The final international break of the 2023/24 season has passed and all attention can now be focused on the remainder of the regular season in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).
How things stand currently
Four of the 14 teams have 11 games left to play with the others having 12 games to go, so there are still plenty of points to play for even though we’re on the home stretch of the 52-game regular season.
The top two, Växjö Lakers and Färjestad, are already closing in on securing a top six place, with the other four positions looking like they will be contested by six teams, down to Timrå (7th) and Luleå (8th).
There’s a 10-point gap from there to Örebro and Rögle. Their 8-point gap to the relegation play-off should mean that they stay clear of any danger; however, they are close enough to 13th-placed HV71 (45 points) to mean that their first objective will be to add another two or three wins to their tallies as soon as possible.
Bottom-placed Oskarshamn are now 15 points adrift of MoDo in 12th and must already be all-but resigned to contesting the best-of-seven relegation play-off, but HV71 are still in with a good shout of getting out of it, most likely at the expense of MoDo who were promoted from the HockeyAllsvenskan last season.
This week
MoDo’s situation could look much rosier by the end of Thursday evening if they can take advantage of games against Örebro (on Tuesday) and Oskarshamn, whilst HV71 have to face the tougher task (on paper) of playing Färjestad and Luleå.
There are plenty of good games to look forward to this week and not only in the SHL. The HockeyAllsvenskan is just as fiercely competitive and there are some marquee match-ups to enjoy over the next few days.
Tuesday: Six SHL Games
The SHL returns with six games at 19:00 local time, 18:00 in the UK. The match-ups include 4th-placed Skellefteå hosting 5th-placed Leksands, and 2nd-placed Färjestad trying to close the gap on league-leaders Växjö, who don’t play on Tuesday, by taking all three points against HV71.
Wednesday: Top 2 meet in the HockeyAllsvenkan
A full slate of seven HAS games are on tap for Wednesday and, any personal team loyalties aside, there’s no questioning which is the stand-out match-up.
The top two teams will meet at Monitor ERP Arena in Gävle as league-leaders Brynäs host second-placed Södertälje. There are six points between them after Södertälje suffered a surprising 3-1 defeat against Kalmar on Sunday, ending their 5-game winning streak and giving Brynäs a golden opportunity to put even more daylight between themselves and the rest if they can get three points on Wednesday.
Thursday: All 14 SHL teams in action
All 14 teams are playing on Thursday. Växjö return with a tough trip to the Scandinavium to face an in-form Frölunda. Rögle, the other team not in action on Tuesday, host Örebro with both sides desperate to add points to keep themselves away from the relegation play-off places.
Friday: Stockholm Derby in HAS
Another round of seven games awaits on Friday and they include the fourth Stockholm derby of the season between AIK and Djurgårdens.
AIK have won the last two games between the two teams, after Djurgårdens took the first game 3-2 back in late October, and head into this third in the league standings, one place ahead of their bitter rivals.
The game will take place in the Hovet Arena, with the Avicii Arena now closed for refurbishment, but the reduced capacity will not reduce the usual white-hot atmosphere we know to expect when these two teams come face-to-face.
Saturday: Leksands host Växjö in the SHL
As usual, the SHL games on Saturday are split between three at 15:15 local time (14:15 in the UK) and four at 18:00 (17:00).
The early games include a big match-up between Malmö and Örebro, with both scrabbling for points, whilst in the later games Leksands host Växjö and Färjestad head to Catena Arena to take on Rögle.
