The 2023–24 SDHL season was the seventeenth ice hockey season of the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL). The regular season began on 24 September 2023 and concluded on 20 February 2024. The playoffs began on 23 February and concluded on 19 March, with Luleå HF/MSSK claiming their seventh Swedish Championship title after a three-game sweep of MoDo Hockey in the finals.
Teams
No SDHL teams were relegated at the end of the 2022–23 SDHL season due to Göteborg HC's mid-season withdrawal from the league in November 2022. The nine teams that completed the 2022–23 season returned for the 2023–24 season and were joined by Frölunda HC, the Nationella Damhockeyligan (NDHL) champions of the 2023 . The promotion of Frölunda HC brought the number of teams participating in the league back to ten.
The season marks the first time in league history that fewer than sixty percent of active players are of Swedish nationality. Import players hail from fifteen different countries, with the largest contingents coming from Canada (20 players), Czechia (19 players), and Finland (19 players).
In contrast to the rising number of import players, the number of Swedish captains increased from two in the 2022–23 season to five at the start of the 2023–24 season – with AIK, Brynäs IF, Frölunda HC, Linköping HC, and MoDo Hockey all sporting Swedish captains. The remaining five captaincies were filled by two Canadians (Djurgårdens IF and Leksands IF), two Finns (HV71 and Luleå HF/MSSK), and one Netherlander (SDE HF).
Alternate captain Michelle Karvinen stepped into the Frölunda HC captaincy on an interim basis after captain Hanna Olsson sustained a season-ending hamstring injury caused by a blindsided open-ice hit from Luleå forward Petra Nieminen on 13 October 2023. HV71's captain, Sanni Hakala, ended her ice hockey career on 30 November 2023 due to injuries sustained in a match earlier in the month; HV71 alternate captain Elin Svensson was named captain shortly thereafter.
Team City Arena Head coach CaptainAIK Solna Ritorps Ishall Brynäs IF Gävle Monitor ERP Arena Djurgårdens IF Stockholm Hovet Frölunda HC Gothenburg Frölundaborg Hanna Olsson HV71 Jönköping Husqvarna Garden Sanni HakalaLeksands IF Leksand Tegera Arena Linköping HC Linköping Stångebro Ishall Luleå HF/MSSK Luleå Coop Norrbotten Arena MoDo Hockey Örnsköldsvik Hägglunds Arena SDE Hockey Danderyd Enebybergs Ishall
Sources:
Regular season The 2023–24 SDHL season began on 24 September 2023 and ended on 20 February 2024. The schedule comprised 36 games per team, in which each team played every opponent four times – twice at home and twice away.
Standings
Statistics Scoring leaders The following players were the regular season point leaders at the conclusion of the 2023–24 season on 20 February 2024.
Player Team Luleä 36 22 39 61 8 +33 Luleä 36 23 29 52 0 +40 MoDo 36 23 23 46 12 +32 Luleä 33 24 21 45 16 +25 Luleä 35 19 24 43 2 +32 Linköping 36 13 30 43 2 +23 Linköping 36 18 23 41 20 +14 Frölunda 36 21 18 39 24 +7 Luleä 34 12 27 39 14 +29 Brynäs 36 21 17 38 12 +28 Brynäs 36 15 23 38 20 +20 Brynäs 36 11 27 38 8 +20 Linköping 25 23 12 35 2 +16 Luleå 36 9 24 33 4 +39 SDE 36 14 18 32 16 –4 SDE 36 21 10 31 18 +1 Djurgården 36 14 17 31 32 +29 HV71 34 20 10 30 16 +6 SDE 34 11 19 30 16 ±0 MoDo 32 11 18 29 6 +26
Goaltenders The following goaltenders played at least one-third of their team's minutes in net during the 2023–24 regular season, sorted by save percentage.
Player Team Linköping 25 1,503:51 13 12 51 2 93.83 2.03 MoDo 25 1,514:10 16 9 41 2 93.66 1.62 Brynäs 20 1,228:57 14 6 36 3 93.50 1.76 Frölunda 26 1,565:43 15 11 62 4 93.22 2.38 Djurgården 27 1,618:59 13 14 51 6 92.98 1.89 Luleå 17 1,026:53 16 1 26 3 91.39 1.52 Luleå 19 1,151:11 17 2 34 4 90.84 1.77 Leksands 16 909:50 6 10 34 0 90.71 2.24 Leksands 22 1,251:20 5 15 55 3 90.30 2.64 SDE 24 1,337:52 7 15 63 1 89.77 2.83 AIK 17 953:46 2 13 79 0 89.70 4.97 HV71 23 1,339:20 10 12 71 0 89.51 3.18 SDE 15 824:30 6 8 42 3 88.68 3.06 AIK 14 839:35 0 14 80 0 86.35 5.72 HV71 14 838:54 0 14 65 0 84.34 4.65
Playoffs The 2024 Swedish Championship playoffs () began on Friday, 23 February 2024. Entering the playoffs, Luleå HF/MSSK, reigning 2023 Swedish Champion and the 2023–24 regular season champion, was favored for the 2024 Swedish Championship title. Bracket
Quarterfinals The Swedish Championship quarterfinals () began on Friday, 23 February and concluded on Friday, 1 March. Home game advantage was granted to the higher seeded team for the second, third, and fifth games of the series. All four higher-seeded teams won their series and progressed to the semifinals. The top-three ranked teams from the regular season – Luleå HF/MSSK, MoDo Hockey, and Brynäs IF – swept their quarterfinal series in three games. Fourth ranked Frölunda HC beat fifth seeded Djurgårdens IF in five games. (1) Luleå vs. (8) Leksand
(4) Frölunda vs. (5) Djurgården
(2) MoDo vs. (7) SDE
(3) Brynäs vs. (6) Linköping
Semifinals The Swedish Championship semifinals will begin on Monday, 4 March and conclude no later than Tuesday, 12 March. Home game advantage was granted to the higher seeded team for the second and third games of the series.
Luleå vs. Frölunda
MoDo vs. Brynäs
Finals The Swedish Championship finals began on Friday, 15 March and Luleå HF/MSSK were named the 2024 SDHL champion on Tuesday, 19 March. Home game advantage was granted to Luleå HF, the higher seeded team, for the second and third games of the series. Luleå vs. MoDo
Qualification The final round of the SDHL qualification series () began on 6 March and concluded on 10 March. Prior to the finals, Dam HockeyAllsvenskan teams participated in quarterfinal and semifinal rounds to determine the two teams that would challenge the bottom ranked teams of the SDHL for league placement.
Finals HV71 vs. Södertälje
AIK vs. Skellefteå AIK
Awards and honors Monthly awards Player of the Month The SDHL player of the month () is selected by a jury comprising SDHL sports director Oscar Alsenfelt, Svenska Spel sponsorship manager Mats Einarsson, SVT sports commentator , and Damkronorna head coach Ulf "Uffe" Lundberg; TV4 ice hockey commentator Apollonia Mälarberg voted as part of the jury for December, January, and February and Pernilla Winberg of TV4 voted as part of the jury for September/October. 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 2023: Haruka Toko, Linköping HC (Linköping HC girls' ice hockey program) November 2023: Klára Peslarová, Brynäs IF () December 2023: Lina Ljungblom, MoDo Hockey (Skövde IK girls' ice hockey program) January 2024: Noora Tulus, Luleå HF/MSSK (Luleå Hockey girls' ice hockey program) February 2024: Stephanie Neatby, Frölunda HC (Frölunda HC girls' ice hockey program)
Delivery of the Month The SDHL assist of the month award is called the "delivery of the month" () due to its sponsorship by shipping company DHL. Each winner earns 5000kr for a project of their choice that promotes Swedish ice hockey. Winners are listed with their selected programs in parentheses. September 2023: Klára Seroiszková, HV71 October 2023: unknown November 2023: Sara Hjalmarsson, Linköping HC (Linköping HC girls' ice hockey program) December 2023: Lina Ljungblom, MoDo (MoDo Hockey girls' ice hockey program) January 2024: Hanna Thuvik, Brynäs IF (Rönnängs IK girls' ice hockey program)
Weekly Awards Goal of the Week The SDHL goal of the week () is selected by fan vote from five candidates via the league’s website and social media accounts. Percentage of votes cast for the winner is in parentheses, when available.
October 2023 Week 1: Tea Løkke Nyberg, HV71 (44.4%) Week 2: Emilia Vesa, Frölunda HC (34.2%) Week 3: Petra Nieminen, Luleå/MSSK (29.8%) Week 4: Julia Perjus, MoDo Hockey (51.5%) December 2023 Week 1: Emilia Vesa, Frölunda HC (64.8%) Week 2: Tereza Radová, Leksands IF (68.6%) Week 3: Holiday break, none selected Week 4: Tatum Amy, Leksands IF (>72%) February 2024 Week 1: Michelle Karvinen, Frölunda HC (76.2%) Week 2: unknown Week 3: Liliane Perreault, Frölunda HC (53.5%) Week 4: Aino Karppinen, Leksands IF (55.9%)
November 2023 Week 1: Lore Baudrit, Leksands IF (62.2%) Week 2: Noora Tulus, Luleå/MSSK (45.5%) Week 3: Edit Danielsson, Frölunda HC (59.6%) Week 4: Edit Danielsson, Frölunda HC (57.3%) January 2024 Week 1: Liliane Perreault, Frölunda HC (89.2%) Week 2: Michelle Karvinen, Frölunda HC (69.6%) Week 3: Malia Schneider, Brynäs IF (34.6%) Week 4: Felizia Wikner Zienkiewicz, Frölunda HC (52%)
Save of the Week The SDHL save of the week () is selected from five candidates by fan vote via the league’s website and social media accounts. Percentage of votes cast for the winner is in parentheses, when available.
October 2023 Week 1: Ebba Svensson Träff, Linköping HC Week 2: Stephanie Neatby, Frölunda HC (60.8%) Week 3: Ellen Jonsson, Leksands IF (40.8%) Week 4: Ellen Jonsson, Leksands IF (47.7%) December 2023 Week 1: Ebba Svensson Träff, Linköping HC (57.7%) Week 2: Ida Boman, Djurgårdens IF (42.5%) Week 3: Holiday break, none selected Week 4: Stephanie Neatby, Frölunda HC (>81%) February 2024 Week 1: Ebba Svensson Träff, Linköping HC (70.8%) Week 2: unknown Week 3: Ebba Svensson Träff, Linköping HC (85.3%) Week 4: Ebba Svensson Träff, Linköping HC (60.4%)
November 2023 Week 1: Lina Van Noort, HV71 (46.7%) Week 2: Maja Helge, Frölunda HC (84.2%) Week 3: Maja Helge, Frölunda HC (42.5%) Week 4: Stephanie Neatby, Frölunda HC (81.2%) January 2024 Week 1: Blanka Škodová, AIK Hockey (42.7%) Week 2: Ellen Jonsson, Leksands IF (44.8%) Week 3: Ebba Svensson Träff, Linköping HC (63.6%) Week 4: Emma Polusny, Leksands IF (38.6%)
References
Game references
External links