2008 – 09 HV71 season The 2008 – 09 HV71 season saw HV71 ' s attempt to defend their Swedish Championship title and win the regular season for a second consecutive season . It was the 25th season in the Swedish elite league Elitserien for the club . The club ended fourth after the regular season and managed to go to the finals but was beaten by Färjestads BK who won the Swedish Championship . HV71 started the season in the beginning of August playing in the Nordic Trophy , finishing in fifth place , and continued to play in an exhibition game against Malmö Redhawks . HV71 opened the Elitserien regular season against Frölunda HC on September 15 , winning the game 6 - 2 . During the first 16 regular season games HV71 never scored the first goal in any of the matches . After the end of the regular season , HV71 ended as the fourth ranked team in the Elitserien regular season standings . During the season , HV71 played in the inaugural season of the Champions Hockey League . The first group stage match was played in Jönköping on October 8 against the Swiss team SC Bern . HV71 won the game with a score of 6 - 2 . The group stage matches were played in October to beginning of December 2008 . HV71 finished second in group B and did not qualify for the semi - finals . Offseason . April 28 : Defenseman Per Gustafsson and winger Johan Lindström re - signed with HV71 . Both agreed to a one - year extension . Defenseman Lance Ward and centre Jari Kauppila left for play in Germany and Finland respectively . May 5 : Centre Yared Hagos signed a one - year contract with HV71 as their first new signing for the season 2008 – 09 . May 8 : Defenseman Johan Åkerman left and signed with the Russian team Lokomotiv Yaroslav . May 9 : HV71 signed defenseman Nicholas Angell to a one - year contract . Due to Swedish tax laws Angell will join the club in October 2008 . May 19 : HV71 signed youth players Henrik Eriksson , Simon Önerud , David Ullström and youth goaltender Christoffer Bengtsberg to a one - year contract . June 19 : HV71 signed right winger Kim Staal to a one - year contract . June 21 : Left winger Mattias Tedenby drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft . July 1 : Wingers Per Ledin and Andreas Jämtin used their NHL out - clauses and signed with the Colorado Avalanche and New York Rangers , respectively . July 8 : HV71 signed winger Teemu Laine to a one - year contract . July 22 : HV71 re - signed winger David Fredriksson to a one - year contract . Pre - season . HV71 began the pre - season playing in the Swedish - Finnish tournament Nordic Trophy , a total of nine games plus two playoff games , from August 7 to September 6 , 2008 . HV71 ended the tournament as the fifth placed team after defeating Färjestads BK in the last playoff game . Before the regular Elitserien season started HV71 played against the HockeyAllsvenskan team Malmö Redhawks in Malmö . Nordic Trophy . Playoffs . HV71 ended the 2008 Nordic Trophy regular round as the eight seed . The played in the semi - final for the fifth place game against Kärpät . With a win over the Finnish team , HV71 played and won against Färjestads BK and clinched a final Nordic Trophy ranking as the fifth placed team . Playoffs . HV71 ended the 2008 – 09 regular season as the fourth placed team and was paired with the last playoff team , the eighth seed , Timrå IK , after the 1st through 3rd seeded teams picked their opponents for the quarterfinals . Champions Hockey League . HV71 played in group B in the 2008 – 09 Champions Hockey League . The group ' s matches were played between October 8 and December 3 , 2008 . HV71 finished on second place and did not qualify for the semi - finals . Group B standings . x - clinched playoff spot , e - eliminated from playoff contention Transactions . Draft picks . HV71 players picked at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft .