2019–20 SHL season

The 2019–20 SHL season was the 45th season of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). The regular season began in September 2019 and ended in March 2020; it was scheduled to be followed by the Swedish Championship playoffs and the relegation playoffs. The league consisted of 14 teams; Leksands IF returned to the SHL after two seasons in HockeyAllsvenskan, having defeated Mora IK in the 2019 SHL qualifiers. IK Oskarshamn played in the SHL for the first time in franchise history, after defeating Timrå IK in the SHL qualifiers.
On 3 March, Luleå HF won the regular season title for the third time; after a 3–0 win over Rögle BK, coupled with defeats for Skellefteå AIK (0–1 versus Frölunda HC) and Färjestad BK (1–2 versus HV71), Luleå HF held an unassailable 14-point lead with 4 matches remaining.
After the playoffs were initially delayed following the conclusion of the regular season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden, the season was curtailed on 15 March. No Swedish champions were determined, for the first time since 1952, and the SHL featured the same teams next season.
==Teams==
Team 	City 	Arena 	Capacity
Brynäs IF 	Gävle 	Monitor ERP Arena 	7,909
Djurgårdens IF	Stockholm 	Hovet 	8,094
Frölunda HC 	Gothenburg	Scandinavium 	12,044
Färjestad BK 	Karlstad 	Löfbergs Arena 	8,647
HV71 	Jönköping 	Kinnarps Arena 	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
Växjö Lakers 	Växjö 	Vida Arena 	5,700
Örebro HK 	Örebro 	Behrn Arena 	5,150
==Regular season==
Each team plays 52 games, playing each of the other thirteen teams four times: twice on home ice, and twice away from home. Points are awarded for each game, where three points are 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 finishes with the most points is crowned the league champion.
===Standings===
Pos	Team 	Pld	W 	OTW	OTL	L 	GF 	GA 	GD 	Pts	Qualification
1 	Luleå HF 	52 	30	6 	4 	12	151	98 	+53	106	Qualification to Quarter-finals
2 	Färjestad BK 	52 	25	6 	5 	16	173	146	+27	92 	Qualification to Quarter-finals
3 	Rögle BK 	52 	25	7 	3 	17	149	123	+26	92 	Qualification to Quarter-finals
4 	Skellefteå AIK	52 	27	4 	1 	20	149	122	+27	90 	Qualification to Quarter-finals
5 	HV71 	52 	24	6 	5 	17	158	130	+28	89 	Qualification to Quarter-finals
6 	Djurgårdens IF	52 	24	5 	6 	17	137	135	+2 	88 	Qualification to Quarter-finals
7 	Frölunda HC 	52 	25	4 	2 	21	154	126	+28	85 	Qualification to Eighth-finals
8 	Örebro HK 	52 	26	2 	3 	21	137	133	+4 	85 	Qualification to Eighth-finals
9 	Malmö Redhawks	52 	21	4 	6 	21	131	130	+1 	77 	Qualification to Eighth-finals
10 	Växjö Lakers 	52 	20	4 	2 	26	127	143	−16	70 	Qualification to Eighth-finals
11 	Linköping HC 	52 	14	6 	11 	21	118	139	−21	65 	
12 	Brynäs IF 	52 	13	8 	5 	26	132	168	−36	60 	
13 	Leksands IF 	52 	13	2 	6 	31	115	168	−53	49 	Qualification to Relegation playoffs
14 	IK Oskarshamn 	52 	10	3 	8 	31	110	180	−70	44 	Qualification to Relegation playoffs
==Playoffs==
Ten teams qualified for the playoffs: the top six teams in the regular season were scheduled to have a bye to the quarterfinals, while teams ranked seventh to tenth met each other (7 versus 10, 8 versus 9) in a preliminary playoff round. If the finals had occurred and led to a game seven, that game was intended to be played on 2 May 2020.
In the first round the 7th-ranked team were scheduled to meet the 10th-ranked team and the 8th-ranked team were scheduled to meet the 9th-ranked team for a place in the second round. In the second round, the top-ranked team were scheduled to meet the lowest-ranked winner of the first round, the 2nd-ranked team were scheduled to face the other winner of the first round, the 3rd-ranked team were scheduled to face the 6th-ranked team, and the 4th-ranked team were scheduled to meet the 5th-ranked team. In the third round, the highest remaining seed was scheduled to matched against the lowest remaining seed. In each round the higher-seeded team was scheduled to be awarded home advantage.
The playoffs were scheduled to be held as a best-of-three series in the eighth-finals, with the remainder of the playoffs as a best-of-seven series that followed an alternating home team format: the higher-seeded team playing at home for games 1 and 3 (plus 5 and 7 if necessary), and the lower-seeded team at home for game 2 and 4 (plus 6 if necessary). However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden, the start of the playoffs was delayed from 14 March, to 24 March. As a result, the playoff format was altered; the eighth-finals were kept as a best-of-three series, but the remaining rounds were changed to a best-of-five series.
On 14 March, the Swedish Hockey League, citing agreement with its fourteen member teams, formally requested that the playoffs be cancelled to the Swedish Ice Hockey Association. Following a meeting the following day, the playoffs were cancelled.
==References==
==External links==
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Category:2020 in ice hockey
Category:Swedish Hockey League seasons