The Swedish Hockey League is one of the most entertaining leagues in the world.
From a British point of view, it’s an excellent addition to the NHL and UK EIHL due to the high quality of play and the fact that the games take place at a convenient time to watch them live.
The SHL league structure
There are 14 teams in the SHL. The regular season consists of 52 games per team. A team is awarded 3 points for a regulation time win, 2 points for an Overtime/Shoot-out win and 1 point for an Overtime loss. The final league table groups the teams into four sections, as explained below:
When are the games played?
The SHL regular season runs from mid-September to early March, with the play-offs taking place from mid-March to late April. The two main game-days during the SHL regular season are:
- Thursday – the games usually starting at 19:00 local time, or 18:00 here in the UK.
- Saturday – Typically there are four games at 15:15 local time (14:15 UK) and then three games at 18:15 local (17:15).
There are often games on Tuesday as well, plus the odd game on a Monday or Sunday.
How can I watch the games?
This depends on the country you live in. Sweden’s national broadcaster of the SHL is TV4, whilst games can be found on C More Entertainment in Finland. Some other countries do have TV broadcast deals for select games, such as in North America.
In 2024-25, Premier Sports will be showing some SHL games in the UK. Primarily they will be on their online streaming platform, but some will be on their TV channels. Further details can be found on the SHL page on Premier Sports’ website.