Swedish Hockey League The SHL ( or Swedish Hockey League , ) is a Swedish ice hockey league , and the highest division of the Swedish ice hockey system . The league currently consists of 12 teams , though an expansion to 14 teams is planned for the 2015 – 16 season . The league was founded in 1975 , and while Swedish ice hockey champions have been crowned though various formats since 1922 , the title , as well as the Le Mat Trophy , have been awarded to the winner of the SHL playoffs since the league ' s inaugural 1975 – 76 season . As of 2010 – 11 , the SHL was the world ' s most evenly matched professional ice hockey league . During the 2011 – 12 season , the SHL was the most well attended hockey league in Europe , averaging 6 , 385 spectators per match , however in 2013 – 14 , the SHL was third best in Europe , with an attendance average of 5 , 978 . The league was founded in 1975 as Elitserien ( in English often called the Swedish Elite League or SEL ) , and initially featured 10 teams , though this was expanded to 12 for the 1987 – 88 season . The league was renamed the SHL in 2013 , and in 2014 , a number of format changes were announced , including an expansion to 14 teams to be finalized prior to the 2015 – 16 season , and a new format for promotion from and relegation to HockeyAllsvenskan , the second tier league . History . The Swedish Ice Hockey Championship was awarded for the first time in 1922 , only two years after ice hockey was introduced in Sweden by the American film director Raoul Le Mat . At this point , the Swedish Championships were held as a separate tournament . It wasn ' t until the 1952 – 53 season that the championship was awarded to the winner of the top - tier hockey league , which at the time was Division I . Expansion . The inaugural Elitserien season began on 5 October 1975 , with the league consisting of 10 teams , each playing a regular season consisting of 36 games . There has been extensive discussion about the number of teams in the SHL . The league has had 12 teams since an expansion from 10 teams in 1987 , however , there has been general agreement among hockey experts that the league needs to be expanded by at least two more teams . ( The second tier league HockeyAllsvenskan currently has 14 teams . ) They mean that , apart from just the economical situation for some of the clubs , the competition from HockeyAllsvenskan has shown that more teams are needed in the top - tier league SHL . On 13 March 2014 , the SHL and HockeyAllsvenskan announced that the SHL will be expanded to 14 teams , starting in the 2015 – 16 season . To make this change happen , at least two HockeyAllsvenskan teams will be promoted to the SHL in the 2014 – 15 season . European - level play . In 2009 , Håkan Loob , the general manager of Färjestad BK , sent a letter to Alexander Medvedev , the owner and president of the Russian Kontinental Hockey League , on behalf of five SHL teams – Färjestad , Frölunda , Djurgården , Linköping and HV71 – that were reportedly " interested in discussing the future of European hockey " . It was believed that these five teams had intended to leave the SHL league after the 2009 – 10 season ; they terminated their shareholders ' agreements with " Hockeyligan " , the name at that time for the SHL ' s governing body . The teams also formed an interest group to investigate the possibility of forming a continental hockey league spanning several European countries . These plans were abandoned in November 2011 , however , with Frölunda ' s chairman expressing hopes for the future of the European Trophy ( which was disbanded with the formation of the Champions Hockey League in 2013 ) . Renaming . On 17 June 2013 , the league was renamed " Svenska hockeyligan " , since this would allow for an easy English translation ( " Swedish Hockey League " ) and a common abbreviation between the two languages ( " SHL " ) , all of which was considered to be a better brand identity to invest in . Game . Each regular season SHL game is composed of three 20 - minute periods , with an intermission of a maximum of 18 minutes between periods . If the game is tied following the 60 - minute regulation time , a five - minute four - on - four sudden death overtime period is played . If a game still is tied after the overtime period , a shootout decides the game . In a shootout , the team that scores the most penalty shots out of three attempts wins the game . If the game is still tied after the first three penalty - shot rounds , the shootout continues round by round , until one team scores while the other team fails to score . Playoff games . In the event of a tied game during the playoffs , additional 20 - minute overtime periods are played perpetually until one team scores . Unlike in the regular season , playoff overtime periods are played five - on - five . Only one game in Sweden has ever surpassed four full overtime periods , and no SHL games have surpassed three full overtime periods . The longest SHL game was the first game of the 1997 Swedish Championship semifinals , played on 23 March 1997 between Leksands IF and Färjestad BK . 6 , 012 spectators saw Andreas Karlsson score the game - winning goal for Leksand after 59 minutes of overtime ( almost three full overtime periods ) . See Longest ice hockey games in Sweden for other games . SHL games are played on an ice hockey rink , which is rectangular ice rink with rounded corners and surrounded by a wall . It measures 30 by 60 meters ( 98 . 42 by 196 . 85 ft ) , conforming to international standards . Teams . Counting from the formation of the SHL in 1975 , Färjestad BK is the most successful team with nine Swedish Championship titles . Brynäs IF and Djurgårdens IF are tied for the second most successful team with six championship titles . Counting from 1922 , when the first Swedish championships were played , Djurgårdens IF is the most successful team with sixteen championship titles , followed by Brynäs IF with thirteen , as well as Färjestad BK and IK Göta with nine . Season structure . The SHL season is divided into a regular season from late September through the beginning of March , when teams play against each other in a pre - defined schedule , and a playoff s from March to April , which is an elimination tournament where two teams play against each other to win a best - of - seven series in order to advance to the next round . The final remaining team is crowned the Swedish champion , or " Svenska mästare " in Swedish , and receives the Le Mat Trophy . Regular season . The regular season is a round - robin , where each team plays 55 games in an unbalanced schedule . Points are awarded for each game , where three points are awarded for a win , two points for winning in overtime or shootout , one point for losing in overtime or shootout , and zero points for a loss in regulation time . At the end of the regular season , the team that finishes with the most points is crowned the league champion and is awarded a prize sum of 1 , 000 , 000 Swedish krona ( approx . 150 , 000 USD ) as a bonus . The six highest - ranked teams by points qualify directly for the playoffs . The four teams ranked 7 – 10 play a best - of - three series and battle for the two remaining playoff spots . The two lowest - ranked teams after the regular season have to play in the relegation and promotion series Kvalserien in order to qualify for the next season of the SHL . Before the 2013 – 14 season , the eight highest - ranked teams qualified for the playoffs . If two or more teams end up tied in points , the seeds are determined by the following tiebreaker format : Play In . Starting in the 2013 – 14 season , the four teams ranked 7 – 10 in the regular season play a best - of - three series , known as Play In , and battle for the two remaining playoff spots . The 7th - ranked team faces the 10th - ranked team , and the 8th - ranked team faces the 9th - ranked team . The 7th - ranked team and the 8th - ranked team receive home - ice advantage and play two of the three games at their home venue in their series if necessary to determine a winner of the series . The winners of the two best - of - three series take the two remaining playoff spots . Playoffs . The SHL playoffs is an elimination tournament , where two teams battle to win a best - of - seven series in order to advance to the next round . In the first round of the playoffs , or the quarterfinals , the top seed faces the lowest - ranked winner of the two best - of - three series ( eighth seed , ninth seed or tenth seed ) ; the 2nd - ranked seed faces the other winner of the two best - of - three series ; the 3rd - ranked seed faces the 6th - ranked seed ; and the 4th - ranked seed faces the 5th - ranked team . In the second round , the semifinals , the teams are re - seeded , with the top remaining seed playing against the lowest remaining seed , and the other two remaining teams pairing off . In the third round , the finals , the two remaining teams face each other . Before the 2013 – 14 season , the top three teams got to choose their opponents in the quarterfinals . In each series , the higher - ranked team of the two will have home - ice advantage . Four of the seven games are played at this team ' s home venue – the first and third , and , when necessary , the fifth and seventh games – with the other games played at the lower - ranked team ' s home venue . Relegation . The two lowest ranked teams after the regular season have to play in a regulation series called Kvalserien together with four teams from the second tier league HockeyAllsvenskan . The top two teams of Kvalserien qualify for the next SHL season , while the other four are demoted to HockeyAllsvenskan . Outdoor games . Since 2009 , the league hosts an outdoor game in the regular season in December every year . From 2009 through 2012 it was called the SEL Outdoor Classic , but since 2013 it ' s called the SHL Outdoor Classic due to the league name change in June 2013 . The first outdoor game was played on 28 December 2009 , between Frölunda HC and Färjestad BK at Ullevi . Frölunda came out on top with a 4 – 1 victory . 31 , 144 spectators saw the game , setting a new record for the largest attendance at an ice hockey league match in Sweden . The following year , Färjestad and Frölunda met again in an outdoor game , this time in Karlstad . Färjestad won the game 5 – 2 in front of 15 , 274 spectators . The 2013 outdoor game was played on 14 December 2013 , between Frölunda HC and Skellefteå AIK at Gamla Ullevi . The game was promoted as " Julmatchen " ( English : " The Christmas game " ) and was won by Skellefteå 4 – 1 in front of 13 , 452 spectators . Notable players . Three players in SHL history have been awarded the Golden Puck , as ice hockey player of the year in Sweden , more than once ; Anders Andersson , Leif Holmqvist and Peter Forsberg have all won it twice . The top five - point - scoring forwards for the 2013 – 14 season were Pär Arlbrandt ( 71 points ) , Joakim Lindström ( 63 ) , Linus Klasen ( 57 ) , Simon Hjalmarsson ( 57 ) , and Chad Kolarik ( 48 ) . Kolarik was the top goal - scorer and thus the Håkan Loob Trophy winner , with 30 goals . The top three point - scorers on defence were Ryan Gunderson ( 41 ) , Patrik Hersley ( 35 ) , and Magnus Johansson ( 35 ) . The top three goaltenders by save percentage among those who played more than 40 % of their team ' s minutes were Linus Ullmark ( . 931 ) , Oscar Alsenfelt ( . 928 ) , and Fredrik Pettersson - Wentzel ( . 926 ) . The top five career scorers in the SHL are Fredrik Bremberg ( 581 points ) , Johan Davidsson ( 561 ) , Jörgen Jönsson ( 535 ) , Jan Larsson ( 527 ) and Anders Carlsson ( 526 ) . The top three career goal scorers are Lars - Gunnar Pettersson ( 271 goals ) , Magnus Wernblom ( 266 ) and Håkan Loob ( 263 ) . David Petrasek , Mikael Håkanson and Roger Åkerström are the leaders in the number of SHL regular season games played , with Petrasek having played 853 games , Håkanson 808 and Åkerström 804 . Trophies and awards . The winning team of the SHL playoffs is named Swedish Champions and awarded the Le Mat Trophy . There is only one trophy that is awarded to players based on their statistics during the regular season ; the Håkan Loob Trophy for the goal - scoring leader . One of the most prestigious individual awards is Guldhjälmen , which is awarded annually to the Most Valuable Player . The voting is conducted by the players in the SHL . Guldpucken is awarded annually to the ice hockey player of the year in Sweden . It is not necessarily awarded to a player in the SHL ; for the 2005 – 06 season the award was given to Kenny Jönsson in the Swedish second - tier ice hockey league HockeyAllsvenskan . The award Årets Rookie ( Rookie of the Year ) is awarded annually by " Svenska Spel " and " Svenska Hockeyligan " to the best rookie player in the SHL . Starting in 2010 , an annual playoff MVP was acknowledged . The playoff MVP award was later renamed the Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy . Television and radio . SHL games are aired nationally in Sweden , Finland , Denmark , and Norway , by C More . One game from each round is selected and shown on C More Sport , and simulcasted in 1080i high definition on C More Sport HD . The selected game is also aired on Mobile TV , available to Telenor customers in Sweden with 3G phones . All 330 regular season games are available on pay - per - view , via cable and satellite for C More customers , and also available via C More ' s streaming Internet TV . During the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout , SHL games were being broadcast in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet . Sveriges Radio ( SR ) is the official radio broadcaster of the SHL . Each round is covered by " Sportextra " in SR P4 with reports from all arenas ; all games are available in their entirety on SR ' s internet radio and to mobile phones via 3G . Video games . Teams from the league are playable in the video games " Elitserien 95 " for Sega Mega Drive , " Elitserien 96 " for Sega Mega Drive and " Elitserien 2001 " for PC . They also appear in EA Sports ' NHL series since NHL 2004 .