2013–14 SHL season

The 2013–14 SHL season was the 39th season of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). The regular season began on 14 September 2013 and ended on 8 March 2014. The following playoffs began on 15 March 2014 and ended on 21 April 2014. It was the first season since the league changed name from Elitserien to Swedish Hockey League in June 2013.

2013–14 SHL season
LeagueSwedish Hockey League
SportIce hockey
Duration14 September 2013 – 21 April 2014
Number of games55 (330 total)
Number of teams12
Total attendance1,974,388
Average attendance5,983
Regular season
League ChampionSkellefteå AIK
Season MVPJoakim Lindström (Skellefteå AIK)
Top scorerPär Arlbrandt (Linköpings HC)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVPJoakim Lindström (Skellefteå AIK)
Finals
ChampionsSkellefteå AIK
  Runners-upFärjestad BK

Skellefteå AIK defended their 2013 Swedish Championship title by defeating Färjestad BK four games to zero in the Finals. Skellefteå AIK became the first team to defend the Swedish Championship title since Djurgårdens IF did so with their consecutive Swedish Championship titles in 2000 and 2001. Skellefteå AIK also became the first team since Brynäs IF in 197677 to win consecutive Swedish Championships by not losing a single game in both Finals series.

A number of format changes were introduced this season. Instead of the top eight teams in the regular season qualifying for the playoffs and the teams ranked 9–10 ending their season, the top six teams qualified for the playoffs directly, and the four teams ranked 7–10 played a best-of-three series and battled for the two remaining playoff spots. The two teams ranked 11–12 still had to play in the Kvalserien round-robin tournament in order to requalify for the SHL. Also, the top three teams no longer got to pick their opponents in the quarterfinals; instead, the first-ranked team faced the lowest-ranked winner of the two best-of-three series, the second-ranked team faced the other winner of the two best-of-three-series, the third-ranked team faced the sixth-ranked team, and the fourth-ranked team faced the fifth-ranked team.

In Kvalserien, Örebro HK requalified and Djurgårdens IF qualified for the 2014–15 SHL season at the expense of AIK.

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