# 1996–97 Division 1 season (Swedish ice hockey)

1996-97 was the 22nd season that Division 1 operated as the second tier of ice hockey in Sweden, below the top-flight Elitserien (now the SHL).

## Format

Division 1 was divided into four starting groups of 10 teams each. The top two teams in each group qualified for the Allsvenskan, while the remaining eight teams had to compete in a qualifying round. The teams were given zero to seven bonus points based on their finish in the first round. The top two teams from each qualifying round qualified for the playoffs. The last-place team in each of the qualifying groups was relegated directly to Division 2, while the second-to-last-place team had to play in a relegation series to retain their spot in Division 1 for the following season.
Of the eight teams in the Allsvenskan, the top two qualified directly for the Kvalserien. The third-sixth place teams qualified for the second round of the playoffs. The two playoff winners qualified for the Kvalserien, in which the top two teams qualified for the following Elitserien season.

## Regular season
### Northern Group
#### First round

| | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1. | IF Björklöven | 18 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 95 | 29 | 32 |
| 2. | Skellefteå AIK | 18 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 80 | 49 | 29 |
| 3. | Timrå IK | 18 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 79 | 48 | 25 |
| 4. | Kiruna IF | 18 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 77 | 54 | 22 |
| 5. | IF Sundsvall | 18 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 53 | 44 | 18 |
| 6. | Bodens IK | 18 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 64 | 75 | 17 |
| 7. | Husums IF | 18 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 56 | 74 | 12 |
| 8. | Örnsköldsviks SK | 18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 53 | 86 | 12 |
| 9. | Piteå HC | 18 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 43 | 82 | 8 |
| 10. | Tegs SK | 18 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 39 | 98 | 5 |

#### Qualification round

| | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts (Bonus) |
| 1. | Timrå IK | 14 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 84 | 25 | 34(7) |
| 2. | Kiruna IF | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 63 | 36 | 25(6) |
| 3. | IF Sundsvall | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 45 | 41 | 20(5) |
| 4. | Bodens IK | 14 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 38 | 43 | 18(4) |
| 5. | Husums IF | 14 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 39 | 66 | 12(3) |
| 6. | Piteå HC | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 40 | 63 | 11(1) |
| 7. | Örnsköldsviks SK | 14 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 57 | 67 | 10(2) |
| 8. | Tegs SK | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 40 | 65 | 10(0) |

### Western Group
#### First round

| | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1. | Mora IK | 18 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 99 | 39 | 30 |
| 2. | IFK Kumla | 18 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 87 | 52 | 27 |
| 3. | Grums IK | 18 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 88 | 61 | 23 |
| 4. | Sunne IK | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 76 | 65 | 20 |
| 5. | Surahammars IF | 18 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 88 | 79 | 18 |
| 6. | Falun HF | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 63 | 57 | 17 |
| 7. | Örebro IK | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 74 | 71 | 16 |
| 8. | Fagersta AIK | 18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 58 | 103 | 12 |
| 9. | Borlänge HF | 18 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 53 | 99 | 12 |
| 10. | IFK Munkfors | 18 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 49 | 109 | 5 |

#### Qualification round

| | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts (Bonus) |
| 1. | Sunne IK | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 71 | 49 | 26(6) |
| 2. | Grums IK | 14 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 68 | 47 | 26(7) |
| 3. | Falun HF | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 45 | 44 | 21(4) |
| 4. | Örebro IK | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 63 | 43 | 20(3) |
| 5. | Surahammars IF | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 63 | 54 | 17(5) |
| 6. | IFK Munkfors | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 41 | 63 | 13(0) |
| 7. | Fagersta AIK | 14 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 42 | 70 | 10(2) |
| 8. | Borlänge HF | 14 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 40 | 63 | 7(1) |

### Eastern Group
#### First round

| | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1. | Hammarby IF | 18 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 93 | 35 | 30 |
| 2. | Huddinge IK | 18 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 87 | 37 | 30 |
| 3. | Nyköpings HC | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 66 | 50 | 25 |
| 4. | Östervåla IF | 18 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 65 | 63 | 22 |
| 5. | Uppsala AIS | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 63 | 64 | 20 |
| 6. | Arlanda HC | 18 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 69 | 61 | 16 |
| 7. | Väsby IK | 18 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 59 | 59 | 15 |
| 8. | Haninge HC | 18 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 50 | 86 | 11 |
| 9. | Wisby | 18 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 51 | 121 | 6 |
| 10. | Österåker | 18 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 43 | 80 | 5 |

#### Qualification round

| | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts (Bonus) |
| 1. | Uppsala AIS | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 72 | 41 | 26(5) |
| 2. | Nyköpings HC | 14 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 43 | 34 | 23(7) |
| 3. | Arlanda HC | 14 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 64 | 48 | 20(4) |
| 4. | Östervåla IF | 14 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 60 | 55 | 20(6) |
| 5. | Wisby | 14 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 49 | 51 | 15(1) |
| 6. | Haninge HC | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 52 | 57 | 15(2) |
| 7. | Väsby IK | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 43 | 55 | 14(3) |
| 8. | Österåker | 14 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 32 | 74 | 7(0) |

### Southern Group
#### First round

| | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1. | Linköpings HC | 18 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 83 | 35 | 30 |
| 2. | IF Troja-Ljungby | 18 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 86 | 37 | 29 |
| 3. | Västerviks IK | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 50 | 58 | 20 |
| 4. | IK Oskarshamn | 18 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 68 | 64 | 18 |
| 5. | Tingsryds AIF | 18 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 52 | 58 | 18 |
| 6. | Mörrums GoIS | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 52 | 55 | 17 |
| 7. | Mariestads BoIS | 18 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 53 | 62 | 15 |
| 8. | Olofströms IK | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 40 | 66 | 14 |
| 9. | Rögle BK | 18 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 55 | 72 | 13 |
| 10. | Tranås AIF | 18 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 51 | 86 | 6 |

#### Qualification round

| | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts (Bonus) |
| 1. | Tingsryds AIF | 14 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 52 | 39 | 23(7) |
| 2. | Västerviks IK | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 42 | 49 | 19(5) |
| 3. | Tranås AIF | 14 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 58 | 38 | 18(0) |
| 4. | Mörrums GoIS | 14 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 47 | 46 | 18(4) |
| 5. | IK Oskarshamn | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 50 | 58 | 18(6) |
| 6. | Mariestads BoIS | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 38 | 34 | 17(3) |
| 7. | Rögle BK | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 41 | 48 | 14(1) |
| 8. | Olofströms IK | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 32 | 48 | 13(2) |

## Allsvenskan

| | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1. | IF Troja-Ljungby | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 55 | 32 | 22 |
| 2. | IF Björklöven | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 66 | 41 | 20 |
| 3. | Skellefteå AIK | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 54 | 42 | 16 |
| 4. | Linköpings HC | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 53 | 42 | 15 |
| 5. | Mora IK | 14 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 49 | 45 | 14 |
| 6. | Huddinge IK | 14 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 42 | 39 | 12 |
| 7. | Hammarby IF | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 34 | 60 | 10 |
| 8. | IFK Kumla | 14 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 29 | 81 | 3 |

## Playoffs
### First round

* Timrå IK - Nyköpings HC 0:2 (5:6 OT, 2:3 OT)
* Sunne IK - Västerviks IK 0:2 (3:4, 2:4)
* Uppsala AIS - Kiruna IF 0:2 (2:3, 1:2 OT)
* Tingsryds AIF - Grums IK 2:0 (3:0, 5:3)

### Second round

* Mora IK - Tingsryds AIF 2:0 (5:3, 3:2 OT)
* Skellefteå AIK - Kiruna IF 2:1 (2:0, 3:4, 5:0)
* Linköpings HC - Nyköpings HC 2:0 (5:2, 7:3)
* Huddinge IK - Västerviks IK 0:2 (1:2, 1:2)

### Third round

* Linköpings HC - Västerviks IK 2:0 (5:2, 3:0)
* Skellefteå AIK - Mora IK 1:2 (3:2 OT, 2:3, 2:3 OT)