2012–13 Elitserien season

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2012–13 Elitserien season
League Flag of Sweden Elitserien
Sport Ice hockey
Duration 13 September 2012 – 18 April 2013
Number of games 55 (330 total)
Number of teams 12
Total attendance 1,883,192[1]
Average attendance 5,707[1]
Regular season
League Champion Skellefteå AIK
Playoffs
Finals
Finals champions Skellefteå AIK (2nd title)
  Runners-up Luleå HF
Elitserien seasons

The 2012–13 Elitserien season was the 38th season of Elitserien. The regular season began on 13 September 2012 and ended on 5 March 2013.[2] The playoffs began on 12 March 2013 and ended on 18 April 2013. The 2012–13 Elitserien season was the last season under the name "Elitserien"; on 17 June 2013, the league was renamed "Swedish Hockey League" (SHL).[3]

Skellefteå AIK clinched the Swedish Championship for the first time since 1978, defeating Luleå HF 4–0 in the Finals. It was the team's second Swedish Championship in club history. Skellefteå also won the regular season for the first time since the 1980–81 season, and the second time in club history. Their 114-point finish is the highest amount of points since Färjestad BK won the 2001–02 regular season with 118 points. Luleå HF improved on the record for fewest goals surrendered in a 55-game regular season that they set last season by only having 102 goals scored against them.

In Kvalserien, Örebro HK (first SHL season) and Leksands IF qualified for the 2013–14 SHL season at the expense of Timrå IK and Rögle BK.

Summary

Short-term contracts

Short-term contracts and the possibility of signing players affected by the 2012–13 NHL lockout was a controversial issue for several months. The board of hockey operations for Elitserien (Hockeyligan) decided to continue rejecting short-term contracts (i.e. contracts not lasting for the entire season) on 23 August 2012.[4] On 21 September 2012, the Swedish Competition Authority (SCA) examined the matter and responded with a ruling that allowed short-term contracts.[5] Hockeyligan appealed the SCA ruling to the Market Court. On 18 December 2012, the Market Court ruled against the SCA and allowed Hockeyligan to forbid short-term contracts.[6] The uncertainty and concerns of legal punishment caused a number of Elitserien clubs to refrain from signing short-term contracts and await the Market Court's decision. In the end, Cody Franson played 26 Elitserien games with Brynäs, Alexander Steen played 20 games with Modo, and Matt Duchene played 19 games and Viktor Stålberg 11 games with Frölunda before their short-term contracts expired.

Outdoor game

For the fourth consecutive season, an outdoor game was played. As part of Brynäs IF celebrating their 100th year as a club, they hosted Timrå IK on December 8, 2012, in a temporary arena called Gävlebocken (["Gävle Goat") Arena. Brynäs won the game 3–0 in front of 15,009 spectators.[7][8]

Decline in attendance

The average attendance in Elitserien fell by 10.5% from 6,385 to 5,717 spectators per game, the lowest average since the 2002–03 season. The drop meant that Elitserien was fifth in average attendance among professional ice hockey leagues (fourth in Europe) – after the NHL, NLA, DEL and KHL.[9][10] In the 2011–12 season, Elitserien had the second highest average attendance among professional hockey leagues (first in Europe).[11]

There were several reasons for the decline; Frölunda HC saw an 18.1% decrease to an average of 8,588 fans per game. The second most attended team last season, Djurgårdens IF, was relegated to HockeyAllsvenskan. Nine of the eleven returning teams from last season had lower attendance numbers, with Skellefteå AIK and Luleå HF being the only teams to increase their average attendance. HockeyAllsvenskan, on the other hand, improved its attendance average this season from 2,606 to 3,227 spectators per game, an improvement of 23.8% from the 2011–12 season.

Regular season

2012–13 Elitserien season GP W L OTW OTL GF GA +/– Pts
Skellefteå AIKy 55 34 13 4 4 170 107 63 114
Färjestad BKx 55 27 14 7 7 155 110 45 102
Luleå HFx 55 25 12 9 9 145 102 43 102
HV71x 55 27 16 9 3 155 124 31 102
Linköpings HCx 55 27 19 4 5 145 136 9 94
Frölunda HCx 55 21 21 8 5 123 126 –3 84
Modo Hockeyx 55 19 19 7 10 135 129 6 81
Brynäs IFx 55 17 20 6 12 123 166 –43 75
0
AIKe 55 16 25 7 7 123 149 –26 69
Växjö Lakers HCe 55 14 26 7 8 102 130 –28 64
0
Timrå IKr 55 12 30 8 5 100 127 –27 57
Rögle BKr 55 10 34 5 6 104 174 –70 46

x – clinched playoff spot; y – clinched regular season league title; e – eliminated from playoff contention; r – play in relegation series

Playoffs

Playoff bracket

In the first round, the highest remaining seed chose which of the four lowest remaining seeds to be matched against. In the second round, the highest remaining seed is matched against the lowest remaining seed. In each round the higher-seeded team is awarded home ice advantage. Each best-of-seven series follows an alternating home team format: the higher-seeded team will play at home for games 1 and 3 (plus 5 and 7 if necessary), and the lower-seeded team will be at home for game 2, 4 and 6 (if necessary).

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                           
  1  Skellefteå AIK 4  
8  Brynäs IF 0  
  1  Skellefteå AIK 4  
  5  Linköpings HC 1  
2  Färjestad BK 4
  7  Modo Hockey 1  
(Pairings are re-seeded after the first round)   1  Skellefteå AIK 4
  3  Luleå HF 0
  3  Luleå HF 4  
6  Frölunda HC 2  
  2  Färjestad BK 1
  3  Luleå HF 4  
4  HV71 1
  5  Linköpings HC 4  

Team Photos

  • AIK

    AIK

  • Brynas IF

    Brynas IF

  • Färjestad BK

    Färjestad BK

  • Frolunda HC

    Frolunda HC

  • HV71

    HV71

  • Lulea HF

    Lulea HF

  • MODO Hockey

    MODO Hockey

  • Skelleftea AIK

    Skelleftea AIK

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Svenska Ishockeyförbundet: Elitserien: 2012–13: Elitserien: Team Statistics: Attendance. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  2. ↑ "2012–13 Elitserien schedule". hockeyligan.se. 2012-05-01. http://www.hockeyligan.se/shared/files/SHL/spelschema/Spelschema_Elitserien_20122013_v2.pdf. Retrieved 2012-05-18. 
  3. ↑ Hemming, Johanna (2013-06-17). "Elitserien och Svenska Hockeyligan blir SHL" (in Swedish). Svenska Hockeyligan. http://www.shl.se/artikel/38235/. Retrieved 2013-06-17. 
  4. ↑ "Svenska Hockeyligan enade i NHL-frågan" (in Swedish). hockeyligan.se. 2012-08-23. http://www.hockeyligan.se/artikel/24754/. 
  5. ↑ "Frågor och svar om Konkurrensverkets beslut om Svenska Hockeyligans möjligheter att utesluta NHL-spelare" (in Swedish). Konkurrensverket. 2012-09-21. http://www.konkurrensverket.se/t/Page____8430.aspx. 
  6. ↑ Karlsson, Erik (2012-12-18). "Marknadsdomstolen ger Hockeyligan rätt" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. http://aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/hockey/sverige/elitserien/article15951971.ab. Retrieved 2013-01-13. 
  7. ↑ Johan Wennerström (2012-12-08). "Resultat: Brynäs gick segrande ur utematchen" (in Swedish). Hockeyligan. http://www.hockeyligan.se/artikel/31434/. 
  8. ↑ Joachim Sandström (2012-12-08). "15004 såg Brynäs vinna med 3-0" (in Swedish). Timrå IK. http://www.timraik.se/artikel/31454/. 
  9. ↑ "Swiss on top of Europe". International Ice Hockey Federation. 2013-03-13. http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/recap/7603.html. Retrieved 2013-03-13. 
  10. ↑ Bodin, Uffe (2013-03-13). "Det svenska publikraset" (in Swedish). Hockeysverige. http://www.hockeysverige.se/article/14204959/det-svenska-publikraset. Retrieved 2013-03-13. 
  11. ↑ "SC Bern 10th time on top". International Ice Hockey Federation. 2012-03-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20120318030341/http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/recap/6508.html. Retrieved 2012-03-17. 
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