SWEDEN: Elitserien

Elitserien, or the Swedish Elite League (SEL), as it is often unofficially called in English, is a professional ice hockey league composed of twelve teams in Sweden. It is the highest-level ice hockey league in Sweden, and is ranked by the IIHF as the fourth best league in Europe after the Russian Kontinental Hockey League, the Finnish SM-liiga, and the Czech Extraliga.

The first season under the name Elitserien was played in 1975–76. The Swedish ice hockey championships have been played in various forms since 1922.

Naturally, Swedes constitute a large majority of the players in Elitserien, approximately 70% during the 2006–07 season. According to the Swedish Ice Hockey Association there were 99 foreign players in the teams' rosters, and a total of 127 foreigners registered with the twelve Elitserien teams at the start of the 2006–07 season.

The Swedish ice hockey championships was awarded for the first time in Swedish history in 1922, only two years after ice hockey was introduced in Sweden by the American film director Raoul Le Mat. IK Göta won the first championships final.

Elitserien under its current name started on October 5, 1975, in which each team played a total of 36 games. Originally the league consisted of 10 teams but expanded in 1987 with an additional two teams.

Each Elitserien regulation game is an ice hockey game played between two teams and is 60 minutes long. The game is composed of three 20-minute periods with an intermission of a maximum of 18 minutes between periods. At the end of the 60-minute regulation time, the team with the most goals wins the game. If a game is tied after regulation time, overtime ensues. During the regular season, overtime is a five-minute, four-player on four-player sudden death period, in which the first team to score a goal wins the game.

In the playoffs, an unlimited number of sudden-death 20 minute five-on-five periods occur until one team scores. While a game can theoretically continue forever, only a handful of games have ever surpassed four overtime periods, and none have gone beyond six.

Elitserien games are played on a hockey rink, which is rectangular ice rink with rounded corners and surrounded by a wall. It measures 30 by 60 meters (98.42 by 196.85 ft), conforming to international standards.

CHAMPIONS:

* 1976 - Brynäs IF
* 1977 - Brynäs IF
* 1978 - Skellefteå AIK
* 1979 - Modo AIK
* 1980 - Brynäs IF
* 1981 - Färjestads BK
* 1982 - AIK
* 1983 - Djurgårdens IF
* 1984 - AIK
* 1985 - Södertälje SK
* 1986 - Färjestads BK
* 1987 - IF Björklöven
* 1988 - Färjestads BK
* 1989 - Djurgårdens IF
* 1990 - Djurgårdens IF
* 1991 - Djurgårdens IF
* 1992 - Malmö IF
* 1993 - Brynäs IF
* 1994 - Malmö IF
* 1995 - HV71
* 1996 - Luleå HF
* 1997 - Färjestads BK
* 1998 - Färjestads BK
* 1999 - Brynäs IF
* 2000 - Djurgårdens IF
* 2001 - Djurgårdens IF
* 2002 - Färjestads BK
* 2003 - Västra Frölunda HC
* 2004 - HV71
* 2005 - Frölunda HC
* 2006 - Färjestads BK
* 2007 - Modo Hockey
* 2008 - HV71
* 2009 - Färjestads BK