2011 – 12 Elitserien season The 2011 – 12 Elitserien season is the 37th and current season of Elitserien . The regular season began on 13 September 2011 and ended on 6 March 2012 . The following playoffs began on 10 March 2012 and is scheduled to end between 15 – 21 April . Färjestad BK are the defending Swedish champions . In the 2011 Kvalserien , Modo Hockey and Växjö Lakers qualified for the 2011 – 12 Elitserien season . To allow for local music events as well as other ice hockey ones , this season had three mid - season breaks : the first between 8 – 14 November 2011 , the second between 12 – 20 December , and the third between 5 – 14 February 2012 . To increase interest for Elitserien , the 2011 – 12 season ' s schedule is more active : from 14 – 29 November 2011 and 16 – 31 January 2012 , there were Elitserien games every day ( except for two days , 20 November and 22 January ) . Also , in the playoffs , there are quarterfinals every day ( the four quarterfinal series are split into two quarterfinals per day ) . A significant change in this Elitserien season is that the clubs won ' t be fined for supporter incidents as long as the clubs correctly follow the security rules . On 17 October 2011 , the Swedish Police Service decided that the police should earn money for their efforts during sports events held by joint - stock companies ( JSC ) . This mainly affected the league ' s two Stockholm clubs Djurgårdens IF and AIK . As a result , AIK were forced to sell forward Linus Videll to Yugra Khanty - Mansiysk of the Kontinental Hockey League ( KHL ) on 24 October 2011 . Notable games . The first game of the season was played on 13 September 2011 between Frölunda HC and the Elitserien newcomers Växjö Lakers . The game counted as round 6 and was won by Frölunda 2 – 0 in front of an outsold Scandinavium , with Frölunda defenceman Christian Bäckman scoring the first goal of the season . The first Småland derby game in Elitserien history was played on 8 October 2011 between reigning regular - season champions HV71 and Växjö Lakers , at Kinnarps Arena in Jönköping . In front of an outsold Kinnarps Arena — exactly 7 , 000 spectators — Växjö Lakers came out with a 3 – 2 victory in a shootout . Växjö Lakers forward Mike Iggulden scored three penalty shot goals in the game , two of them counted in the statistics . On 22 September 2011 , Linköpings HC forward Mikael Håkanson played his 912th Elitserien game — regulation and playoff games included — and thus wrote history as he surpassed previous record holder Roger Åkerström . However , Skellefteå AIK wiped out Linköping in that game with a 4 – 0 shutout win . On 23 November 2011 , Linköpings HC forward Andreas Jämtin became the most penalized player in Elitserien history . He received a penalty of five minutes for elbowing and a match penalty after a hit on Luleå HF ' s Daniel Mannberg to reach a total of 1088 penalty minutes , surpassing Thomas Berglund ' s 1083 . Like the previous season , an outdoor game was played . It was played between HV71 and Linköpings HC ( known as the European route E4 rivalry ) on 10 December 2011 , in a temporary arena at Elmia . The outdoor game was played as part of HV71 celebrating its 40th anniversary as a club . For the first time since the start of the yearly tradition of Elitserien outdoor games in 2009 , the road team — this year Linköping — came out on top with a 1 – 0 overtime win in a tight game . 18 , 884 spectators attended the game , setting a new record for the most spectators at a single sports event in Jönköping ; the previous record was 18 , 582 spectators , set at Stadsparksvallen in 1950 . 3D broadcasting . Certain chosen games will be broadcast in 3D , marking the first time in history that Elitserien is broadcasted in 3D . The local derby game on 20 September 2011 , between Stockholm rivals Djurgårdens IF and AIK at the Ericsson Globe , was the first game to have a 3D broadcast . In front of an outsold Ericsson Globe , the game ended 4 – 2 in Djurgården ' s favour . Pre - game honours . As a result of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash , where Swedish former HV71 goaltender Stefan Liv and nearly the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team were killed , the premier round games between 13 – 15 September 2011 began with a one - minute silence . In honour of Stefan Liv , his No . 1 jersey will be retired and raised to the rafters by HV71 in Kinnarps Arena prior to HV71 ' s home game against Timrå IK on 10 January 2012 . Djurgårdens IF legend Sven Tumba died on 1 October 2011 . As a result , Tumba was honoured in all Elitserien arenas that day . The biggest honours were held in Djurgården ' s home game against Växjö Lakers at Hovet , which was won by Djurgården 2 – 1 . On January 24 , 2012 , former five - time Djurgården Swedish champion Charles Berglund ' s No . 2 jersey was retired and raised to the rafters in Hovet prior to a game against Färjestad . Djurgården won 2 – 1 after a shootout . 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 top - seeded team chose which of the four lowest remaining seeds to be matched against ; the 2nd - seed chose any of the three remaining seeds ; the 3rd - seed chose any of the two remaining seeds ; and the 4th - seed was automatically matched against the remaining seed . In the second round , the highest remaining seed was matched against the lowest remaining seed , while two remaining seeds matched up against each other . In each round the higher - seeded team was awarded home ice advantage . Each best - of - seven series followed an alternating home team format : the higher - seeded team played at home for games 1 and 3 ( plus 5 and 7 if necessary ) , and the lower - seeded team was at home for games 2 and 4 ( plus 6 if necessary ) . Quarterfinals . ( 1 ) Luleå HF vs . ( 7 ) AIK . Luleå entered the playoffs as the regular - season champions for the first time since 1996 , with 100 points . AIK finished the regular season as the seventh seed with 82 points . This was the second playoff series between these teams ; in 1997 , Luleå defeated AIK in three games to advance to the finals . In the regular season , Luleå won four of the five games against AIK , allowing no goals in either of these four games . ( 2 ) Skellefteå AIK vs . ( 8 ) Modo Hockey . Skellefteå finished second in the regular season with 95 points . Modo finished eighth and managed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2007 . The teams previously met in the 1978 semifinals , where Modo were swept in two games by Skellefteå . Skellefteå won all five games against Modo in the regular season , although each game was decided by only one goal . ( 3 ) HV71 vs . ( 6 ) Färjestad BK . HV71 finished third with 92 points and failed to make the top two spots for the first time since 2009 . Färjestad finished sixth with 87 points , marking the team ' s worst regular season since 2000 . The teams had previously faced each other six times ; HV71 had only come out on top once . The most recent meeting was in the 2009 finals , when Färjestad won in five games to become the Swedish Champions . ( 4 ) Brynäs IF vs . ( 5 ) Frölunda HC . Brynäs ' fourth - place finish in the regular season was the team ' s best since 2001 . Frölunda finished fifth and made their best regular season since 2009 . This was the fifth playoff series between the teams ; the two most recent ones had been won by Frölunda . The previous meeting occurred in 2006 , when Frölunda swept Brynäs in four games to advance to the semifinals . Semifinals . ( 2 ) Skellefteå AIK vs . ( 7 ) AIK . Skellefteå won four of the five regular - season meetings against AIK , only one of which was decided by more than one goal . In the playoffs , the teams had previously faced each other in the 1978 finals ; Skellefteå came out on top and clinched the championship in three games that time . ( 4 ) Brynäs IF vs . ( 6 ) Färjestad BK . Brynäs won three of the five regular - season games against Färjestad . The teams had previously met each other eight times ; Färjestad had come out on top in the six latest occasions . The most recent meeting occurred in 2011 , when Färjestad knocked Brynäs out in the quarterfinals , winning in five games . Finals . ( 2 ) Skellefteå AIK vs . ( 4 ) Brynäs IF . Brynäs won three of the five regular - season between the two teams . This was only the second playoff series between these teams . The first playoff meeting took place in the 1976 finals , when Brynäs defeated Skellefteå two games to zero to take home the first Elitserien championship in history . Playoff statistics . Playoff scoring leaders . Updated as of 19 April 2012 . < br > " GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points ; + / – = Plus / Minus ; PIM = Penalty Minutes " Playoff 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 season . " GP = Games Played ; TOI = Time On Ice ( minutes ) ; GA = Goals Against ; SO = Shutouts ; Sv % = Save Percentage ; GAA = Goals Against Average "