The 2017–18 HockeyAllsvenskan season is the 13th season that the second tier of Swedish ice hockey has operated under that name. The series consists of 14 teams playing a regular season in which each team plays each other team four times, twice at home and twice away. This is followed by a series of promotion and relegation tournaments, with the teams finishing first through eight participating in promotion playoffs, and the teams finishing 13th and 14th forced to requalify to avoid relegation to the Hockeyettan.
Participating teams
Team City Arena Capacity AIK Stockholm Hovet 8,094 Almtuna IS Uppsala Metallåtervinning Arena 2,800 IF Björklöven Umeå T3 Center 5,400 BIK Karlskoga Karlskoga Nobelhallen 6,300 Leksands IF Leksand Tegera Arena 7,650 Modo Hockey Örnsköldsvik Fjällräven Center 7,600 IK Oskarshamn Oskarshamn Arena Oskarshamn 3,346 IK Pantern Malmö Malmö Isstadion 5,800 Södertälje SK Södertälje AXA Sports Center 6,200 Timrå IK Timrå NHK Arena 6,000 Tingsryds AIF Tingsryd Nelson Garden Arena 3,400 IF Troja/Ljungby Ljungby Ljungby Arena 3,620 HC Vita Hästen Norrköping Himmelstalundshallen 4,280 Västerviks IK Västervik Plivit Trade-hallen 2,500
Regular season Standings
Post-season Finals The top two teams from the regular season will meet in a best-of-five tournament, with the winner advancing directly to the SHL qualifiers, and the losing team forced to play an additional playoff. The matches began on 9 March and finished on 13 March.
Timrå IK vs. Leksands IF
HockeyAllsvenskan playoffs Teams 3–8 from the regular season will play a single round-robin tournament, with teams 3–5 getting home-ice advantage. The season is then over for all but the winning team, which advances to the meet the loser of the HockeyAllsvenskan finals in a playoff to the SHL qualifiers. Teams also started with bonus points based on their position in the regular season standings. Team 3 began with three points, team 4 with two points, and team 5 with one point.
Playoff to the SHL qualifiers In the playoff to the SHL qualifiers (), the losing team from the HockeyAllsvenskan finals will meet the winning team from the HockeyAllsvenskan playoffs in a best-of-three series that will be played on 20 March, 22 March and 24 March. The winning team will advance to the SHL qualifiers.
Leksands IF vs. IK Oskarshamn
SHL qualifiers Two teams from the HockeyAllsvenskan and two teams from the SHL will play a best-of-seven series, with the winner qualifying for play in the 2018–19 SHL season. The winner of the HockeyAllsvenskan finals will meet team 14 from the SHL, while the winner of the playoff to the SHL qualifiers will meet team 13 from the SHL. Mora IK was the first team to win their series, 4–1, to qualify for continued SHL play. Timrå would then win their series, 4–3, to qualify for the SHL for the first time since 2012–13.
Karlskrona HK vs. Timrå IK
Mora IK vs. Leksands IF
HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers Västervik and Troja/Ljungby, teams 13 and 14 from the regular season, were forced to defend their spots in HockeyAllsvenskan in the HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers (). Joining the two HockeyAllsvenskan teams were four challengers from third-tier league Hockeyettan, the winner of the Hockeyettan Finals (Borlänge HF) and the three surviving teams from the Hockeyettan playoffs.
References