2020–21 HockeyAllsvenskan season explained

2020–21 HockeyAllsvenskan season
League:HockeyAllsvenskan
Sport:Ice hockey
Duration:October 2020 – March 2021 (regular season)
No Of Teams:14
Tv:C More[1]
Season Champs:Timrå IK
Season Champ Name:First place
Top Scorer:Jonathan Dahlén (Timrå)
Promote:Timrå IK
Promote From:SHL
Relegate:Väsby IK HK
Relegate To:Hockeyettan
Seasonslistnames:HockeyAllsvenskan
Prevseason Year:2019–20
Nextseason Year:2021–22

The 2020–21 HockeyAllsvenskan season was the 16th season that the second tier of Swedish ice hockey operated under that name. The series consisted of 14 teams playing a regular season in which each team played each other team four times, twice at home and twice away. This is followed by a series of promotion and relegation tournaments, with the teams finishing first through tenth participating in promotion playoffs, and the teams finishing 13th and 14th forced to requalify to avoid relegation to the Hockeyettan.[2]

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic no promotion took place after the previous season; Karlskrona HK were however relegated after being denied their mandatory elite license and Väsby IK HK were promoted in their place.[3]

Participating teams

TeamCityArenaCapacity
AIKStockholmHovet8,094
Almtuna ISUppsalaUpplands Bilforum Arena2,800
IF BjörklövenUmeåA3 Arena5,400
BIK KarlskogaKarlskogaNobelhallen6,300
Kristianstads IKKristianstadKristianstads ishall2,300
Modo HockeyÖrnsköldsvikFjällräven Center7,600
Mora IKMoraSmidjegrav Arena4,500
Södertälje SKSödertäljeScaniarinken6,200
Timrå IKTimråNHC Arena6,000
Tingsryds AIFTingsrydNelson Garden Arena3,400
HC Vita HästenNorrköpingHimmelstalundshallen4,280
Väsby IKUpplands VäsbyRenew Arena3,000
Västerviks IKVästervikPlivit Arena2,500
Västerås IKVästeråsABB Arena Nord4,902

Note 1: Väsby played their final home game of the regular season against Almtuna, in Almtuna's home arena.

Note 2: Björklöven played one home game in Vännäs ishall.

Regular season

Standings

Statistics

Scoring leaders

The following shows the top ten players who led the league in points, at the conclusion of matches played on 14 March 2021.[4] If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown.

PlayerTeam
Timrå IK45254671+3010
Timrå IK52233962+1916
BIK Karlskoga52263056+2858
Tingsryds AIF51233356+147
Timrå IK51193756+2718
Södertälje SK48203353–848
Mora IK5294352–416
BIK Karlskoga52203151+2632
Mora IK49182947+4113
BIK Karlskoga40143347+2316

Leading goaltenders

The following shows the top ten goaltenders who led the league in goals against average, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, at the conclusion of matches played on 14 March 2021.[5]

PlayerTeam
Timrå IK412461:133001175792.081.83
Västerviks IK382310:452501378492.432.03
BIK Karlskoga402355:572601380991.842.04
IF Björklöven301638:17200961391.522.23
Tingsryds AIF321866:461701574491.482.38
Västerås IK291655:181601367491.852.43
Kristianstads IK321924:261301979091.932.46
AIK412407:5823018104491.522.59
Mora IK331878:371901185390.672.71
Västerås IK261492:031201168190.032.73

Post-season

Eighth-finals

Teams 7–10 from the regular season played best-of-three playoff series, where team 7 faced team 10 and team 8 faced team 9. In each series the higher-seeded team had home-ice advantage, playing at home for game 1 (plus 3 if necessary) while the lower-seeded team played at home for game 2. The winners moved on to the quarterfinals.[6]

Tingsryds AIF vs. AIK

Quarterfinals

Teams 1–6 from the regular season, along with the winners of the eighth-finals, played best-of-five series, with the winners moving on to the semifinals. In each series the higher-seeded team had home-ice advantage, playing at home for games 1 and 2 (plus 5 if necessary) while the lower-seeded team played at home for game 3 (plus 4 if necessary). The higher-seeded half of the teams chose their opponents, with the highest-seeded remaining team choosing at each step.

Södertälje SK vs. Västerviks IK

Semifinals

The winners of the quarterfinals play best-of-seven series, with the winners moving on to the Finals. The highest-seeded team chose whether to play the second-lowest seed or the lowest seed. In each series the higher-seeded team has home-ice advantage, playing at home for games 1 and 2 (plus 5 and 7 if necessary) while the lower-seeded team plays at home for games 3 and 4 (plus 6 if necessary).

BIK Karlskoga vs. IF Björklöven

Finals

The winners of the semifinals played a best-of-seven series, with the winner promoted to the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). The higher-seeded team had home-ice advantage, playing at home for games 1 and 2 (plus 5 and 7 if necessary) while the lower-seeded team played at home for games 3 and 4 (plus 6 if necessary).

Play Out

Teams 13 and 14 from the regular season played a best-of-five series, with the winner remaining in HockeyAllsvenskan and the loser relegated to Hockeyettan. The higher-seeded team had home-ice advantage, playing at home for games 1 and 2 (plus 5 if necessary) while the lower-seeded team played at home for game 3 (plus 4 if necessary).[7]

Väsby IK HK vs. Kristianstads IK

References

  1. Web site: C More förlänger med hockeyallsvenskan . 21 September 2016 . Aftonbladet.
  2. Web site: Seriebestämmelser 2017/18 . Swedish Ice Hockey Association.
  3. Web site: Väsby - välkomna till HockeyAllsvenskan . Swedish . HockeyAllsvenskan . 5 February 2021.
  4. Web site: Statistik spelare 2020/2021 - HockeyAllsvenskan . HockeyAllsvenskan . 5 February 2021 . Swedish . Statistics players: Summary.
  5. Web site: Statistik målvakter 2020/2021 - HockeyAllsvenskan . HockeyAllsvenskan . 5 February 2021 . Swedish . Statistics goalkeepers: Summary.
  6. Web site: Slutspel HockeyAllsvenskan | stats.swehockey.se.
  7. Web site: Play Out HA | stats.swehockey.se.