded teams are at home for game 3 (plus 4 if necessary). In the quarter-finals and the finals, the higher-seeded teams are at home for games 1 and 2 (plus 5 and 7 if necessary) while the lower-seeded teams are at home for games 3 and 4 (plus 6 if necessary).

### Playoff bracket

| Eighth-finals Swedish: Åttondelsfinal | Eighth-finals Swedish: Åttondelsfinal | Eighth-finals Swedish: Åttondelsfinal | Quarter-finals Swedish: Kvartsfinal | Quarter-finals Swedish: Kvartsfinal | Quarter-finals Swedish: Kvartsfinal | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| | | | 1 | Växjö Lakers | 4 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Frölunda HC | 2 | 8 | Färjestad BK | 0 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Djurgårdens IF | 1 | | | | 1 | Växjö Lakers | 3 | | | |
| | | | | | | 6 | Örebro HK | 2 | | | |
| | | | 2 | Rögle BK | 4 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | | | |
| | | | 7 | Frölunda HC | 0 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | | | |
| | | | | | | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | 1 | Växjö Lakers | 4 |
| | | | | | | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | 2 | Rögle BK | 1 |
| | | | 3 | Leksands IF | 0 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | | | |
| 8 | Färjestad BK | 2 | 6 | Örebro HK | 4 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | | | |
| 9 | Malmö Redhawks | 0 | | | | 2 | Rögle BK | 3 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Skellefteå AIK | 2 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Skellefteå AIK | 4 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Luleå HF | 3 | | | | | | |

### Eighth-finals
#### (7) Frölunda HC vs. (10) Djurgårdens IF

* Frölunda HC win series 2–1

#### (8) Färjestad BK vs. (9) Malmö Redhawks

* Färjestad BK win series 2–0

### Quarter-finals
#### (1) Växjö Lakers vs. (8) Färjestad BK

* Växjö Lakers win series 4–0

#### (2) Rögle BK vs. (7) Frölunda HC

* Rögle BK win series 4–0

#### (3) Leksands IF vs. (6) Örebro HK

* Örebro HK win series 4–0

#### (4) Skellefteå AIK vs. (5) Luleå HF

* Skellefteå AIK win series 4–3

### Semi-finals
#### (1) Växjö Lakers vs. (6) Örebro HK

* Växjö Lakers win series 3–2

#### (2) Rögle BK vs. (4) Skellefteå AIK

* Rögle BK win series 3–2

### Finals
#### (1) Växjö Lakers vs. (2) Rögle BK

* Växjö Lakers win series 4–1

### Statistics
#### Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points, at the conclusion of the playoffs. If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown.
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
| Pontus Holmberg | Växjö Lakers | 14 | 7 | 7 | 14 | +10 | 8 |
| Jack Drury | Växjö Lakers | 14 | 5 | 6 | 11 | +5 | 4 |
| Adam Tambellini | Rögle BK | 14 | 6 | 4 | 10 | +2 | 6 |
| Richard Gynge | Växjö Lakers | 14 | 5 | 5 | 10 | +6 | 0 |
| Fredrik Karlström | Växjö Lakers | 14 | 5 | 5 | 10 | +9 | 2 |
| Joakim Lindström | Skellefteå AIK | 12 | 4 | 6 | 10 | +2 | 35 |
| Leon Bristedt | Rögle BK | 14 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 22 |
| Marcus Sylvegård | Växjö Lakers | 14 | 4 | 6 | 10 | +8 | 2 |
| Rodrigo Ābols | Örebro HK | 9 | 3 | 7 | 10 | +4 | 2 |
| Simon Ryfors | Rögle BK | 14 | 1 | 9 | 10 | +2 | 8 |

#### Leading goaltenders

The following shows the top five goaltenders who led the league in goals against average, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, at the conclusion of the playoffs.
| Player | Team | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | SO | Sv% | GAA |
| Jhonas Enroth | Örebro HK | 8 | 507:08 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 95.07 | 1.30 |
| Christoffer Rifalk | Rögle BK | 13 | 790:25 | 8 | 5 | 20 | 3 | 93.03 | 1.52 |
| Erik Källgren | Växjö Lakers | 10 | 620:56 | 7 | 3 | 18 | 1 | 93.02 | 1.74 |
| Gustaf Lindvall | Skellefteå AIK | 10 | 640:00 | 5 | 5 | 21 | 0 | 92.73 | 1.97 |
| Mantas Armalis | Djurgårdens IF | 3 | 178:08 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 93.41 | 2.02 |

## Play Out

Teams 13 and 14 from the regular season played a best-of-seven series, with the winner remaining in the SHL and the loser relegated to the second tier, HockeyAllsvenskan. The higher-seeded team had home advantage over the series, playing at home for games 1 and 3 (plus 5 and 7 if necessary) while the lower-seeded team was at home for games 2 and 4 (plus 6 if necessary).
* Brynäs IF win series 4–1

## SHL awards

| Award | Winner(s) |
| Guldhjälmen | Marek Hrivík (Leksands IF) |
| Guldpucken | N/A |
| Honken Trophy | Viktor Fasth (Växjö Lakers) |
| Håkan Loob Trophy | Simon Ryfors (Rögle BK) |
| Håkan Loob Trophy | Daniel Viksten (Färjestad BK) |
| Rookie of the Year | William Eklund (Djurgårdens IF) |
| Salming Trophy | Nils Lundkvist (Luleå HF) |
| Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy | Pontus Holmberg (Växjö Lakers) |
| Guldpipan | Mikael Nord |