# 2016–17 Håndboldligaen

The 2016–17 Håndboldligaen, known as the 888ligaen for sponsorship reasons, is the 81st season of the Håndboldligaen, Denmark's premier Handball league. The promoted teams from the 1st Division were Randers HH and TM Tønder.
Aalborg Håndbold won the title after beating Skjern Håndbold in the final over two matches, 26:26 at home and 32:25 away. Randers HH was relegated after finishing last in the regular season.

## Team information

The following 14 clubs compete in the Håndboldligaen during the 2016–17 season:
| Team | Location | Arena | Capacity |
| Aalborg Håndbold | Aalborg | Jutlander Bank Arena | 5,009 |
| Aarhus Håndbold | Aarhus | Ceres Arena | 5,001 |
| Bjerringbro-Silkeborg | Bjerringbro | Silkeborg-Hallerne | 2,845 |
| GOG | Gudme | Gudme-Hallerne | 2,265 |
| HC Midtjylland | Herning | Messecenter Herning | 3,350 |
| KIF Kolding Copenhagen | Kolding Copenhagen | Tre-For Arena Brøndby Hall | 5,182 5,063 |
| Mors-Thy | Nykøbing Mors Thisted | Jyske Bank Mors Arena Thy Hallen | 2,296 1,284 |
| Randers HH | Randers | Arena Randers | 3,000 |
| Ribe-Esbjerg | Esbjerg Ribe | Blue Water Dokken Invactor Arena | 3,386 1,976 |
| Skanderborg | Skanderborg | Fælledhallen | 2,000 |
| Skjern | Skjern | Skjern Bank Arena | 3,100 |
| SønderjyskE | Sønderborg | Dybbølhallen | 2,200 |
| Tvis Holstebro | Holstebro | Idrætscenter Vest | 3,250 |
| TM Tønder | Tønder | Tønder Sport- og FritidsCenter | 1,500 |

### Personnel and kits

Following is the list of clubs competing in 2016–17 Håndboldligaen, with their manager, kit manufacturer and shirt sponsor.
| Team | President | Head coach | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Aalborg Håndbold | Jan Larsen | Aron Kristjánsson | hummel | Jutlander Bank |
| Aarhus Håndbold | Henrik Lundorff | Erik Veje Rasmussen | hummel | Sparkassen Kronjylland, Jytas |
| Bjerringbro-Silkeborg | Frank Lajer | Peter Bredsdorff-Larsen | adidas | Jyske Bank, Grundfos |
| GOG | Kasper Jørgensen | Jakob Larsen | Select | Fynske Bank, EnergiFyn |
| HC Midtjylland | Allan Witt | Morten Secher | hummel | eptools, KP Industri |
| KIF Kolding Copenhagen | Jens Boesen | Antonio Carlos Ortega | H2O Sportswear | Jolly Cola, EWII |
| Mors-Thy Håndbold | Johannes Søndergaard | Jan Paulsen | hummel | Jyske Bank |
| Randers HH | Peter Hansen | Ole Bitsch | Salming | Jutlander Bank |
| Ribe-Esbjerg | Rikke Tangaa | Claus Uhrenholt | hummel | fros |
| Skanderborg | Jens Christensen | Nicolej Krickau | Puma | AVR, Skanderborg kommune |
| Skjern Håndbold | Henning Kjærgaard | Ole Nørgaard | Puma | Skjern Bank |
| SønderjyskE | Klaus B. Rasmussen | Morten Henriksen | Diadora | SeaDane Travel |
| TTH Holstebro | Jørgen S. Hansen | Patrick Westerholm | hummel | Vestjysk Bank |
| TM Tønder | Uwe Nielsen | Claus Lyngsøe | hummel | Sparekassen Bredebro |

## Regular season
### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Aalborg Håndbold | 26 | 20 | 1 | 5 | 727 | 630 | +97 | 41 | Championship Play-Off + Advance to Champions League |
| 2 | Bjerringbro-Silkeborg | 26 | 19 | 0 | 7 | 731 | 689 | +42 | 38 | Championship Play-Off |
| 3 | TTH Holstebro | 26 | 18 | 1 | 7 | 751 | 692 | +59 | 37 | Championship Play-Off |
| 4 | Skjern Håndbold | 26 | 16 | 2 | 8 | 773 | 689 | +84 | 34 | Championship Play-Off |
| 5 | GOG Håndbold | 26 | 16 | 0 | 10 | 755 | 715 | +40 | 32 | Championship Play-Off |
| 6 | Mors-Thy Håndbold | 26 | 12 | 3 | 11 | 659 | 672 | −13 | 27 | Championship Play-Off |
| 7 | Ribe-Esbjerg HH | 26 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 676 | 674 | +2 | 27 | Championship Play-Off |
| 8 | KIF Kolding København | 26 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 675 | 666 | +9 | 26 | Championship Play-Off |
| 9 | Århus Håndbold | 26 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 708 | 722 | −14 | 23 | |
| 10 | SønderjyskE Herrer | 26 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 662 | 703 | −41 | 21 | |
| 11 | HC Midtjylland | 26 | 9 | 2 | 15 | 663 | 703 | −40 | 20 | |
| 12 | Skanderborg Håndbold | 26 | 6 | 4 | 16 | 673 | 715 | −42 | 16 | Relegation Play-Off |
| 13 | TM Tønder Håndbold | 26 | 5 | 3 | 18 | 629 | 704 | −75 | 13 | Relegation Play-Off |
| 14 | Randers HH (R) | 26 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 623 | 733 | −110 | 9 | Relegated |
! There's a new relegation playoff made in November 2014

### Schedule and results

| Home \ Away | AAL | AAR | BSV | GOG | HCM | KIF | MTH | RAN | REH | SKA | SKJ | SØN | TTH | TØN |
| Aalborg Håndbold | | 27–21 | 28–24 | 25–22 | 34–19 | 26–22 | 28–25 | 25–19 | 24–26 | 24–22 | 26–26 | 28–26 | 25–26 | 29–23 |
| Århus Håndbold | 26–31 | | 22–27 | 29–30 | 26–21 | 32–27 | 29–27 | 36–24 | 24–31 | 35–25 | 37–33 | 23–22 | 23–40 | 33–29 |
| Bjerringbro-Silkeborg | 24–25 | 30–29 | | 28–25 | 28–20 | 30–25 | 26–22 | 31–28 | 24–22 | 34–27 | 22–31 | 27–26 | 34–33 | 31–27 |
| GOG Håndbold | 34–37 | 33–27 | 37–33 | | 28–21 | 34–29 | 19–37 | 36–24 | 29–27 | 31–30 | 34–28 | 36–27 | 25–23 | 27–29 |
| HC Midtjylland | 27–29 | 28–28 | 28–27 | 27–26 | | 23–27 | 27–29 | 32–29 | 29–22 | 20–22 | 29–27 | 26–27 | 24–33 | 23–29 |
| KIF Kolding København | 30–31 | 21–27 | 28–24 | 18–20 | 27–27 | | 29–29 | 30–26 | 21–22 | 35–30 | 27–30 | 31–30 | 23–24 | 27–20 |
| Mors-Thy Håndbold | 17–27 | 25–21 | 30–27 | 25–24 | 17–24 | 21–26 | | 23–18 | 22–16 | 20–27 | 24–35 | 25–21 | 28–29 | 29–25 |
| Randers HH | 17–26 | 30–23 | 21–22 | 26–36 | 18–31 | 17–23 | 26–27 | | 22–30 | 22–30 | 31–27 | 31–21 | 26–31 | 26–23 |
| Ribe-Esbjerg HH | 36–34 | 25–28 | 18–27 | 28–25 | 31–33 | 21–22 | 24–26 | 25–24 | | 34–29 | 25–21 | 26–25 | 30–23 | 20–25 |
| Skanderborg Håndbold | 24–30 | 31–29 | 29–30 | 22–25 | 26–27 | 19–25 | 25–25 | 23–21 | 28–28 | | 30–31 | 25–25 | 19–24 | 29–25 |
| Skjern Håndbold | 31–28 | 29–29 | 27–28 | 32–27 | 27–24 | 18–21 | 32–23 | 38–20 | 34–26 | 34–27 | | 31–26 | 27–22 | 35–24 |
| SønderjyskE Herrer | 15–28 | 24–24 | 26–28 | 28–32 | 27–25 | 31–25 | 28–28 | 30–26 | 27–26 | 24–23 | 21–29 | | 31–29 | 21–16 |
| TTH Holstebro | 26–24 | 25–22 | 28–31 | 30–29 | 32–26 | 32–30 | 35–27 | 33–30 | 24–26 | 33–27 | 32–31 | 31–31 | | 25–20 |
| TM Tønder Håndbold | 22–28 | 27–25 | 27–34 | 25–31 | 27–22 | 22–26 | 24–28 | 21–21 | 24–31 | 24–24 | 26–29 | 22–22 | 23–28 | |
No. 1-8 from the regular season divided into two groups with the top two will advance to the semifinals

## Winner's playoff
### Group 1

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Aalborg Håndbold | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 167 | 162 | +5 | 9 | Advance to semifinals |
| 2 | Skjern Håndbold | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 161 | 155 | +6 | 9 | Advance to semifinals |
| 3 | GOG Håndbold | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 175 | 150 | +25 | 9 | |
| 4 | KIF Kolding København | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 141 | 177 | −36 | 0 | |
| Home \ Away | AAL | GOG | KIF | SKJ |
| Aalborg Håndbold | | 26–34 | 26–22 | 32–24 |
| GOG Håndbold | 25–25 | | 32–20 | 28–26 |
| KIF Kolding København | 27–29 | 29–33 | | 20–29 |
| Skjern Håndbold | 30–29 | 24–23 | 28–23 | |

### Group 2

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Ribe-Esbjerg HH | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 152 | 143 | +9 | 9 | Advance to semifinals |
| 2 | Bjerringbro-Silkeborg | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 155 | 154 | +1 | 8 | Advance to semifinals |
| 3 | TTH Holstebro | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 165 | 153 | +12 | 8 | |
| 4 | Mors-Thy Håndbold | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 141 | 163 | −22 | 2 | |
| Home \ Away | BSV | MTH | REH | TTH |
| Bjerringbro-Silkeborg | | 24–25 | 28–22 | 26–33 |
| Mors-Thy Håndbold | 24–30 | | 23–24 | 20–27 |
| Ribe-Esbjerg HH | 25–21 | 28–21 | | 25–22 |
| TTH Holstebro | 25–26 | 30–28 | 28–28 | |

## Playoff
### Semifinal

| Date | Date | Date | Home team in the 1st match & 3rd match | Home team in the 2nd match | Results | Results | Results |
| 1st match | 2nd match | 3rd match | Home team in the 1st match & 3rd match | Home team in the 2nd match | 1st match | 2nd match | 3rd match |
| 10 May | 13 May | 16 May | Aalborg Håndbold | Bjerringbro-Silkeborg | 28–26 | 29–27 | 31–23 |
| 11 May | 14 May | 17 May | Skjern Håndbold | Ribe-Esbjerg HH | 26–24 | 26–31 | – |
! Best of three matches. In the case of a tie after the second match, a third match is played. Highest ranking team in the regular season has the home advantage in the first and possible third match.

### 3rd place

| Date | Date | Date | Home team in the 1st match & 3rd match | Home team in the 2nd match | Results | Results | Results |
| 1st match | 2nd match | 3rd match | Home team in the 1st match & 3rd match | Home team in the 2nd match | 1st match | 2nd match | 3rd match |
| 23 May | 28 May | 31 May | Bjerringbro-Silkeborg | Ribe-Esbjerg HH | 30–29 | 26–32 | – |
! Best of three matches. In the case of a tie after the second match, a third match is played. Highest ranking team in the regular season has the home advantage in the first and possible third match.

### Final

| Date | Date | Date | Home team in the 1st match & 3rd match | Home team in the 2nd match | Results | Results | Results |
| 1st match | 2nd match | 3rd match | Home team in the 1st match & 3rd match | Home team in the 2nd match | 1st match | 2nd match | 3rd match |
| 25 may | 28 May | 5 June | Aalborg Håndbold | Skjern Håndbold | 26–26 | 32–25 | – |
! Best of three matches. In the case of a tie after the second match, a third match is played. Highest ranking team in the regular season has the home advantage in the first and possible third match.

## Relegation playoff

No. 12-13 from Håndboldligaen and no. 2-3 from the first division is meet each other for the last 2 seats. The winner stays in the league. the loser relegated to Division 1,
! Best of three matches. In the case of a tie after the second match, a third match is played. Highest ranking team in the regular season has the home advantage in the first and possible third match.

### Group 1

| Date | Date | Date | Home team in the 1st match & 3rd match | Home team in the 2nd match | Results | Results | Results |
| 1st match | 2nd match | 3rd match | Home team in the 1st match & 3rd match | Home team in the 2nd match | 1st match | 2nd match | 3rd match |
| 17 April | 20 April | 23 April | TM Tønder Håndbold | Skive fH | 32–35 | 20–22 | 29–24 |

### Group 2

| Date | Date | Date | Home team in the 1st match & 3rd match | Home team in the 2nd match | Results | Results | Results |
| 1st match | 2nd match | 3rd match | Home team in the 1st match & 3rd match | Home team in the 2nd match | 1st match | 2nd match | 3rd match |
| 17 April | 21 April | 26 April | Skanderborg Håndbold | TMS Ringsted | 32–28 | 23–28 | – |

## Number of teams by regions

| | Region | No. teams | Teams |
| 1 | Midtjylland | 8 | Aarhus Håndbold, Bjerringbro-Silkeborg, HC Midtjylland, Randers HH, Skanderborg Håndbold, Skjern Håndbold, Team Tvis Holstebro |
| 2 | Syddanmark | 5 | KIF Kolding København, GOG, Ribe-Esbjerg HH, SønderjyskE, TM Tønder |
| 3 | Nordjylland | 2 | Aalborg Håndbold, Mors-Thy Håndbold |

## Top Goalscorer

    As of matches played on 29 March 2017

## All Star Team
### Regular season

* Goalkeeper: Mikael Aggefors (AAL)
* Left Wing: Magnus Bramming (TTH)
* Left Back: Jacob Holm (REH)
* Centre Back: Sander Sagosen (AAL)
* Pivot: Bjarte Myrhol (SKJ)
* Right Back: Kasper Søndergaard (SKJ)
* Right Wing: Kasper Kildelund (TTH)