1996–97 Division 1 season (Swedish ice hockey)

1996-97 was the 22nd season that Division 1 operated as the second tier of ice hockey in Sweden, below the top-flight Elitserien (now the SHL).
== Format ==
Division 1 was divided into four starting groups of 10 teams each. The top two teams in each group qualified for the Allsvenskan, while the remaining eight teams had to compete in a qualifying round. The teams were given zero to seven bonus points based on their finish in the first round. The top two teams from each qualifying round qualified for the playoffs. The last-place team in each of the qualifying groups was relegated directly to Division 2, while the second-to-last-place team had to play in a relegation series to retain their spot in Division 1 for the following season.
Of the eight teams in the Allsvenskan, the top two qualified directly for the Kvalserien. The third-sixth place teams qualified for the second round of the playoffs. The two playoff winners qualified for the Kvalserien, in which the top two teams qualified for the following Elitserien season. 
== Regular season ==
=== Northern Group ===
==== First round ====
 	Club 	GP	W 	T	L 	GF	GA	Pts
1. 	IF Björklöven 	18	15	2	1 	95	29	32
2. 	Skellefteå AIK 	18	14	1	3 	80	49	29
3. 	Timrå IK 	18	12	1	5 	79	48	25
4. 	Kiruna IF 	18	10	2	6 	77	54	22
5. 	IF Sundsvall 	18	8 	2	8 	53	44	18
6. 	Bodens IK 	18	8 	1	9 	64	75	17
7. 	Husums IF 	18	4 	4	10	56	74	12
8. 	Örnsköldsviks SK	18	5 	2	11	53	86	12
9. 	Piteå HC 	18	4 	0	14	43	82	8
10.	Tegs SK 	18	2 	1	15	39	98	5
 
==== Qualification round ==== 
 	Club 	GP	W 	T	L	GF	GA	Pts (Bonus)
1.	Timrå IK 	14	13	1	0	84	25	34(7)
2.	Kiruna IF 	14	8 	3	3	63	36	25(6)
3.	IF Sundsvall 	14	6 	3	5	45	41	20(5)
4.	Bodens IK 	14	4 	6	4	38	43	18(4)
5.	Husums IF 	14	3 	3	8	39	66	12(3)
6.	Piteå HC 	14	4 	2	8	40	63	11(1)
7.	Örnsköldsviks SK	14	3 	2	9	57	67	10(2)
8.	Tegs SK 	14	3 	4	7	40	65	10(0)
 
=== Western Group ===
==== First round ==== 
 	Club 	GP	W 	T	L 	GF	GA 	Pts
1. 	Mora IK 	18	14	2	2 	99	39 	30
2. 	IFK Kumla 	18	12	3	3 	87	52 	27
3. 	Grums IK 	18	10	3	5 	88	61 	23
4. 	Sunne IK 	18	8 	4	6 	76	65 	20
5. 	Surahammars IF	18	8 	2	8 	88	79 	18
6. 	Falun HF 	18	6 	5	7 	63	57 	17
7. 	Örebro IK 	18	6 	4	8 	74	71 	16
8. 	Fagersta AIK 	18	5 	2	11	58	103	12
9. 	Borlänge HF 	18	4 	4	10	53	99 	12
10.	IFK Munkfors 	18	2 	1	15	49	109	5
 
==== Qualification round ==== 
 	Club 	GP	W	T	L 	GF	GA	Pts (Bonus)
1.	Sunne IK 	14	9	2	3 	71	49	26(6)
2.	Grums IK 	14	9	1	4 	68	47	26(7)
3.	Falun HF 	14	8	1	5 	45	44	21(4)
4.	Örebro IK 	14	8	1	5 	63	43	20(3)
5.	Surahammars IF	14	5	2	7 	63	54	17(5)
6.	IFK Munkfors 	14	5	3	6 	41	63	13(0)
7.	Fagersta AIK 	14	2	4	8 	42	70	10(2)
8.	Borlänge HF 	14	3	0	11	40	63	7(1)
 
=== Eastern Group ===
==== First round ==== 
 	Club 	GP	W 	T	L 	GF	GA 	Pts
1. 	Hammarby IF 	18	14	2	2 	93	35 	30
2. 	Huddinge IK 	18	13	4	1 	87	37 	30
3. 	Nyköpings HC	18	11	3	4 	66	50 	25
4. 	Östervåla IF	18	10	2	6 	65	63 	22
5. 	Uppsala AIS 	18	8 	4	6 	63	64 	20
6. 	Arlanda HC 	18	8 	0	10	69	61 	16
7. 	Väsby IK 	18	6 	3	9 	59	59 	15
8. 	Haninge HC 	18	5 	1	12	50	86 	11
9. 	Wisby 	18	2 	2	14	51	121	6
10.	Österåker 	18	1 	3	14	43	80 	5
 
==== Qualification round ==== 
 	Club 	GP	W 	T	L	GF	GA	Pts (Bonus)
1.	Uppsala AIS 	14	10	1	3	72	41	26(5)
2.	Nyköpings HC	14	4 	8	2	43	34	23(7)
3.	Arlanda HC 	14	5 	6	3	64	48	20(4)
4.	Östervåla IF	14	4 	6	4	60	55	20(6)
5.	Wisby 	14	4 	6	4	49	51	15(1)
6.	Haninge HC 	14	5 	3	6	52	57	15(2)
7.	Väsby IK 	14	4 	3	7	43	55	14(3)
8.	Österåker 	14	2 	3	9	32	74	7(0)
 
=== Southern Group ===
==== First round ==== 
 	Club 	GP	W 	T	L 	GF	GA	Pts
1. 	Linköpings HC 	18	14	2	2 	83	35	30
2. 	IF Troja-Ljungby	18	13	3	2 	86	37	29
3. 	Västerviks IK 	18	8 	4	6 	50	58	20
4. 	IK Oskarshamn 	18	8 	2	8 	68	64	18
5. 	Tingsryds AIF 	18	8 	2	8 	52	58	18
6. 	Mörrums GoIS 	18	6 	5	7 	52	55	17
7. 	Mariestads BoIS 	18	6 	3	9 	53	62	15
8. 	Olofströms IK 	18	5 	4	9 	40	66	14
9. 	Rögle BK 	18	6 	1	11	55	72	13
10.	Tranås AIF 	18	3 	0	15	51	86	6
 
==== Qualification round ==== 
 	Club 	GP	W	T	L	GF	GA	Pts (Bonus)
1.	Tingsryds AIF 	14	8	2	4	52	39	23(7)
2.	Västerviks IK 	14	4	4	6	42	49	19(5)
3.	Tranås AIF 	14	8	2	4	58	38	18(0)
4.	Mörrums GoIS 	14	6	2	6	47	46	18(4)
5.	IK Oskarshamn 	14	5	2	7	50	58	18(6)
6.	Mariestads BoIS	14	5	4	5	38	34	17(3)
7.	Rögle BK 	14	6	1	7	41	48	14(1)
8.	Olofströms IK 	14	5	1	8	32	48	13(2)
 
== Allsvenskan ==
 	Club 	GP	W 	T	L 	GF	GA	Pts
1.	IF Troja-Ljungby	14	10	2	2 	55	32	22
2.	IF Björklöven 	14	9 	2	3 	66	41	20
3.	Skellefteå AIK 	14	6 	4	4 	54	42	16
4.	Linköpings HC 	14	6 	3	5 	53	42	15
5.	Mora IK 	14	6 	2	6 	49	45	14
6.	Huddinge IK 	14	3 	6	5 	42	39	12
7.	Hammarby IF 	14	4 	2	8 	34	60	10
8.	IFK Kumla 	14	0 	3	11	29	81	3
== Playoffs ==
=== First round ===
* Timrå IK - Nyköpings HC 0:2 (5:6 OT, 2:3 OT)
* Sunne IK - Västerviks IK 0:2 (3:4, 2:4)
* Uppsala AIS - Kiruna IF 0:2 (2:3, 1:2 OT)
* Tingsryds AIF - Grums IK 2:0 (3:0, 5:3)
=== Second round ===
* Mora IK - Tingsryds AIF 2:0 (5:3, 3:2 OT)
* Skellefteå AIK - Kiruna IF 2:1 (2:0, 3:4, 5:0)
* Linköpings HC - Nyköpings HC 2:0 (5:2, 7:3)
* Huddinge IK - Västerviks IK 0:2 (1:2, 1:2)
=== Third round ===
* Linköpings HC - Västerviks IK 2:0 (5:2, 3:0)
* Skellefteå AIK - Mora IK 1:2 (3:2 OT, 2:3, 2:3 OT)
== Elitserien promotion ==
== External links ==
*Season on hockeyarchives.info
Category:Swedish Division I seasons
Category:1996–97 ice hockey leagues