The 2013–14 SHL season was the 39th season of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). The regular season began on 14 September 2013 and ended on 8 March 2014. The following playoffs began on 15 March 2014 and ended on 21 April 2014. It was the first season since the league changed name from Elitserien to Swedish Hockey League in June 2013.
Skellefteå AIK defended their 2013 Swedish Championship title by defeating Färjestad BK four games to zero in the Finals. Skellefteå AIK became the first team to defend the Swedish Championship title since Djurgårdens IF did so with their consecutive Swedish Championship titles in 2000 and 2001. Skellefteå AIK also became the first team since Brynäs IF in 1976–77 to win consecutive Swedish Championships by not losing a single game in both Finals series.
A number of format changes were introduced this season. Instead of the top eight teams in the regular season qualifying for the playoffs and the teams ranked 9–10 ending their season, the top six teams qualified for the playoffs directly, and the four teams ranked 7–10 played a best-of-three series and battled for the two remaining playoff spots. The two teams ranked 11–12 still had to play in the Kvalserien round-robin tournament in order to requalify for the SHL. Also, the top three teams no longer got to pick their opponents in the quarterfinals; instead, the first-ranked team faced the lowest-ranked winner of the two best-of-three series, the second-ranked team faced the other winner of the two best-of-three-series, the third-ranked team faced the sixth-ranked team, and the fourth-ranked team faced the fifth-ranked team.
In Kvalserien, Örebro HK requalified and Djurgårdens IF qualified for the 2014–15 SHL season at the expense of AIK.
Participating teams
Team City Arena Capacity AIK Stockholm Hovet 8,094 Brynäs IF Gävle Läkerol Arena 8,585 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 Linköpings HC Linköping Cloetta Center 8,500 Luleå HF Luleå Coop Norrbotten Arena 6,300 Modo Hockey Örnsköldsvik Fjällräven Center 7,600 Skellefteå AIK Skellefteå Skellefteå Kraft Arena 6,001 Växjö Lakers Växjö Vida Arena 5,700 Örebro HK Örebro Behrn Arena 5,200
League changes Similar to the system in the Finnish Liiga, only the top six teams qualified directly for the playoffs. The four teams ranked 7–10 played a best-of-three series, known as Play In, in order to qualify for the playoffs. The seventh-ranked team faced the tenth-ranked team and the eighth-ranked team faced the ninth-ranked team, with the better-ranked teams receiving home advantage in two games if necessary to determine a winner of the series. The winners of these two best-of-three series took the two remaining playoff spots. The teams ranked 11–12 were still forced to play in the Kvalserien in order to requalify for the next season of the SHL.
From this season, the ability for the top three teams to pick their opponents in the quarterfinals was dropped; instead, the first-ranked team faced the lowest-ranked winner of the two best-of-three series, the second-ranked team faced the other winner of the two best-of-three series, the third-ranked team faced the sixth-ranked team, and the fourth-ranked team faced the fifth-ranked team.
Summary This season's outdoor game was played on December 14, 2013, between Frölunda HC and Skellefteå AIK at Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg. The game was won by Skellefteå 4–1 in front of 13,452 spectators. It was the second SHL outdoor game to be hosted in Gothenburg, Sweden's second largest city, as well as the second SHL outdoor game featuring Frölunda HC.
On February 8, 2014, Leksands IF defenceman Patrik Hersley scored his 22nd goal of the season. With this, he broke the previous record for the number of goals by a defenceman in an SHL regular season, set by Jan Huokko in the 1998–99 season with 21 goals. Hersley added another two goals to finish the regular season with 24 goals. He was awarded the Salming Trophy, as the SHL's best defenceman, for his performance.
Linköpings HC forward Pär Arlbrandt finished the season with 71 points, becoming the third player in league history (after Håkan Loob and Bud Holloway) to score 70 points in a regular season.
Regular season
Standings
Statistics
Scoring leaders
List shows the ten best skaters based on the number of points during the regular season. If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown. Updated as of the end of the regular season. GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes Player Team Arlbrandt, Pär Pär Arlbrandt Linköpings HC 53 26 45 71 +5 66Lindström, Joakim Joakim Lindström Skellefteå AIK 55 23 40 63 +15 72Klasen, Linus Linus Klasen Luleå HF 54 28 29 57 +13 45Hjalmarsson, Simon Simon Hjalmarsson Linköpings HC 55 27 30 57 0 87Kolarik, Chad Chad Kolarik Linköpings HC 53 30 18 48 0 64Möller, Oscar Oscar Möller Skellefteå AIK 48 27 18 45 +13 14Hillding, Joakim Joakim Hillding Färjestad BK 55 18 23 41 +7 22Gunderson, Ryan Ryan Gunderson Brynäs IF 54 8 33 41 +13 14Arvidsson, Viktor Viktor Arvidsson Skellefteå AIK 50 16 24 40 +4 59Rasmussen, Dennis Dennis Rasmussen Växjö Lakers 52 16 24 40 +6 20
Leading goaltenders These are the leaders in GAA among goaltenders who played at least 40% of the team's minutes. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded. Updated as of the end of the regular season.
GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average Player Team Rautio, David David Rautio Luleå HF 34 2019:02 60 4 .922 1.78Fernström, Linus Linus Fernström Frölunda HC 32 1765:33 60 2 .916 2.04Johansson, Lars Lars Johansson Frölunda HC 28 1533:01 52 1 .912 2.04Svensson, Markus Markus Svensson Skellefteå AIK 34 1904:41 65 5 .919 2.05Munroe, Scott Scott Munroe Växjö Lakers 36 2107:37 72 3 .913 2.05Pettersson-Wentzel, Fredrik Fredrik Pettersson-Wentzel Färjestad BK 37 2217:47 76 5 .926 2.06Ullmark, Linus Linus Ullmark Modo Hockey 35 2043:30 71 3 .931 2.08Alsenfelt, Oscar Oscar Alsenfelt Leksands IF 46 2707:24 106 4 .928 2.35Larsson, Daniel Daniel Larsson AIK 45 2604:10 114 0 .917 2.63Sandberg, Tim Tim Sandberg Örebro HK 38 2256:11 99 1 .899 2.63
Captains and alternate captains
Playoffs This season, only the top six teams qualified directly for the playoffs. The four teams ranked 7–10 played a best-of-three series and battled for the two remaining playoff spots. Also, the top three teams no longer got to pick their opponents in the quarterfinals.
Play In The teams ranked 7 and 10, and the teams ranked 8 and 9, respectively, faced each other in a best-of-three series in order to qualify for the playoffs. The better-ranked teams in the two series received home advantage, i.e. two home games, if necessary to determine a winner of the series. The two winners, HV71 and Linköpings HC, took the two remaining playoff spots.
(7) Leksands IF vs. (10) HV71
(8) Modo Hockey vs. (9) Linköpings HC
Playoff bracket In the first round, the top-ranked team faced the lowest-ranked winner of the two best-of-three series, the second-ranked team faced the other winner of the two best-of-three series, the third-ranked team faced the sixth-ranked team, and the fourth-ranked team faced the fifth-ranked team. In the second round, the highest remaining seed was matched against the lowest remaining seed. In each round the higher-seeded team was awarded home advantage. Each series was a best-of-seven series that followed an alternating home team format: the higher-seeded team played at home for games 1 and 3 (plus 5 and 7 if necessary), and the lower-seeded team was at home for games 2 and 4 (plus 6 if necessary).
Quarterfinals
(1) Skellefteå AIK vs. (10) HV71
(2) Frölunda HC vs. (9) Linköpings HC
(3) Växjö Lakers vs. (6) Luleå HF
(4) Brynäs IF vs. (5) Färjestad BK
Semifinals
(1) Skellefteå AIK vs. (9) Linköpings HC
(3) Växjö Lakers vs. (5) Färjestad BK
Finals: (1) Skellefteå AIK vs. (5) Färjestad BK Skellefteå AIK made their fourth consecutive appearance in the Finals, following Finals appearances in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Färjestad BK reached the Finals for the first time since 2011, and became the first team seeded lower than fourth in the regular season to reach the Finals since sixth-seeded Modo Hockey made it to the Finals in 2000.
Skellefteå AIK swept Färjestad BK four games to zero and secured their third Swedish Championship title in club history, following titles in 1978 and 2013, the year before. Skellefteå AIK became the first team to defend the Swedish Championship title since Djurgårdens IF did so with their consecutive Swedish Championship titles in 2000 and 2001. Skellefteå AIK also became the first team since Brynäs IF in 1976–77 to win consecutive Swedish Championships by not losing a single game in both Finals series. Their 8–1 crush in game three marked the biggest goal margin (7 goals) in a single Finals game in SHL history. Over the four games, Skellefteå racked up the goal differential 20–3.
Statistics
Scoring leaders
List shows the ten best skaters based on the number of points during the playoffs. If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown. Updated as of the end of the playoffs. GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes Player Team Lindström, Joakim Joakim Lindström Skellefteå AIK 14 6 12 18 +11 10Möller, Oscar Oscar Möller Skellefteå AIK 14 5 13 18 +10 2Arvidsson, Viktor Viktor Arvidsson Skellefteå AIK 14 4 12 16 +5 4Ericsson, Jimmie Jimmie Ericsson Skellefteå AIK 14 12 2 14 0 12Bellemare, Pierre-Edouard Pierre-Édouard Bellemare Skellefteå AIK 14 9 5 14 +4 6Karlsson, Melker Melker Karlsson Skellefteå AIK 14 4 8 12 +9 12Johansson, Alexander Alexander Johansson Växjö Lakers 12 6 4 10 +5 14Rakhshani, Rhett Rhett Rakhshani Växjö Lakers 12 3 6 9 +1 12Holloway, Bud Bud Holloway Skellefteå AIK 11 3 5 8 0 6Rosen, Robert Robert Rosén Växjö Lakers 12 6 1 7 +4 2
Leading goaltenders These are the leaders in GAA and save percentage among goaltenders who played more than 40% of the team's minutes. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded. Updated as of the end of the season.
GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average Player Team Svensson, Markus Markus Svensson Skellefteå AIK 14 870:37 20 3 .943 1.38Lassila, Teemu Teemu Lassila Växjö Lakers 12 715:51 20 3 .929 1.68Owuya, Mark Mark Owuya Luleå HF 3 174:04 6 0 .891 2.07Starkbaum, Bernhard Bernhard Starkbaum Brynäs IF 5 303:44 11 1 .936 2.17Johansson, Lars Lars Johansson Frölunda HC 5 305:39 12 0 .904 2.36Pettersson-Wentzel, Fredrik Fredrik Pettersson-Wentzel Färjestad BK 15 876:06 36 0 .921 2.47Högberg, Marcus Marcus Högberg Linköpings HC 9 488:10 25 1 .908 3.07
SHL awards Guldhjälmen: Joakim Lindström, Skellefteå AIK Guldpucken: Joakim Lindström, Skellefteå AIK Honken Trophy: Linus Ullmark, Modo Hockey Håkan Loob Trophy: Chad Kolarik, Linköpings HC Rookie of the Year: Andreas Johnson, Frölunda HC Salming Trophy: Patrik Hersley, Leksands IF Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy: Joakim Lindström, Skellefteå AIK Guldpipan: Mikael Nord
See also 2014 Kvalserien List of SHL seasons 2013 in ice hockey 2014 in ice hockey
References
External links