2022–23 SHL season

The 2022–23 SHL season was the 48th season of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). The regular season began on 17 September 2022 and ended on 9 March 2023, where it was then followed by the playoffs and the relegation playoffs.
The Växjö Lakers completed their second league and playoff double in three seasons; having finished three points clear of Skellefteå AIK after the 52-game regular season, the two teams met again in the playoff final with the Lakers prevailing 4–1 in the best-of-seven series.
==Teams==
The league consists of 14 teams; HV71 returned to the SHL after one season in the HockeyAllsvenskan, where they won the 2021–22 title. Djurgårdens IF were relegated to the HockeyAllsvenskan at the end of the previous season, and as a result, Stockholm was not represented by a top-division team for the first time. In the end of the season, Brynäs was relegated for the first time ever, leaving Färjestad as the only team to have played every season in the league since it was founded.
Team 	City 	Arena 	Capacity
Brynäs IF 	Gävle 	Monitor ERP Arena 	7,909
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
IK Oskarshamn 	Oskarshamn	Be-Ge Hockey Center 	3,275
Rögle BK 	Ängelholm 	Catena Arena 	5,150
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.
===Standings===
Pos	Team 	Pld	W 	OTW	OTL	L 	GF 	GA 	GD 	Pts	Qualification
1 	Växjö Lakers 	52 	27	7 	7 	11	153	111	+42	102	Qualification to Quarter-finals
2 	Skellefteå AIK	52 	27	6 	6 	13	165	118	+47	99 	Qualification to Quarter-finals
3 	Färjestad BK 	52 	24	7 	4 	17	154	139	+15	90 	Qualification to Quarter-finals
4 	Örebro HK 	52 	21	7 	6 	18	155	141	+14	83 	Qualification to Quarter-finals
5 	Timrå IK 	52 	22	6 	3 	21	137	130	+7 	81 	Qualification to Quarter-finals
6 	Frölunda HC 	52 	21	5 	8 	18	140	139	+1 	81 	Qualification to Quarter-finals
7 	IK Oskarshamn 	52 	20	8 	2 	22	165	159	+6 	78 	Qualification to Eighth-finals
8 	Leksands IF 	52 	22	5 	1 	24	131	136	−5 	77 	Qualification to Eighth-finals
9 	Rögle BK 	52 	17	8 	5 	22	149	158	−9 	72 	Qualification to Eighth-finals
10 	Luleå HF 	52 	18	4 	9 	21	117	130	−13	71 	Qualification to Eighth-finals
11 	HV71 	52 	15	7 	9 	21	138	151	−13	68 	
12 	Linköping HC 	52 	16	4 	11 	21	133	165	−32	67 	
13 	Brynäs IF (R) 	52 	16	4 	6 	26	134	171	−37	62 	Qualification to Play Out
14 	Malmö Redhawks	52 	14	6 	7 	25	133	156	−23	61 	Qualification to Play Out
==Playoffs==
Ten teams qualify for the playoffs: the top six teams in the regular season have a bye to the quarterfinals, 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 3 (plus 5 and 7 if necessary) while the lower-seeded teams are at home for games 2 and 4 (plus 6 if necessary).
===Playoff bracket===
===Eighth-finals===
====(7) IK Oskarshamn vs. (10) Luleå HF====
====(8) Leksands IF vs. (9) Rögle BK====
===Quarter-finals===
====(1) Växjö Lakers vs. (10) Luleå HF====
====(2) Skellefteå AIK vs. (9) Rögle BK====
====(3) Färjestad BK vs. (6) Frölunda HC====
====(4) Örebro HK vs. (5) Timrå IK====
===Semi-finals===
====(1) Växjö Lakers vs. (6) Frölunda HC====
====(2) Skellefteå AIK vs. (4) Örebro HK====
===Finals===
====(1) Växjö Lakers vs. (2) Skellefteå AIK====
==Play Out==
The two bottom-placed teams from the regular season 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 odd-numbered games while the lower-seeded team was at home for the even-numbered games.
Brynäs IF's defeat in the series ended their 63-year run in the Swedish top flight.
==References==
==External links==
*
*SHL on eurohockey.com
*SHL on eliteprospects.com
2022-23
Category:2023 in ice hockey