Swedish hockey

[maplepred]

been doing some research and just wanted to get some info from you guys.

What is the toughest league in Sweden to play in?
It used to be the Swedish elite right?

Is there two top leagues? Or a 1a and 1b?

Thanks in advance for replies.

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[Filthy Dangles]

SHL aka Swedish elite league.

 

[TryamkinPleaseReturn]

As dangles mentioned, the SEL became the SHL recently. It was and still is the top league. It's one of the top leagues in the world, along with the KHL and NHL. The next highest league would be the Allsvenken. The best teams here are in the same ballpark as the lowest teams in the SHL, and I believe they have relogation every year.

 

[maplepred]

As dangles mentioned, the SEL became the SHL recently. It was and still is the top league. It's one of the top leagues in the world, along with the KHL and NHL. The next highest league would be the Allsvenken. The best teams here are in the same ballpark as the lowest teams in the SHL, and I believe they have relogation every year.

Amazing. Thank you for the detailed reply.

 

[TryamkinPleaseReturn]

Amazing. Thank you for the detailed reply.

np!

 

[JAS 39 Gripen]

been doing some research and just wanted to get some info from you guys.

What is the toughest league in Sweden to play in?
It used to be the Swedish elite right?

Is there two top leagues? Or a 1a and 1b?

Thanks in advance for replies.

...did you really do some ”research” before asking these questions?

 

[NotProkofievian]

There are a bunch of leagues connected by a relegation system, with SHL being at the top. For example, Timrå played in the Allsvenskan last year and are playing in the SHL this year. Västerås IK played in a league called Division 1 last year, and are playing in the Allsvenskan this year.

One bit of trivia that I wonder about is how many leagues a team has risen or fallen? Was there a once proud club now playing d league beer hockey? Was there ever a division 6 team that rose to Allsvenskan or SHL? I found a division 2 team that played some seasons in Allsvenskan but I didn't look too thoroughly.

 

[SoundAndFury]

One bit of trivia that I wonder about is how many leagues a team has risen or fallen? Was there a once proud club now playing d league beer hockey? Was there ever a division 6 team that rose to Allsvenskan or SHL? I found a division 2 team that played some seasons in Allsvenskan but I didn't look too thoroughly.

There are often quite spectacular rises after new sponsors/owners/initiatives, like Skelleftea played in Division 1 in 1999 and in 2006 they already made their debut in the SHL not to mention being one of its best teams ever since. Such dramatic falls are rarer as most big teams have funding, and fans and all that so you probably have to look through a really, really long period of time to find those.

 

[Aahlstroem]

There are a bunch of leagues connected by a relegation system, with SHL being at the top. For example, Timrå played in the Allsvenskan last year and are playing in the SHL this year. Västerås IK played in a league called Division 1 last year, and are playing in the Allsvenskan this year.

One bit of trivia that I wonder about is how many leagues a team has risen or fallen? Was there a once proud club now playing d league beer hockey? Was there ever a division 6 team that rose to Allsvenskan or SHL? I found a division 2 team that played some seasons in Allsvenskan but I didn't look too thoroughly.

You've got Växjö in the SHL that played in Division 4 (sixth tier) as late as 1998/1999. They're heavily supported economically by their municipality though and are a bit frowned upon though.

Västerås IK as you mentioned used to play in the SHL but went bankrupt after 1999/2000 and had to restart in Division 2 (lowest tier in their region, Västmanland), it should've been Division 3 but the Västmanland hockey federation rearranged the local divisions that season so that Division 2 was the lowest instead. Now they've climbed back to Allsvenskan. Hammarby is another team that went bankrupt and had to restart in the lowest tier, Division 4 for them. It was actually some supporters that started a new team, "Bajen Fans IF" (Bajen is a nickname for Hammarby), which eventually became a part of Hammarby IF.

Gävle Godtemplare IK once became Swedish champions, 1956/1957, and are now playing in Division 3.

 

[NotProkofievian]

You've got Växjö in the SHL that played in Division 4 (sixth tier) as late as 1998/1999. They're heavily supported economically by their municipality though and are a bit frowned upon though.

Västerås IK as you mentioned used to play in the SHL but went bankrupt after 1999/2000 and had to restart in Division 2 (lowest tier in their region, Västmanland), it should've been Division 3 but the Västmanland hockey federation rearranged the local divisions that season so that Division 2 was the lowest instead. Now they've climbed back to Allsvenskan. Hammarby is another team that went bankrupt and had to restart in the lowest tier, Division 4 for them. It was actually some supporters that started a new team, "Bajen Fans IF" (Bajen is a nickname for Hammarby), which eventually became a part of Hammarby IF.

Gävle Godtemplare IK once became Swedish champions, 1956/1957, and are now playing in Division 3.

This is awesome lol. Thanks for the informative response!

 

[Tomas W]

SHL and Allsvenskan are different from lower level hockey, as they cover the whole of Sweden, not just regions.

Swedish club hockey in general gets worse each time NHL expand, now even 2nd and 3rd tier talent get contracts in NA, it used to be only like the best on best "nationalteam" level Swedes that got to play over seas.

Plus the KHL also got some pro Swedes.

 

[JAS 39 Gripen]

SHL and Allsvenskan are different from lower level hockey, as they cover the whole of Sweden, not just regions.

Swedish club hockey in general gets worse each time NHL expand, now even 2nd and 3rd tier talent get contracts in NA, it used to be only like the best on best "nationalteam" level Swedes that got to play over seas.

Plus the KHL also got some pro Swedes.

as well as the Swiss and German league. The SHL gets watered down each year. It's not hard to grasp considering the huge amount of swedish players with NHL-contracts compared to only 10 years ago. The SHL and the SIHA (Swedish Ice Hockey Association) have a big task at hand with trying to keep swedish players in Sweden longer, instead of ending up in the NHL farm system. Before, (in the long long ago) many swedish hockey players dream was to represent Tre Kronor. Nowdays it's taking a spot on a NHL-squad.

SHLs position as a league is 'under threat' of becoming a farm-leauge for the NHL, which also has it's upside for some teams b/c of the money each signed NHL-player brings back, but in the long run it's not plausible if they want to have a great product in their own right.

 

[Tomas W]

as well as the Swiss and German league. The SHL gets watered down each year. It's not hard to grasp considering the huge amount of swedish players with NHL-contracts compared to only 10 years ago. The SHL and the SIHA (Swedish Ice Hockey Association) have a big task at hand with trying to keep swedish players in Sweden longer, instead of ending up in the NHL farm system. Before, (in the long long ago) many swedish hockey players dream was to represent Tre Kronor. Nowdays it's taking a spot on a NHL-squad.

SHLs position as a league is 'under threat' of becoming a farm-leauge for the NHL, which also has it's upside for some teams b/c of the money each signed NHL-player brings back, but in the long run it's not plausible if they want to have a great product in their own right.

Yes, exactly.

 

[Ryan Van Horne]

I have a question about the lower leagues. I'm hearing a lot about some players for the 2021 draft and when I look at their profiles on EP, I see a bunch of different levels. The age part is easy to figure out, but I would like to know what is the difference between J16 Elit and J16 SM as well as J18 Elit and J18 Allsvenskan. Am I also correct in ascertaining that the J20 SuperElit is the top junior league in Sweden? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[PuckPoise]

I have a question about the lower leagues. I'm hearing a lot about some players for the 2021 draft and when I look at their profiles on EP, I see a bunch of different levels. The age part is easy to figure out, but I would like to know what is the difference between J16 Elit and J16 SM as well as J18 Elit and J18 Allsvenskan. Am I also correct in ascertaining that the J20 SuperElit is the top junior league in Sweden? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

U16 Elit = top division for three out of four regions except East (Stockholm area) where the top division is called U16 Div.1 for I suppose no other reason then to mess with people.
U16SM = U16 playoffs

J18 Elit = top division in the first half of the season, 4 regional leagues
J18 Allsvenskan = consists of the top-5 teams from each region for the second half of the season, so more competitive than first half and tougher to put up numbers in.

J20 Superelit = top junior division, split into two regions for the first half. For the second half, there's a nationwide top-10 league and a bottom-10 league, rarely split up on stats sites like EP or anywhere really, but something that might be good to know if you're gonna look at numbers.

 

[Ryan Van Horne]

U16 Elit = top division for three out of four regions except East (Stockholm area) where the top division is called U16 Div.1 for I suppose no other reason then to mess with people.
U16SM = U16 playoffs

J18 Elit = top division in the first half of the season, 4 regional leagues
J18 Allsvenskan = consists of the top-5 teams from each region for the second half of the season, so more competitive than first half and tougher to put up numbers in.

J20 Superelit = top junior division, split into two regions for the first half. For the second half, there's a nationwide top-10 league and a bottom-10 league, rarely split up on stats sites like EP or anywhere really, but something that might be good to know if you're gonna look at numbers.

Thanks a lot. That really clears things up. I knew Finland had split-seasons like that and I was wondering if there was a similar set-up in Sweden. Cheers!