The 2022–23 SDHL season was the sixteenth ice hockey season of the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL). The season began on 16 September 2022 and concluded on 26 February 2023. Göteborg HC withdrew from the league on 2 November 2022, reducing the number of teams to nine for the remainder of the regular season. This season saw the SDHL become the first significant women's hockey league to allow bodychecking.
The playoffs began on 1 March and concluded on 20 March 2023. Luleå HF/MSSK swept Brynäs IF Dam in the playoff finals to claim the club's sixth Swedish Championship title.
Teams All ten teams from the 2021–22 SDHL season returned for the 2022–23 season. The increasing number of import players was reflected in the nationalities of team captains: AIK, Brynäs IF, HV71, and Luleå HF/MSSK had Finnish captains; Göteborg HC, Leksands IF, and SDE HF had Canadian captains; Linköping had a Norwegian captain; and Djurgårdens and MoDo had Swedish captains.
On 2 November 2022, Göteborg HC announced its withdrawal from the league. The club opted to withdraw in an effort to avoid declaring bankruptcy, which would have also required the cessation of all of the club’s minor, junior, and para ice hockey activities. In addition to the club’s financial problems, the team had also failed to attract enough Swedish players to meet SDHL requirements. Team City Arena Head coach CaptainAIK Solna Ritorps Ishall Brynäs IF Gävle Monitor ERP Arena Djurgårdens IF Stockholm Hovet Göteborg HC Gothenburg HV71 Jönköping Husqvarna Garden Leksands IF Leksand Tegera Arena Linköping HC Linköping Stångebro Ishall Luleå HF/MSSK Luleå Coop Norrbotten Arena ,Mikael Forsberg MoDo Hockey Örnsköldsvik Hägglunds Arena SDE Hockey Danderyd Enebybergs Ishall Sources:
Regular season
The 2022–23 SDHL season schedule originally comprised 36 games per team, in which each team would play every other team four times – twice at home and twice away.
Standings When Göteborg HC withdrew from the league in early November, they had earned four points in thirteen games and was ranked last in the league. Their record included one win, one overtime loss, and eleven regulation losses, with a goal difference of –52 (8 goals for, 60 goals against).
In order to maintain an equal number of games played between the remaining nine teams, the SDHL selected to remove the games played by Göteborg HC from the official standings, reducing the number of games played by each team to 32 for the season. All statistics from games played against Göteborg HC were stricken from the record.
Luleå HF/MSSK were champions of the regular season after amassing a combined total of thirty wins and two losses.
Statistics Scoring leaders The following players lead the league in regular season points at the completion of the season on 26 February 2023.
PlayerTeam Brynäs 32 18 43 61 +38 16 Luleå/MSSK 32 22 34 56 +43 6 Luleå/MSSK 32 30 23 53 +38 20 Brynäs 30 26 27 53 +39 12 Brynäs 32 16 32 48 +43 8 Luleå/MSSK 32 23 18 41 +38 6 MoDo 28 23 14 37 +22 26 Luleå/MSSK 31 5 32 37 +43 15 Luleå/MSSK 30 17 19 36 +22 2 Luleå/MSSK 30 7 25 32 +51 14Linköping 30 17 13 30 +1 4MoDo 32 17 13 30 +12 8Brynäs 28 15 14 29 +26 31SDE 31 11 18 29 +10 14Djurgården 30 9 20 29 +9 22MoDo 32 5 24 29 +13 18Brynäs 27 16 12 28 +16 8HV71 32 13 14 27–13 26Luleå/MSSK 31 12 15 27 +23 6Linköping 29 9 18 27 +1 6
Leading goaltenders The following goaltenders led the league in save percentage at the conclusion of the regular season on 26 February 2023, while playing at least one third of their team’s minutes in net.
Player Team Luleå/MSSK 14 13 1 14 6 94.42 1.00 SDE 21 11 10 37 6 93.76 1.84 Luleå/MSSK 18 17 1 25 3 92.80 1.38 MoDo 26 14 12 58 3 91.88 2.29 Brynäs 13 11 1 22 3 91.57 1.85 HV71 26 8 16 72 3 91.49 2.92 Göteborg/Brynäs 21 8 11 63 2 90.7 3.38 Leksand 27 11 16 65 4 90.57 2.41 Djurgården 25 14 11 51 3 90.56 2.07 Linköping 23 8 15 60 2 90.48 2.76
Playoffs Bracket
Awards and honors Austrian forward Anna Meixner of Brynäs IF received the Guldhjälmen for the 2022–23 SDHL season. First awarded in the 2019–20 SDHL season, Guldhjälmen recognizes the SDHL MVP, as voted by the league’s players. Meixner is the third Brynäs player to receive the award, after Lara Stalder in 2019–20 and Kateřina Mrázová in 2020–21.
Player of the Month The SDHL player of the month () was selected by a jury comprising SDHL sports director Oscar Alsenfelt, Svenska Spel sponsorship manager Mats Einarsson, SVT sports commentator , C More ice hockey commentator Pernilla Winberg, and Damkronorna head coach Ulf "Uffe" Lundberg; every jury member was not required vote each month. Each winner selected a project to receive 10,000kr towards promoting Swedish ice hockey. Winners are listed with their selected programs in parentheses. September/October 2022: Noora Tulus, Luleå/MSSK (Luleå Hockey girls' program) November 2022: Emma Nordin, Luleå/MSSK (Luleå Hockey girls' ice skating disco) December 2022: Maja Nylén Persson, Brynäs (Brynäs girls' ice hockey program) January 2023: Anna Meixner, Brynäs (Brynäs girls' ice hockey program) February 2023: Petra Nieminen, Luleå/MSSK (Luleå Hockey girls' program)
Delivery of the Month The SDHL assist of the month award was dubbed the "delivery of the month" () due to its sponsorship by the shipping company DHL. Each winner earned 5000kr for a non-profit of their choice. Winners are listed with their selected non-profit in parentheses. October 2022: Nara Elia, Linköping (unspecified organization promoting girls ice hockey in Sweden) November 2022: Lova Blom, Djurgårdens (Nyköping Hockey girls junior-C team and hockey school) January 2023: Lara Stalder, Brynäs (Brynäs/Sandvikens NDHL team) February 2023: Lara Stalder, Brynäs (Brynäs/Sandvikens NDHL team)
Weekly Awards Goal of the Week The SDHL goal of the week () was selected by fan vote from five nominees via the league’s website and social media accounts. Percentage of votes cast for the winner is in parentheses, when available.
Week 37, 2022: Karoline Pedersen, HV71 (44%) Week 38, 2022: Maya Nylén Persson, Brynäs Week 39, 2022: Linnéa Johansson, Linköping Week 40, 2022: Viivi Vainikka, Luleå/MSSK Week 41, 2022: Julie Zwarthoed, SDE (57%) Week 42, 2022: Victoria Klimek, Leksand (29%) Week 43, 2022: Mathea Fischer, SDE (48%) Week 44, 2022: Anna Meixner, Brynäs (66%) Week 46, 2022: Fanny Brolin, Leksand (78%) Week 47, 2022: Isabelle Leijonhielm, AIK
Week 48, 2022: Fanny Brolin, Leksand (56%) Week 49, 2022: Anna Purschke, Leksands (37%) Week 52, 2022: Kelly Murray, SDE Week 1, 2023: Josefine Persson, Luleå/MSSK Week 2 & 3, 2023: Felizia Wikner-Zienkiewicz, Brynäs Week 4, 2023: Kayleigh Hamers, SDE (38%) Week 5, 2023: Wilma Johansson, Leksand (74%) Week 7, 2023: Mira Markström, HV71 Week 8, 2023: Kiira Yrjänen, HV71
Save of the Week The SDHL save of the week () was selected from five options by fan vote via the league’s website and social media accounts. Percentage of votes cast for the winner is in parentheses, when available.
Week 37, 2022: Nicole Jackson, Göteborg Week 38, 2022: Loryn Pearson Porter, Göteborg Week 39, 2022: Mariah Fujimagari, AIK Week 40, 2022: Lindsey Post, SDE Week 41, 2022: Mariah Fujimagari, AIK Week 42, 2022: Mariah Fujimagari, AIK (54%) Week 43, 2022: Klára Peslarová, Brynäs (28%) Week 44, 2022: Sabina Eriksson, Linköping (61%) Week 46, 2022: Felicia Frank, Brynäs (41%) Week 47, 2022: Lindsey Post, SDE (65%)
Week 48, 2022: Felicia Frank, Brynäs (39%) Week 49, 2022: Felicia Frank, Brynäs Week 52, 2022: Mariah Fujimagari, AIK Week 1, 2023: Ebba Svensson Träff, Linköping Week 2 & 3, 2023: Mariah Fujimagari, AIK Week 4, 2023: Lindsey Post, SDE Week 6, 2023: Ebba Svensson Träff, Linköping Week 7, 2023: Ebba Svensson Träff, Linköping Week 8, 2023: Anni Keisala, HV71
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