The 2015–16 SHL season was the 41st season of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). The regular season began in September 2015 and ended in March 2016. The playoffs were played in March–April 2016.
Modo Hockey and Karlskrona HK were forced to play in the SHL qualifiers to defend their SHL status. Karlskrona won their series against AIK in five games while Modo lost to Leksands IF over seven games. Therefore, Leksand were promoted to the SHL on the expense of Modo.
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.
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes Player Team Lasch, Ryan Ryan Lasch Frölunda HC 51 15 36 51 +10 20Thoresen, Patrick Patrick Thoresen Djurgårdens IF 49 15 33 48 +12 34Zackrisson, Patrik Patrik Zackrisson Skellefteå AIK 52 15 33 48 +25 68Gulas, Milan Milan Gulaš Färjestad BK 51 20 25 45 –4 20Gynge, Richard Richard Gynge Växjö Lakers 46 21 23 44 +23 24Johnson, Andreas Andreas Johnson Frölunda HC 52 19 25 44 +8 18Gordon, Andrew Andrew Gordon Linköpings HC 52 18 26 44 +18 30Norman, John John Norman Skellefteå AIK 47 17 25 42 +5 18Roe, Garrett Garrett Roe Linköpings HC 41 14 27 41 +14 28Anderson, Matt Matt Anderson Djurgårdens IF 52 18 22 40 +8 30
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.
GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average Player Team Johansson, Lars Lars Johansson Frölunda HC 36 1962:30 57 7 92.74 1.74Svensson, Markus Markus Svensson Skellefteå AIK 37 2148:23 66 7 92.20 1.84Lassinantti, Joel Joel Lassinantti Luleå HF 33 2002:46 65 4 92.12 1.95Rautio, David David Rautio Linköpings HC 28 1589:57 52 2 91.61 1.96Pogge, Justin Justin Pogge Färjestad BK 26 1512:11 53 1 92.24 2.10Högberg, Marcus Marcus Högberg Linköpings HC 28 1581:05 61 2 91.13 2.31Starkbaum, Bernhard Bernhard Starkbaum Brynäs IF 28 1643:17 65 2 91.16 2.37Armalis, Mantas Mantas Armalis Djurgårdens IF 34 1985:52 80 2 91.82 2.42Gunnarsson, Jonas Jonas Gunnarsson Malmö Redhawks 44 2549:43 105 2 91.32 2.47Pettersson-Wentzel, Fredrik Fredrik Pettersson-Wentzel HV71 43 2467:01 102 2 91.41 2.48
Playoffs The top six teams will qualify directly for the quarter-finals, while the four teams ranked 7–10 will play a best-of-three series and battle for the two remaining spots.
Playoff bracket In the first round the 7th-ranked team will meet the 10th-ranked team and the 8th-ranked team will meet the 9th-ranked team for a place in the second round. In the second round, the top-ranked team will meet the lowest-ranked winner of the first round, the 2nd-ranked team will face the other winner of the first round, the 3rd-ranked team will face the 6th-ranked team, and the 4th-ranked team will face the 5th-ranked team. In the third round, the highest remaining seed is matched against the lowest remaining seed. In each round the higher-seeded team is awarded home advantage. The first round the meetings are played as best-of-three series and the rest is best-of-seven series that follows an alternating home team format: the higher-seeded team will play at home for games 1 and 3 (plus 5 and 7 if necessary), and the lower-seeded team will be at home for game 2 and 4 (plus 6 if necessary).
Play In Round The teams ranked 7 and 10, and the teams ranked 8 and 9, respectively, will face each other in a best-of-three series in order to qualify for the quarter-finals. The better-ranked teams in the two series will receive home advantage, i.e. two home games, if necessary. The two winners will take the two remaining quarter-final spots.
(7) Djurgårdens IF vs. (10) Brynäs IF
(8) Örebro HK vs. (9) HV71
Quarter-finals
(1) Skellefteå AIK vs. (9) HV71
(2) Frölunda HC vs. (7) Djurgårdens IF
Note: Games 3 and 5 were played at Frölundaborg.
(3) Linköpings HC vs. (6) Växjö Lakers
(4) Luleå HF vs. (5) Färjestad BK
Semi-finals
(1) Skellefteå AIK vs. (6) Växjö Lakers
(2) Frölunda HC vs. (4) Luleå HF
Finals
(1) Skellefteå AIK vs. (2) Frölunda HC
Games in italics indicate games that will only be played if necessary to determine a winner of the series.
Statistics
Playoff 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 April 24, 2016.
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes Player Team Lehkonen, Artturi Artturi Lehkonen Frölunda HC 16 11 8 19 4Lasch, Ryan Ryan Lasch Frölunda HC 16 8 11 19 2Norman, John John Norman Skellefteå AIK 16 5 8 13 4Ritola, Mattias Mattias Ritola Skellefteå AIK 16 5 8 13 10Gynge, Richard Richard Gynge Växjö Lakers 13 5 7 12 6Hultström, Linus Linus Hultström Djurgårdens IF 8 3 9 12 6Granström, Jonathan Jonathan Granström Luleå HF 11 5 6 11 14Calof, Andrew Andrew Calof Skellefteå AIK 16 7 3 10 4Ericsson, Jimmie Jimmie Ericsson Skellefteå AIK 15 3 7 10 20Fantenberg, Oscar Oscar Fantenberg Frölunda HC 16 2 8 10 6Zackrisson, Patrik Patrik Zackrisson Skellefteå AIK 16 2 8 10 6
Playoff leading goaltenders These are the leaders in GAA and save percentage 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 April 24, 2016.
GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average Player Team Johansson, Lars Lars Johansson Frölunda HC 8 462:08 11 1 94.69 1.43Svensson, Markus Markus Svensson Skellefteå AIK 12 724:42 23 3 91.39 1.90Nihlstorp, Cristopher Cristopher Nihlstorp Växjö Lakers 10 563:18 19 0 91.40 2.02Pogge, Justin Justin Pogge Färjestad BK 4 231:33 8 0 93.33 2.07Gustafsson, Johan Johan Gustafsson Frölunda HC 9 506:22 19 0 92.02 2.25Lassinantti, Joel Joel Lassinantti Luleå HF 11 667:32 25 0 91.88 2.25
SHL awards Guldhjälmen: Anton Rödin, Brynäs IF Guldpucken: Patrick Thoresen, Djurgårdens IF Honken Trophy: Lars Johansson, Frölunda HC Håkan Loob Trophy: Nick Johnson, Brynäs IF Rookie of the Year: Ludvig Rensfeldt, Rögle BK Salming Trophy: Jonas Junland, Linköpings HC Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy: Johan Sundström, Frölunda HC Guldpipan: Mikael Nord
See also List of SHL seasons 2015 in ice hockey 2016 in ice hockey
References