2023–24 SHL season

The 2023–24 SHL season was the 49th season of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). The regular season began in September 2023 and ended in March 2024, where it was followed by the playoffs and the relegation playoffs.
Färjestad BK won their first regular season title since 2018–19; a 4–5 overtime loss to Frölunda HC on 9 March 2024, gave them an unassailable tally of 103 points with a round to spare. They were unable to add the subsequent playoff title, as they were swept 0–4 in the quarter-finals by Rögle BK. Rögle BK made it all the way to the finals, the first team to do so having started in the eighth-finals, but Skellefteå AIK won the Le Mat Trophy with a 4–1 series victory, their first playoff title since 2013–14.
IK Oskarshamn were relegated to the HockeyAllsvenskan, as HV71 won the Play Out 4–3.
==Teams==
The league consists of 14 teams; MoDo Hockey returned to the SHL after seven seasons in the HockeyAllsvenskan, where they won the 2022–23 title. Brynäs IF were relegated to the HockeyAllsvenskan at the end of the previous season, and as a result, Färjestad BK is now the only team to have constantly played in the SHL (formerly Elitserien) since its inception in 1975.
Team 	City 	Arena 	Capacity
Frölunda HC 	Gothenburg 	Scandinavium 	12,044
Färjestad BK 	Karlstad 	Löfbergs Arena 	8,647
HV71 	Jönköping 	Husqvarna Garden 	7,000
Leksands IF 	Leksand 	Tegera Arena 	7,650
Linköping HC 	Linköping 	Saab Arena 	8,500
Luleå HF 	Luleå 	Coop Norrbotten Arena 	6,300
Malmö Redhawks	Malmö 	Malmö Arena 	13,000
MoDo Hockey 	Örnsköldsvik	Hägglunds Arena 	7,265
IK Oskarshamn 	Oskarshamn 	Be-Ge Hockey Center 	3,275
Rögle BK 	Ängelholm 	Catena Arena 	6,310
Skellefteå AIK	Skellefteå 	Skellefteå Kraft Arena	6,001
Timrå IK 	Timrå 	NHC Arena 	6,000
Växjö Lakers 	Växjö 	Vida Arena 	5,700
Örebro HK 	Örebro 	Behrn Arena 	5,150
==Regular season==
Each team played 52 games, playing each of the other thirteen teams four times: twice on home ice, and twice away from home. Points were awarded for each game, where three points were awarded for winning in regulation time, two points for winning in overtime or shootout, one point for losing in overtime or shootout, and zero points for losing in regulation time. At the end of the regular season, the team that finished with the most points was crowned the league champion.
The top two teams in the regular season – Färjestad BK and the Växjö Lakers – qualified for the 2024–25 Champions Hockey League.
===Standings===
Pos	Team 	Pld	W 	OTW	OTL	L 	GF 	GA 	GD 	Pts 	Qualification
1 	Färjestad BK 	52 	30	3 	8 	11	176	123	104	Qualification to Quarter-finals	
2 	Växjö Lakers 	52 	29	4 	4 	15	162	110	99 	Qualification to Quarter-finals	
3 	Skellefteå AIK 	52 	27	6 	4 	15	154	111	97 	Qualification to Quarter-finals	
4 	Frölunda HC 	52 	24	10 	4 	14	144	119	96 	Qualification to Quarter-finals	
5 	Leksands IF 	52 	27	3 	5 	17	149	123	92 	Qualification to Quarter-finals	
6 	Linköping HC 	52 	23	4 	8 	17	152	146	85 	Qualification to Quarter-finals	
7 	Luleå HF 	52 	21	7 	3 	21	130	116	80 	Qualification to Eighth-finals 	
8 	Timrå IK 	52 	22	3 	8 	19	133	137	−4 	Qualification to Eighth-finals 	80
9 	Rögle BK 	52 	17	7 	5 	23	117	133	−16	Qualification to Eighth-finals 	70
10 	Örebro HK 	52 	14	9 	7 	22	115	138	−23	Qualification to Eighth-finals 	67
11 	Modo Hockey 	52 	15	8 	6 	23	130	162	−32	67 	
12 	Malmö Redhawks 	52 	16	5 	7 	24	138	150	−12	65 	
13 	HV71 	52 	13	5 	4 	30	130	175	−45	53 	Qualification to Play Out
14 	IK Oskarshamn (R)	52 	8 	4 	5 	35	110	197	−87	37 	Qualification to Play Out
==Playoffs==
Ten teams qualify for the playoffs: the top six teams in the regular season have a bye to the quarter-finals, while teams ranked seventh to tenth meet each other (7 versus 10, 8 versus 9) in a preliminary playoff round.
===Format===
In the first round, the 7th-ranked team meets the 10th-ranked team and the 8th-ranked team meets the 9th-ranked team for a place in the second round. In the second round, the top-ranked team will meet the lowest-ranked winner of the first round, the second-ranked team will face the other winner of the first round, the third-ranked team will face the sixth-ranked team, and the fourth-ranked team will face the fifth-ranked team. In the third round, the highest remaining seed is matched against the lowest remaining seed. In each round the higher-seeded team is awarded home advantage. The meetings are in the first round played as best-of-three series, and in the later rounds as best-of-seven series. In the eighth-finals, the higher-seeded teams play at home for game 2 (plus 3 if necessary) while the lower-seeded teams play at home for game 1. In the later rounds, the higher-seeded teams are at home for games 1 and 2 (plus 5 and 7 if necessary) while the lower-seeded teams are at home for games 3 and 4 (plus 6 if necessary).
===Playoff bracket===
===Eighth-finals===
====(7) Luleå HF vs. (10) Örebro HK====
====(8) Timrå IK vs. (9) Rögle BK====
===Quarter-finals===
====(1) Färjestad BK vs. (9) Rögle BK====
With their defeat in a series sweep, Färjestad BK became the first No. 1 seed since HV71 in 2010–11 (and third overall) to lose in the quarter-finals in such a manner. Rögle BK became the third team to make the semi-finals, having started the playoffs in the eighth-finals.
====(2) Växjö Lakers vs. (7) Luleå HF====
====(3) Skellefteå AIK vs. (6) Linköping HC====
====(4) Frölunda HC vs. (5) Leksands IF====
===Semi-finals===
====(2) Växjö Lakers vs. (9) Rögle BK====
With their series victory, Rögle BK became the first team to make the finals having started in the eighth-finals.
====(3) Skellefteå AIK vs. (4) Frölunda HC====
===Finals===
====(3) Skellefteå AIK vs. (9) Rögle BK====
==Play Out==
The two bottom-placed teams from the regular season (HV71 and IK Oskarshamn) played a best-of-seven series, with the winner remaining in the SHL and the loser relegated to the second tier, the HockeyAllsvenskan. The higher-seeded team held home advantage over the series, playing at home for the first two games and games five and seven while the lower-seeded team was at home for games three, four and six .
==References==
==External links==
*
*SHL on eurohockey.com
*SHL on eliteprospects.com
Category:2024 in ice hockey