The SHL, or Swedish Hockey League, is Sweden's highest division in ice hockey. One of the most asked questions about this league is the number of rounds played in a season. To give a clear picture of this, this article will go through how many rounds are played in the SHL.
SHL's structure
The SHL consists of 14 teams. Each team plays each other four times during the regular season, twice at home and twice on the road. This means that each team plays 52 games during the regular season.
The total number of rounds in the SHL during the regular season is therefore 52.
Playoffs in the SHL
After the regular season, the playoffs follow. The ten best teams from the regular season advance to the playoffs, while the two worst teams (13 and 14) play in a qualifying series (best of seven games) against each other to avoid relegation to the Hockeyallsvenskan.
The playoffs consist of round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final series. Each round of the playoffs is played in the best of seven games except for the round of 16 which is in the best of three. In a best-of-seven series, you must win four games to advance, in a best-of-three series, two wins are enough for further play in the SHL playoffs.
Number of rounds in the playoffs
The number of rounds in the playoffs may vary depending on how many games are played in each round. If each round of the “real” playoffs goes to seven games, the total number of rounds in the playoffs would be 21 (7 games in the quarterfinals, 7 in the semifinals, and 7 in the final). But if you also played in the play-in/round of 16, you can get three games in before the quarter-final game starts.
It should be noted that the number of rounds in the playoffs does not always reach the maximum number. If a team wins four straight games in a round, the number of innings in that round is reduced to four.
Total number of rounds in the SHL
If we add the number of innings in the regular season and the maximum number of innings in the playoffs, the total number of innings in the SHL in one season can be up to 76. However, this number can be less if the playoffs do not go to the maximum number of innings.
It is important to note that this number only applies to the teams that reach the finals of the playoffs. For the teams that do not reach the playoffs, or are eliminated early in the playoffs, the number of rounds would be less.
IN SHL is the number of innings an important factor, as it affects the strategy of the teams, the fitness of the players and the commitment of the fans.
