Färjestad begins its playoff series against Rögle tomorrow, marking the third playoff meeting between the two teams in five years. Färjestad finished fifth in the standings after a turbulent regular season that included the firing of head coach Jörgen Jönsson and hiring of Cam Abbott. In previous encounters, Färjestad won 4-2 in 2022 and went on to win the championship, while Rögle swept Färjestad in 2024. Örebro lost to Linköping in overtime but still advanced to the SHL eighth-finals because Timrå also lost to Växjö. Djurgården has also secured a playoff spot, according to sources.
In other playoff matchups, Kalmar HC, which played in the third division in 2020, finished second in Hockeyallsvenskan this season and is now in the quarterfinals against Södertälje SK, who lead the series 1-0. The next game between Kalmar HC and Södertälje SK is Tuesday at 19:00. SHL eighth-finals start Tuesday with Djurgården-Malmö and Örebro-Luleå, played as best-of-three series. Additional game details from the playoffs include Brynäs IF defeating Malmö Redhawks in a series with a 5-2 away win in game five, sealing a semifinal place; Färjestad won a game 2-1 against Skellefteå AIK to reduce the series lead to 3-2; and Frölunda HC won 6-2 over Timrå, putting them one win away from the semifinals.
Leksand's coach Johan Hedberg states the team is in a positive mood, not anxious, with players Jon Knuts and Arvid Eljas out, and Dennis Altörn absent for a while, but the team is otherwise full-strength; he does not confirm if injured players miss all games but says they won't play tomorrow.
Brynäs has two home games this week against Rögle BK and Frölunda. Lucas Pettersson of Brynäs says the team has found form and needs three points to catch Malmö and Luleå for a quarterfinal spot; otherwise, they will enter the play-in. Four teams risk qualifying against HV71, with one also getting to play in the SM playoffs. Leksand risks relegation qualification, with a history of five negative qualifiers in the 2000s, all lost. HV71 and Leksand are close in points for home-ice advantage in qualification, with HV71 needing at least two points to overtake Leksand, assuming Leksand loses, and HV71 has a better goal difference. Expressen Sport predicts matches, noting Brynäs has won all three meetings against opponents this season, Malmö has strong recent records against Frölunda, and various teams have specific motivations.
Coaches and players have expressed varied readiness levels ahead of the playoffs. Leksand's coach Johan Hedberg states the team is in a positive mood, not anxious, with players Jon Knuts and Arvid Eljas out, and Dennis Altörn absent for a while, but the team is otherwise full-strength; he does not confirm if injured players miss all games but says they won't play tomorrow. Linköping's assistant coach Mattias Zackrisson implies the team is not feeling super but has good energy. Örebro's coach Niklas Eriksson says the team found something late in the season, has been stable post-Olympic break, taking points in 8 of 9 games, and faces Luleå in the playoffs; players Patrik Puistola is sick, William Wikman and Juuso Vainio are injured, with Puistola expected back for the first game against Luleå, but the others are uncertain. Frölunda's coach Robert Ohlsson and player Christian Folin mention a revenge mindset against Luleå due to last year's semifinal loss, with Folin noting the team has developed its game. Rögle's Mark Friedman plans to be physical in the playoffs, targeting opponents' top players, but acknowledges the need for balance to avoid distraction. Djurgården's Victor Eklund says the team is excited for the playoffs, highlights powerplay as a strength, and prefers Malmö as an opponent. Malmö's Janne Kuokkanen aims for a top-six finish and wants the team to shine in the playoffs, noting they were not tipped to make the playoffs. Leksand's captain Lukas Vejdemo believes in changing their negative qualification history, citing strong recent form.
Linköping's assistant coach Mattias Zackrisson implies the team is not feeling super but has good energy.
Djurgården and Luleå have sold out all 26 home games this season, with Djurgården setting a new SHL record and Luleå having 50 consecutive sold-out games since November 2024. Frölunda HC had the highest average home league attendance at 11,359. Djurgården's vd Matthias Sånemyr and Luleå's presschef Robert Hedlund attribute high interest to post-pandemic demand and success.
The 2024-25 Swedish Hockey League (SHL) season was the 50th season of the league. The league consisted of 14 teams, with Brynäs IF returning after one season in HockeyAllsvenskan, where they won the 2023-24 title, and IK Oskarshamn relegated to HockeyAllsvenskan after five seasons in the SHL. Each team played 52 games, with points awarded as follows: three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime/shootout win, one for an overtime/shootout loss, and zero for a regulation loss. Brynäs IF became the first promoted team to win the regular season title in SHL history, finishing five points ahead of Luleå HF, marking their first regular season title in 47 years. In the playoffs, ten teams qualified: the top six received byes to the quarterfinals, while teams ranked 7th to 10th played in a preliminary round (7th vs. 10th, 8th vs. 9th) in best-of-three series, with later rounds as best-of-seven.
Örebro's coach Niklas Eriksson says the team found something late in the season, has been stable post-Olympic break, taking points in 8 of 9 games, and faces Luleå in the playoffs; players Patrik Puistola is sick, William Wikman and Juuso Vainio are injured, with Puistola expected back for the first game against Luleå, but the others are uncertain.
In the final, Brynäs IF lost to Luleå HF 2-4 in matches. In the relegation playoffs (Play Out), HV71 won 4-2 against Modo Hockey, relegating Modo after two seasons in the SHL and qualifying HV71 for the next season.
Notable individual performances include Egor Polin scoring a 'zorromål' for Örebro, having done the same for Södertälje against Djurgården last season.
Rögle's Mark Friedman plans to be physical in the playoffs, targeting opponents' top players, but acknowledges the need for balance to avoid distraction.
Djurgården's Victor Eklund says the team is excited for the playoffs, highlights powerplay as a strength, and prefers Malmö as an opponent.
Malmö's Janne Kuokkanen aims for a top-six finish and wants the team to shine in the playoffs, noting they were not tipped to make the playoffs.
Leksand's captain Lukas Vejdemo believes in changing their negative qualification history, citing strong recent form.