2012 – 13 Elitserien season The 2012 – 13 Elitserien season was the 38th season of Elitserien . The regular season began on 13 September 2012 and ended on 5 March 2013 . The playoffs began on 12 March 2013 and ended on 18 April 2013 . The 2012 – 13 Elitserien season was the last season under the name " Elitserien " ; on 17 June 2013 , the league was renamed " Swedish Hockey League " ( SHL ) . Skellefteå AIK clinched the Swedish Championship for the first time since 1978 , defeating Luleå HF 4 – 0 in the Finals . It was the team ' s second Swedish Championship in club history . Skellefteå also won the regular season for the first time since the 1980 – 81 season , and the second time in club history . Their 114 - point finish is the highest amount of points since Färjestad BK won the 2001 – 02 regular season with 118 points . Luleå HF improved on the record for fewest goals surrendered in a 55 - game regular season that they set last season by only having 102 goals scored against them . In the 2012 Kvalserien , Timrå IK defended its Elitserien spot and Rögle BK returned to Elitserien for the first time in two years . Summary . Short - term contracts . Short - term contracts and the possibility of signing players affected by the 2012 – 13 NHL lockout was a controversial issue for several months . The board of hockey operations for Elitserien ( Hockeyligan ) decided to continue rejecting short - term contracts ( i . e . contracts not lasting for the entire season ) on 23 August 2012 . On 21 September 2012 , the Swedish Competition Authority ( SCA ) examined the matter and responded with a ruling that allowed short - term contracts . Hockeyligan appealed the SCA ruling to the Market Court . On 18 December 2012 , the Market Court ruled against the SCA and allowed Hockeyligan to forbid short - term contracts . The uncertainty and concerns of legal punishment caused a number of Elitserien clubs to refrain from signing short - term contracts and await the Market Court ' s decision . In the end , Cody Franson played 26 Elitserien games with Brynäs , Alexander Steen played 20 games with Modo , and Matt Duchene played 19 games and Viktor Stålberg 11 games with Frölunda before their short - term contracts expired . Outdoor game . For the fourth consecutive season , an outdoor game was played . As part of Brynäs IF celebrating their 100th year as a club , they hosted Timrå IK on December 8 , 2012 , in a temporary arena called Gävlebocken ( " Gävle Goat " ) Arena . Brynäs won the game 3 – 0 in front of 15 , 009 spectators . Decline in attendance . The average attendance in Elitserien fell by 10 . 5 % from 6 , 385 to 5 , 717 spectators per game , the lowest average since the 2002 – 03 season . The drop meant that Elitserien was fifth in average attendance among professional hockey leagues ( fourth in Europe ) – after the NHL , NLA , DEL and KHL . In the 2011 – 12 season , Elitserien had the second highest average attendance among professional hockey leagues ( first in Europe ) . There were several reasons for the decline ; Frölunda HC saw a 18 . 1 % decrease to an average of 8 , 588 fans per game . The second most attended team last season , Djurgårdens IF , was relegated to HockeyAllsvenskan . Nine of the eleven returning teams from last season had lower attendance numbers , with Skellefteå AIK and Luleå HF being the only teams to increase their average attendance . HockeyAllsvenskan , on the other hand , improved its attendance average this season from 2 , 606 to 3 , 227 spectators per game , an improvement of 23 . 8 % from the 2011 – 12 season . Regular season . Statistics . Scoring leaders . Updated as of the end of the regular season . < br > " GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points ; + / – = Plus / Minus ; PIM = Penalty Minutes " Leading goaltenders . These are the leaders in GAA among goaltenders who have played at least 40 % of the team ' s minutes . Updated as of the end of the regular season . " GP = Games Played ; TOI = Time On Ice ( minutes ) ; GA = Goals Against ; SO = Shutouts ; Sv % = Save Percentage ; GAA = Goals Against Average " Playoffs . Playoff bracket . In the first round , the highest remaining seed chose which of the four lowest remaining seeds to be matched against . In the second round , the highest remaining seed is matched against the lowest remaining seed . In each round the higher - seeded team is awarded home ice advantage . Each best - of - seven series follows an alternating home team format : the higher - seeded team will play at home for games 1 and 3 ( plus 5 and 7 if necessary ) , and the lower - seeded team will be at home for game 2 , 4 and 6 ( if necessary ) . Semifinals . ( 1 ) Skellefteå AIK vs . ( 5 ) Linköpings HC . Skellefteå won the series 4 – 1 and advanced to the Finals for the third year in a row , becoming the first team to achieve this feat since HV71 between 2008 – 2010 . ( 2 ) Färjestad BK vs . ( 3 ) Luleå HF . Luleå won the series 4 – 1 and advanced to the Finals for the first time since winning the Swedish Championship in 1996 . Linus Persson ' s game - deciding goal in Game 4 , 12 seconds into overtime , is a new record for the fastest overtime goal scored in Elitserien playoff history . Finals : ( 1 ) Skellefteå AIK vs . ( 3 ) Luleå HF . The Finals became a matchup between the league ' s two northernmost teams : Skellefteå and Luleå . Skellefteå won three of the five regular - season games against Luleå ; two of the five games had to be decided in a shootout . This was only the second playoff series between these two teams ; in 2011 , Skellefteå defeated Luleå in six games to advance to the Finals ( where they eventually lost ) . This was Skellefteå ' s third consecutive Finals appearance ( Skellefteå reached the Finals in 2011 and 2012 ) , and their fourth overall excluding seasons before Elitserien was formed . Luleå made their first Finals appearance since losing the Swedish Championship to Färjestad three games to one in 1997 , as well as their third appearance overall ( Luleå became Swedish Champions in 1996 ) . Skellefteå won the series 4 – 0 , and became Swedish champions for the first time since 1978 , and only the second time in club history . Luleå became the first team since 2003 to get swept in the Finals , in four straight games . Skellefteå finished the playoffs with a 12 – 1 record , the best playoff record since Färjestad ' s playoff run in 2009 . In Game 4 , Skellefteå clinched the Swedish Championship with a 4 – 0 shutout over Luleå . Goaltender Joacim Eriksson stopped all 32 shots against Skellefteå ' s crease . After the first period , Skellefteå was up 2 – 0 , following goals by Oscar Möller at 3 : 33 and Erik Forssell at 15 : 22 . 5 : 32 into the second period , Johan Forsberg netted his first goal of the playoffs to give Skellefteå a three - goal lead . With less than four minutes to go in the third period , Erik Forssell sealed the Swedish Championship for Skellefteå with an empty netter , his second goal of the game . Statistics . Scoring leaders . Updated as of the end of the playoffs . < br > " GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points ; + / – = Plus / Minus ; PIM = Penalty Minutes " Leading goaltenders . These are the leaders in GAA and save percentage among goaltenders who played at least 40 % of the team ' s minutes . The table is sorted by GAA , and the criteria for inclusion are bolded . Updated as of the end of the playoffs . " GP = Games Played ; TOI = Time On Ice ( minutes ) ; GA = Goals Against ; SO = Shutouts ; Sv % = Save Percentage ; GAA = Goals Against Average "