2012–13 HockeyAllsvenskan season explained

2012–13 HockeyAllsvenskan season
League:HockeyAllsvenskan
Sport:Ice hockey
Duration:12 September 2012 – 5 April 2013
No Of Teams:14
Average Attendance:3,227
Tv:Viasat
Season Champs:Leksands IF
Season Champ Name:First place
Promote:Örebro HK
Leksands IF
Promote From:SEL
Top Scorer:Evan McGrath (IKO)
Nextseason Year:2013–14
Prevseason Year:2011–12
Seasonslistnames:HockeyAllsvenskan

The 2012–13 HockeyAllsvenskan season was the 8th season of the HockeyAllsvenskan (14th including seasons under the name "Allsvenskan"), the second-highest level of ice hockey in Sweden. The regular season began on 12 September 2012 and ended on 2 March 2013, with the following playoffs and Kvalserien tournaments running until 5 April 2013.[1] [2] [3] Leksands IF, following a season marked by financial instability and scandal, secured first place in the regular season standings, and continued to the qualification round for the 2013–14 SHL/Elitserien season, along with second-place Södertälje SK, third place VIK Västerås HK, and playoff winner Örebro HK. Meanwhile, 13th- and 14th-ranked Tingsryds AIF and Karlskrona HK were forced to defend their places in HockeyAllsvenskan for the 2013–14 season.

This HockeyAllsvenskan season is notable for the participation of players from the National Hockey League during the 2012–13 NHL lockout.

HockeyAllsvenskan had an average attendance of 3,227 spectators in 2012–13, comfortably the highest attendance of any second-tier league in Europe (beating the 2nd Bundesliga with 2,267), also making HockeyAllsvenskan the eighth most attended European hockey league. It was a 23.8 percent increase over the 2011–12 season's attendance average.[4]

Participating teams

TeamLocation2011–12
finish
ArenaCapacityNotes
Almtuna ISUppsala11thGränbyhallen2,562
Asplöven HCHaparandaArena Polarica1,200Promoted from 2011–12 Division 1
BIK KarlskogaKarlskoga3rdNobelhallen6,300Formerly "Bofors IK Karlskoga"
Djurgårdens IFStockholmHovet8,094Demoted from 2011–12 Elitserien
Karlskrona HKKarlskronaTelenor Arena3,464Promoted from 2011–12 Division 1
Leksands IFLeksand2ndTegera Arena7,650
Malmö RedhawksMalmö7thMalmö Arena12,500
Mora IKMora8thFM Mattsson Arena4,500
IK OskarshamnOskarshamn6thArena Oskarshamn3,424
Södertälje SKSödertälje9thAXA Sports Center6,130
Tingsryds AIFTingsryd12thNelson Garden Arena3,650
IF Troja/LjungbyLjungby10thSunnerbohov3,700
VIK Västerås HKVästerås4thABB Arena5,800
Örebro HKÖrebro1stBehrn Arena5,150

Participating locked-out NHL players

Skaters
NameClubNHL-club
Mikael BacklundFVästeråsCalgary23301218
Patrik BerglundFVästeråsSt. Louis30322012
Chris ButlerFKarlskronaCalgary5000
Cam FowlerDSödertäljeAnaheim13725
Carl GunnarssonDÖrebroToronto9404
Carl HagelinDSödertäljeNY Rangers81156
Patric HörnqvistFDjurgårdens IFNashville10523
Marcus JohanssonFKarlskogaWashington1618810
Anze KopitarFMoraLos Angeles30341024
Gabriel LandeskogFDjurgårdens IFColorado171468
Mark LetestuFAlmtunaColumbus6440
Mike LundinDAlmtunaOttawa7404
Brendan MikkelsonDVästeråsTampa Bay17734
Douglas MurrayFDjurgårdens IFSan Jose14312
Mason RaymondFÖrebroVancouver1110
Matt ReadFSödertäljePhiladelphia2024618
Bobby RyanFMoraAnaheim1013103
Mike SantorelliFTingsrydFlorida4101
Goalies
NamePos.ClubNHL-clubGPSAVE%
Jhonas EnrothGAlmtunaBuffalo15.917
Viktor FasthGTingsrydAnaheim12.942
[5]

Final standings

Statistics

Average attendance

ClubHome attendance[6]
AverageTotal
Djurgårdens IF6,184160,789
Malmö Redhawks5,794150,631
Leksands IF5,000129,991
Södertälje SK3,64494,747
Örebro HK3,61894,073
VIK Västerås HK3,32686,481
Mora IK3,09980,583
Karlskrona HK2,89075,148
BIK Karlskoga2,46764,148
IK Oskarshamn2,26858,975
Tingsryds AIF2,09254,389
IF Troja/Ljungby1,86648,503
Almtuna IS1,50439,108
Asplöven HC1,43137,200
League3,227 1,174,766

Post-season

Playoff series

Teams 4–7 qualified for a playoff series (Swedish: PlayOff-serien, in previous seasons called förkvalserien), in which all the teams played each other home-and-away. The winner, Örebro HK advanced to the qualifiers to Elitserien, which was renamed the SHL prior to the following season.

The teams started the playoffs with points based on their performance in the regular season. 7th-place IK Oskarshamn started with one point, 6th-place Örebro HK with two, 5th-place Djurgårdens IF with three, and 4th-place BIK Karlskoga with four.

Elitserien qualifiers

See main article: 2013 Kvalserien. The 2013 Elitserien qualifiers (Swedish: Kvalserien) determined which teams would participate in the 2013–14 season of Elitserien (which would be renamed the SHL during the 2013 offseason). The two teams with the worst records from the 2012–13 Elitserien season (Timrå IK and Rögle BK), along with the three best teams from the 2012–13 HockeyAllsvenskan season (Leksands IF, Södertälje SK, and VIK Västerås HK) and the winner of the HockeyAllsvenskan playoff series (Örebro HK) all played each other twice, once home and once way. Örebro and Leksand finished first and second, and were thus promoted to what would become the SHL. Timrå and Rögle were therefore relegated and would play in the 2013–14 HockeyAllsvenskan season.

HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers

The two teams ranked 13th and 14th after the regular season, Tingsryds AIF and Karlskrona HK, were forced to play in the Kvalserien qualification series to defend their spots in HockeyAllsvenskan. They played a double round-robin tournament against the four playoff winners from third-tier Division 1 (IF Björklöven, HC Vita Hästen, Huddinge IK, and Piteå HC). The series began on 12 March 2013 and ended on 5 April 2013.

Umeå-based IF Björklöven, who were Swedish champions in 1987 and were in Sweden's top hockey league as recently as 2001, finished first in the standings, resulting in their return to HockeyAllsvenskan three years after their 2010 demotion to Division 1 due to financial difficulties.[7] [8]

The second and final spot in HockeyAllsvenskan was decided dramatically in the final round. Karlskrona went into the final round one point ahead of Tingsryd in the standings. Each team ended up losing their final match in game winning shots, resulting in Tingsryd being demoted to the 2013–14 Division 1 season.

Notes and References

  1. http://stats.swehockey.se/ScheduleAndResults/Schedule/3005 (Swedish Ice Hockey Association). Retrieved 2013-07-03.
  2. http://stats.swehockey.se/ScheduleAndResults/Schedule/3804 (Swedish Ice Hockey Association). Retrieved 2013-07-03.
  3. http://stats.swehockey.se/ScheduleAndResults/Schedule/3811 (Swedish Ice Hockey Association). Retrieved 2013-07-03.
  4. IIHF. Swiss on top of Europe
  5. Sveriges Radio. NHL-spelarna som lämnar allsvenskan
  6. Web site: "HockeyAllsvenskan: 202–13: HockeyAllsvenskan: Team Statistics: Attendance" . Swedish Ice Hockey Association.
  7. Web site: Björklöven tillbaka i allsvenskan . . aftonbladet.se . Wahlberg . Norberg . Malin . Linus . sv . 2013-04-05 . 2013-07-03.
  8. Web site: Björklöven lever - undviker konkurs . . expressen.se . . sv . 2010-05-24 . 2013-07-03.