Sweden Ice Hockey League 2023/24
The 2023/24 season will be the 49th season that the league is played. The Växjö Lakers will be defending their throne won in the final series against Skellefteå AIK by 4-1. Both the Lakers and AIK finished first and second in the regular part of the season, meaning that the two best teams overall played in the finals.
SHL involves 14 teams that play against each other four times during the season, two times at home and two times away. This means that a single team will play 52 games in total during the regular season.
After the regular season concludes, the first eight teams qualify for the quarterfinals, while the teams ranked 7th to 10th go to the eighth-finals of the competition. The bottom two ranked teams actually play against one another to stay up in the league. The loser of the best-out-of-seven series goes down to the lower league and is replaced by the promoted team.
The eighth-final games are played in a best-out-of-five series, while all the games from the quarterfinals and onward are played in the best-out-of-seven format.
SHL Predictions
Like any competitive league, SHL has its own characteristics. This will prompt punters to adapt their tactics and determine their bets on the overall standard of the league. Being that this is one of the strongest ice hockey leagues in Europe, things can get pretty competitive, so if you are to bet on this league, merely checking the SHL odds and picking the favourite is not going to cut it. You need to include various stats and use your best judgement depending on the situation.
SHL Goal Stats
Seasoned punters are good at crunching numbers. If you want to be nearly as good, you have to regularly check the latest SHL odds and look at some stats to help you make your picks. These can be determined by merely checking the goal stats.
For instance, SHL is a good league to bet on goals, particularly as 17.2% of games last season ended up with at least 5 goals scored. Furthermore, 20.5% of games during the 2022/23 SHL season saw 4 goals scored.
You can also do the same when it comes to periods as well. The previous season saw the most number of goals scored during the 3rd period, meaning that some teams were pushing for a goal as they were trailing or they wanted to get a win.
| Period | Total Goals | Games | % |
| 1st Period | 1 | 135 | 32.2% |
| 2 | 120 | 28.6% |
| 2nd Period | 1 | 121 | 28.9% |
| 2 | 117 | 27.9% |
| 3rd Period | 1 | 128 | 30.5% |
| 2 | 110 | 26.3% |
The likeliest score last season was actually a draw. A total of 50 games ended with a 2-2 result, which accounts for 11.9% of all games. Surprisingly, a popular score was 4-1, which happened in 28 games, or 6.7% of the times in total. The third most-seen result was 1-2, as the visitors won in 18 games by that score, accounting for 4.3% of the games.
SHL Teams
The 2023/24 Swedish Hockey League season will count 14 teams as the previous. Växjö Lakers enter the season as both the regular season winner and title winners. On the other hand, we said goodbye to Brynäs IF as they lost in the playout against Malmö Redhawks and will be replaced by MoDo Hockey.
| Team | City |
| Växjö Lakers | Växjö |
| Frölunda HC | Gothenburg |
| Luleå HF | Luleå |
| Örebro HK | Örebro |
| HV71 | Jönköping |
| Skellefteå AIK | Skellefteå |
| Rögle BK | Ängelholm |
| IF Malmö Redhawks | Malmö |
| Timrå IK | Timrå |
| Färjestad BK | Karlstad |
| Leksands IF | Leksand |
| IK Oskarshamn | Oskarshamn |
| Linköping HC | Linköping |
| MoDo Hockey | Örnsköldsvik |
SHL Top Players
When it comes to players, you can probably guess how much bigger the league is due to star players appearing in it. The league gathers top talent from Sweden, some of which venture on to other prominent European leagues or even to the NHL. You can also some some internationals from other top ice hockey countries like Finland, Canada, Czechia, and even the US.
Last season, the Finnish international Antti Suomela was the standout player, collecting a total of 66 points while appearing for IK Oskarshamn. He scored 37 goals and added 29 assists in 51 games played.
Right behind him on points was his teammate, Patrik Karlkvist, who scored 23 goals but had 38 assists for 61 total points in all 52 games played.
| Pos | Top Scorer | GP | Goals | Asists | Points |
| 1. | Antti Suomela | 51 | 37 | 29 | 66 |
| 2. | Patrik Karlkvist | 52 | 23 | 38 | 61 |
| 3. | Adam Tambellini | 49 | 23 | 23 | 46 |
| 4. | Jonathan Pudas | 50 | 11 | 34 | 45 |
| 5. | Oscar Möller | 48 | 23 | 21 | 44 |
However, as far as official trophies go, the SHL awards the Håkan Loob Trophy, which is given to the player with the most goals during the season.
| Season | Top Scorer | Team | Goals |
| 2022/23 | Antti Suomela | IK Oskarshamn | 37 |
| 2021/22 | Max Véronneau | Leksands IF | 34 |
| 2020/21 | Simon Ryfors
Daniel Viksten | Rögle BK
Färjestad BK | 25 |
| 2019/20 | Broc Little | Linköping HC | 24 |
| 2018/19 | Emil Bemström | Djurgårdens IF | 23 |
More so, the league also awards the Guldhjälmen award to the most valuable player of the season. The MVP is determined by a vote given by every player in the league.
| Year | MVP | Team |
| 2023 | Antti Suomela | IK Oskarshamn |
| 2022 | Max Véronneau | Leksands IF |
| 2021 | Marek Hrivík | Leksands IF |
| 2020 | Kodie Curran | Rögle BK |
| 2019 | Jacob Josefson | Djurgårdens IF |
SHL Winners
One of the most decorated SHL teams is Djurgårdens IF, a team that has won a record 16 Swedish Ice Hockey League titles. However, the team from Stockholm hasn’t won any titles since 2001 and has since been relegated to the HockeyAllsvenskan, which is the second-tier league of Swedish ice hockey.
What is even more interesting is that the second-most winningest team in Sweden, Brynäs IF, a team that has won 13 titles, is now also playing in the second hockey league in Sweden. Brynäs was relegated last season, having lost the playout series. Their latest trophy came in 2012.
The SHL season includes both the regular season winner and the playoff winner. However, the same as in the NHL, the winner of the playoffs is viewed as the champion and is awarded the Le Mat Trophy at the end of the season.
At the moment, the most successful team in Sweden are Växjö Lakers. The team may have only won four titles so far. After winning their first in 2015, they won three more in the last six years.
| Season | Regular Season | Champion | Runner-up |
| 2022/23 | Växjö Lakers | Växjö Lakers | Skellefteå AIK |
| 2021/22 | Rögle BK | Färjestad BK | Luleå HF |
| 2020/21 | Växjö Lakers | Växjö Lakers | Rögle BK |
| 2019/20 | Luleå HF | Frölunda HC | Djurgårdens IF |
| 2018/19 | Färjestad BK | Växjö Lakers | Skellefteå AIK |
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