Ice hockey in Sweden Ice hockey in Sweden has a history going back at least the early 1920s . The sport was first organized in the country by the Swedish Football Association ] ] ( SvFF ) , which was a founding member of the IIHF in 1920 . The hockey department of the SvFF eventually split off to become the Swedish Ice Hockey Association ( SIHA ) which today is still responsible for organizing Sweden ' s domestic leagues and its participation in tournaments internationally . The highest tier of men ' s ice hockey in Sweden , the SHL , brought in 1 , 974 , 388 spectators in the 2013 – 14 season , the highest overall attendance in Swedish sports . The SHL ' s average of 5 , 983 spectators per match is bested only by Allsvenskan , the country ' s top flight of association football . National teams . Men ' s . Often referred to by the nickname " Tre Kronor " ( English : " Three Crowns " ) , the Swedish men ' s national ice hockey team is amongst the most successful in the world , being considered part of the Big Six ( or Seven , along with Canada , the United States , Finland , Russia , the Czech Republic , and possibly Slovakia ) . The team is , as of 2013 , ranked first in the IIHF World Ranking . Sweden has won eight olympic medals , including gold medals in 1994 and 2006 . They have also won the IIHF World Championships 9 times , most recently on home ice in Stockholm in 2013 . Women ' s . Sweden ' s women ' s national team , nicknamed Damkronorna ( English : " Lady Crowns " ) as a play on the nickname of the men ' s team , played their first official match in 1989 , though they had been playing on an unofficial basis since 1987 . In the five Olympics that have featured women ' s ice hockey , the team has finished with a medal twice , bronze in 2002 and silver in 2010 . They finished fourth in the 2014 Olympics , and as of the 2014 IIHF World Ranking , Damkronorna are ranked sixth in the world . Men ' s leagues . SHL . The SHL ( Swedish Hockey League or " Svenska hockeyligan " ) , founded in 1975 as Elitserien , is the highest level of men ' s ice hockey in Sweden , the second - most attended ( in average attendance ) sports league in Sweden ( after Allsvenskan ) , the third - most attended ice hockey league in Europe , and as of 2006 is the fourth - highest paid hockey league in the world . HockeyAllsvenskan . HockeyAllsvenskan is the second tier of men ' s ice hockey , and has by far the highest average attendance of second - tier ice hockey leagues in Europe . Hockeyettan . In Hockeyettan , teams do not compete nationally , but rather break into four divisions / groups organized geographically . These smaller divisions play half a season together , after which the more successful teams in the four divisions join two new groups , organized geographically into " Allettan North " and " Allettan South " , and play the rest of the season in the new groups . Meanwhile , the teams in the four beginning groups that did not qualify for Allettan continue playing in the original groups , with the poorest performing teams being forced to defend their spots against the winning teams from Division 2 in the qualification tournament known as " Kvalserien " . The two Allettan winners go directly to the HockeyAllsvenskan qualifier . The teams ranked 2 – 5 in each Allettan group , and the top two teams in each continuation group , qualify for a three - round playoff . The two teams that survive the three playoff rounds join the two Allettan winners and the two lowest - ranked teams from HockeyAllsvenskan in the HockeyAllsvenskan qualifier , the double round - robin tournament that determines promotion to HockeyAllsvenskan . Division 2 – 4 . All leagues in Swedish hockey after Hockeyettan are organized regionally . In most of the regions , there are two further divisions ( Division 2 and Division 3 ) , except for the eastern region which also has a Division 4 . Women ' s leagues . The highest women ' s ice hockey league is Riksserien , which has eight teams . It is also the only women ' s hockey league organized nationally . The second - tier Division 1 is divided into regional groups .