Skellefteå are the 2024 SHL Champions

Skellefteå are the Swedish Hockey League champions for the fourth time after defeating Rögle 2-0 on Monday to win the SHL Final Series 4-1.

It’s a redemption story for Robert Ohlsson’s team after losing in the SHL Final twelve months ago to Växjö, the club’s fourth consecutive visit to the Final series that has resulted in disappointment. The team also had to bounce back from the pain of falling just short in the Champions Hockey League Final against Genève-Servette in February this year.

Their SHL gold medal has come despite being without their captain, Oscar Möller, for the entire season due to illness and with the acting captain, Jonathan Pudas, missing most of the play-offs due to injury. Both players were in the stands cheering their teammates on as the trophy was secured at the Kraft Arena.

Amidst all of the storylines from their triumphant season, none have been more impactful than the result of bringing back two former NHL forwards to the SHL.

The first was the return of Oscar Lindberg, ten years after he left the team for North America. Lindberg went on to play 252 games in the NHL over five seasons before returning to Europe for spells in Switzerland and Russia. His first season back in yellow and black saw him lead the SHL with 51 points and be a driving force on and off the ice.

The second was Andreas Johnsson. He appeared to be on his way back to Frölunda, where he had won the SHL and CHL double back in 2016, before the lure of playing with his brother Jonathan helped him to sign for Skellefteå instead. He was a steady presence in the line-up, rather than a spectacular one, during the regular season (16 points from 30 games), but his heroics in the play-offs will live long in the memories of Skellefteå fans.

The team found a perfect blend of experience and young talent, with the likes of Jonathan Pudas and Pär Lindholm leading along young talent such as Elias Salomonsson and Axel Sandin-Pellikka, both of whom are likely to head to the AHL next season, whilst Linus Söderström once again proved to be a calming presence in net, finishing things off by being awarded the MVP of the Final.

It all added up to a well-rounded team, with both the best power-play and the best penalty-kill during the SHL regular season, and one that deservedly skated off the ice on Monday with golden helmets on their heads and the SHL trophy lifted high.

Rögle the Runners-Up

As for Rögle, the obvious disappointment of missing out in the Final has to be balanced against the tremendous achievement of making it that far.

A difficult start to the season saw Cam and Chris Abbott fired as Head Coach and GM respectively in December. By February, under the leadership of Roger Hansson, the team was still looking nervously over their shoulder at the Relegation zone and making sure that they secured their SHL status.

Ultimately they finished 9th in the table and then went on an incredible play-off run, beating Timrå 2-0 in the opening round before blitzing their way past regular season winners Färjestad 4-0 and then the runners-up Växjö in another 4-0 sweep.

Even though the Final proved to be one step too far, they were a competitive opponent throughout with the first four games of the series decided by a single goal and the fifth game being 1-0 until Skellefteå sealed the deal with an empty-net goal in the final minute.

Joy for Skellefteå

After the richly-deserved celebrations this summer, Skellefteå will start the hard work of attempting to retain their title.

The competitiveness of the SHL will make that a tough task, but they’ll be reminded regularly by their fans that they were the last club to do it in 2013 and 2014.