The 2014–15 HockeyAllsvenskan season was the tenth season of the second tier of ice hockey in Sweden under that name. The league featured 14 teams, including Stockholm-based AIK, who were relegated from the SHL following four seasons in the top league. Also joining HockeyAllsvenskan was HC Vita Hästen, which marked the return of elite-level hockey to Norrköping. A previous Vita Hästen club had played in Sweden's second-tier league until the 1995–96 season, but following that club's bankruptcy in 1996, the new Vita Hästen club rebuilt from the bottom of the league system, culminating in their promotion back to the second tier in the 2014 HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers.[1]
| 2014–15 HockeyAllsvenskan season | |
|---|---|
| League | HockeyAllsvenskan |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | 10 September 2014 – 2 April 2015 |
| Number of teams | 14 |
| Total attendance | 1,086,734 |
| Average attendance | 2,986 |
| TV partner(s) | Viasat |
| First place | VIK Västerås HK |
| Top scorer | Jacob Lagace (ASP) |
| Promoted to SHL | Karlskrona HK Rögle BK Malmö Redhawks |
| Relegated to Hockeyettan | Södertälje SK |
Sweden's top league, the SHL, expanded from 12 to 14 teams for the 2015–16 season. This, coupled with changes to the promotion and relegation format, created an "arms race" type of situation, in which teams had a strong incentive to invest heavily to try to secure an SHL spot during this season.[2]
Format
As with previous seasons, the 2014–15 HockeyAllsvenskan season featured a 52-game regular season, with teams facing each other twice at home and twice away; however, significant changes were made to the format for promotion to the SHL. Teams 1 and 2 from HockeyAllsvenskan competed in the HockeyAllsvenskan finals (Swedish: HockeyAllsvenska finalen), a best-of-five series in which the winner qualified for play in the 2015–16 SHL season. Meanwhile, teams 3–8 advanced to the playoffs (Swedish: slutspelsserien), a single round robin tournament.
The three best teams from the playoff series, along with the loser from the HockeyAllsvenskan finals, and the two teams with the worst records from the 2014–15 SHL season, met in the SHL qualifiers (Swedish: Direktkval till SHL). These six teams were pair off into three best-of-seven series, with the winners of each matchup qualifying to play in the SHL.[3][4] On 16 February 2015, HockeyAllsvenskan announced that the playoffs was to be sponsored by Swedish firm MECA and have the collective name MECA Hockey Race.[5] This was later rejected by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association, saying they owned the naming rights.[6]
Participating clubs
Regular season
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VIK Västerås | 52 | 28 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 144 | 116 | +28 | 98 | Advance to the HockeyAllsvenskan finals |
| 2 | Karlskrona HK | 52 | 26 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 159 | 124 | +35 | 96 | |
| 3 | Malmö Redhawks | 52 | 25 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 168 | 122 | +46 | 95 | Advance to the playoffs |
| 4 | Rögle BK | 52 | 22 | 6 | 7 | 17 | 158 | 140 | +18 | 85 | |
| 5 | BIK Karlskoga | 52 | 22 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 162 | 162 | 0 | 82 | |
| 6 | IF Björklöven | 52 | 19 | 10 | 4 | 19 | 135 | 136 | −1 | 81 | |
| 7 | Mora IK | 52 | 22 | 3 | 7 | 20 | 130 | 141 | −11 | 79 | |
| 8 | Vita Hästen | 52 | 19 | 6 | 5 | 22 | 129 | 142 | −13 | 74 | |
| 9 | Almtuna IS | 52 | 20 | 3 | 8 | 21 | 130 | 146 | −16 | 74 | |
| 10 | Timrå IK | 52 | 20 | 2 | 7 | 23 | 128 | 139 | −11 | 71 | |
| 11 | IK Oskarshamn | 52 | 16 | 6 | 9 | 21 | 133 | 151 | −18 | 69 | |
| 12 | Asplöven HC | 52 | 16 | 7 | 6 | 23 | 150 | 160 | −10 | 68 | |
| 13 | AIK | 52 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 24 | 118 | 142 | −24 | 65 | Advance to the HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers |
| 14 | Södertälje SK | 52 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 27 | 123 | 146 | −23 | 55 |
Post-season
HockeyAllsvenskan finals
VIK Västerås HK and Karlskrona HK, as the first and second place teams from the regular season, advanced to the HockeyAllsvenskan finals (Swedish: HockeyAllsvenska finalen), a best-of-five series. Karlskrona HK won the series, and were thus crowned HockeyAllsvenskan champions and qualified for play in the 2015–16 SHL season. VIK Västerås HK meanwhile advanced to the SHL qualifiers.[7]
VIK Västerås HK vs. Karlskrona HK
| 4 March | VIK Västerås HK | 2–1 | Karlskrona HK | ABB Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | Erik Thorell 1 - 0:33 | ||||||
| Dustin Johner 1 - 14:11 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Dustin Johner 2 - 17:18 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jonatan Bjurö ( 15 saves / 16 shots ) | Goalie stats | Patrick Galbraith ( 35 saves / 37 shots ) | ||||||
| 6 March | Karlskrona HK | 3–1 | VIK Västerås HK | Telenor Arena Karlskrona | Recap | |||
| Maksim Matushkin 1 - pp - 2:18 Niklas Lihagen 1 - pp - 12:56 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Alexander Bergström 1 - pp - 14:47 | Third period | Fredrik Johansson 1 - 19:49 | ||||||
| Patrick Galbraith ( 38 saves / 39 shots ) | Goalie stats | Jonatan Bjurö ( 19 saves / 22 shots ) | ||||||
| 8 March | VIK Västerås HK | 3–4 | 2OT | Karlskrona HK | ABB Arena | Recap | ||
| Robin Jacobsson 1 - pp - 13:33 Jonas Emmerdahl 1 - 17:26 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | Joel Kellman 1 - 2:02 Joel Kellman 2 - 9:23 | ||||||
| Robin Jacobsson 2 - 17:53 | Third period | Niklas Lihagen 2 - 0:11 | ||||||
| No scoring | Second overtime period | Joel Kellman 3 - 10:50 | ||||||
| Jonatan Bjurö ( 30 saves / 34 shots ) | Goalie stats | Patrick Galbraith ( 60 saves / 63 shots ) | ||||||
| 10 March | Karlskrona HK | 2–1 | VIK Västerås HK | Telenor Arena Karlskrona | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | Dustin Johner 3 - 4:11 | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Joel Kellman 4 - pp - 13:04 Vyacheslav Trukhno 1 - 15:31 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Patrick Galbraith ( 21 saves / 22 shots ) | Goalie stats | Jonas Fransson ( 34 saves / 36 shots ) | ||||||
| Karlskrona HK won series 3–1 | |
Playoffs
Teams 3 to 8 played a playoff series (Swedish: slutspelsserien), a round robin tournament consisting of five rounds where every team faced each other once. Teams 3–5 had home advantage in three out of five games. Teams were awarded starting points based on their position in the regular season standings: Malmö started with three points, Rögle with two, and BIK Karlskoga with one. The three best teams in the series, Rögle BK, HC Vita Hästen and Malmö Redhawks advanced to the SHL qualifiers (Swedish: Direktkval till SHL).[7]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rögle BK | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 11 | +8 | 14 | Advance to SHL qualifiers |
| 2 | HC Vita Hästen | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 9 | +5 | 12 | |
| 3 | Malmö Redhawks | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 13 | −5 | 8 | |
| 4 | IF Björklöven | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 7 | Return to HockeyAllsvenskan for the 2015–16 season |
| 5 | Mora IK | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 13 | −1 | 6 | |
| 6 | BIK Karlskoga | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 18 | −8 | 4 |
SHL qualifiers
In the SHL qualifiers (Swedish: direktval till SHL), six teams were paired up into three best-of-seven series, where each series winner would qualify for play in the 2015–16 SHL season. Västerås, as winners of the HockeyAllsvenskan finals, were paired with playoff-winners Rögle BK. Modo, who finished 12th in the SHL, were paired with Vita Hästen who finished second in the HockeyAllsvenskan playoffs. Lastly, Leksands IF, who finished 11th in the SHL were paired with Malmö, who finished third in the HockeyAllsvenskan playoffs.
The better-ranked teams Leksand, Modo, and Västerås, had home venue advantage in games 1, 3, 5 and 7.[7] Modo were the first team to win their series, beating Vita Hästen 4–0 on 25 March 2015 and therefore successfully defending their SHL spot. Four days later, on 29 March 2015, Rögle won their series against Västerås 4–1, and were promoted to the SHL. The series between Leksands IF and Malmö Redhawks went to a decisive game seven on 2 April 2015 in which Malmö Redhawks won and therefore also the series with 4–3. Malmö Redhawks were promoted to the SHL while Leksands IF lost their SHL spot.
Leksands IF vs. Malmö Redhawks
| 15 March | Leksands IF | 3–4 | Malmö Redhawks | Tegera Arena | Recap | |||
| Tomi Sallinen 1 - 2:15 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Linus Hultström 1 - pp - 3:47 | Second period | Björn Svensson 1 - pp - 12:05 Eric Himelfarb 1 - 19:55 | ||||||
| Mattias Guter 1 - 1:23 | Third period | Eric Himelfarb 2 - 12:50 Mattias Persson 1 - 18:30 | ||||||
| Oscar Alsenfelt ( 26 saves / 30 shots ) | Goalie stats | Niko Hovinen ( 19 saves / 22 shots ) | ||||||
| 18 March | Malmö Redhawks | 2–3 | OT | Leksands IF | Malmö Arena | Recap | ||
| Eric Himelfarb 3 - 4:57 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Christoffer Forsberg 1 - 14:38 | Second period | Linus Hultström 2 - pp - 18:52 | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | Linus Hultström 3 - 11:53 | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | Tomi Sallinen 2 - 13:41 | ||||||
| Niko Hovinen ( 31 saves / 34 shots ) | Goalie stats | Oscar Alsenfelt ( 26 saves / 28 shots ) | ||||||
| 21 March | Leksands IF | 4–3 | Malmö Redhawks | Tegera Arena | Recap | |||
| Mattias Guter 2 - 0:50 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mattias Guter 3 - 7:11 Patrick Cehlin 1 - 12:26 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mattias Guter 4 - 8:15 | Third period | Christoffer Forsberg 2 - 9:53 Nils Andersson 1 - 11:44 Magnus Häggström 1 - 16:06 | ||||||
| Oscar Alsenfelt ( 30 saves / 33 shots ) | Goalie stats | Niko Hovinen ( 19 saves / 23 shots ) | ||||||
| 24 March | Malmö Redhawks | 3–1 | Leksands IF | Malmö Arena | Recap | |||
| Jens Jakobs 1 - 1:00 Nicklas Jadeland 1 - pp - 11:19 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | Kevin Kapstad 1 - 15:29 | ||||||
| Nils Andersson 2 - 14:58 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Niko Hovinen ( 34 saves / 35 shots ) | Goalie stats | Oscar Alsenfelt ( 33 saves / 36 shots ) | ||||||
| 27 March | Leksands IF | 2–1 | Malmö Redhawks | Tegera Arena | Recap | |||
| Tomi Sallinen 3 - pp - 14:57 | First period | Eric Himelfarb 4 - 18:10 | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Patrick Cehlin 2 - 2:50 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Oscar Alsenfelt ( 24 saves / 25 shots ) | Goalie stats | Niko Hovinen ( 31 saves / 33 shots ) | ||||||
| 30 March | Malmö Redhawks | 6–3 | Leksands IF | Malmö Arena | Recap | |||
| Jeremias Augustin 1 - 11:29 Nils Andersson 3 - pp - 13:59 Nicklas Jadeland 2 - 17:31 | First period | Jon Knuts 2 - 12:46 Tomi Sallinen 4 - pp - 19:47 | ||||||
| Mathias Tjärnqvist 1 - pp - 21:01 | Second period | Patrick Cehlin 3 - 22:55 | ||||||
| Jens Jakobs 2 - 52:36 Mathias Tjärnqvist 2 - 59:40 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Niko Hovinen ( 28 saves / 31 shots ) | Goalie stats | Oscar Alsenfelt ( 21 saves / 26 shots ) | ||||||
| 2 April | Leksands IF | 2–4 | Malmö Redhawks | Tegera Arena | Recap | |||
| Jonas Frögren 1 - 12:59 | First period | 19:46 - Nils Andersson 4 | ||||||
| Tomi Sallinen 5 - 15:29 | Second period | 6:44 - Jens Henrik Tönjum 1 10:47 - Björn Svensson 2 | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 19:50 - en - Henrik Hetta 1 | ||||||
| Oscar Alsenfelt ( 29 saves / 32 shots ) | Goalie stats | Niko Hovinen ( 35 saves / 37 shots ) | ||||||
| Malmö Redhawks won series 4–3 | |
Modo Hockey vs. HC Vita Hästen
| 16 March | Modo Hockey | 3–0 | HC Vita Hästen | Fjällräven Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Donald Brashear 1 - pp - 1:01 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Juha-Pekka Haataja 1 - 5:49 Per-Åge Skrøder 1 - en - 18:04 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Linus Ullmark ( 19 saves / 19 shots ) | Goalie stats | Henrik Lundberg ( 34 saves / 36 shots ) | ||||||
| 19 March | HC Vita Hästen | 0–2 | Modo Hockey | Himmelstalundshallen | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | Jonas Ahnelöv 1 - 18:56 | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | Marcel Hossa 1 - 3:59 | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Henrik Lundberg ( 39 saves / 41 shots ) | Goalie stats | Linus Ullmark ( 24 saves / 24 shots ) | ||||||
| 22 March | Modo Hockey | 4–1 | HC Vita Hästen | Fjällräven Center | Recap | |||
| Simon Önerud 1 - 11:20 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Marcel Hossa 2 - 10:16 Adrian Kempe 1 - 10:41 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Simon Önerud 2 - 9:58 | Third period | Daniel Åhsberg 1 - pp - 11:55 | ||||||
| Linus Ullmark ( 22 saves / 23 shots ) | Goalie stats | Henrik Lundberg ( 26 saves / 30 shots ) | ||||||
| 25 March | HC Vita Hästen | 1–4 | Modo Hockey | Himmelstalundshallen | Recap | |||
| Wilhelm Westlund 1 - 10:17 | First period | Samuel Påhlsson 1 - 9:34 | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | Emil Pettersson 1 - 1:08 Simon Önerud 3 - 1:33 | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | Peter Öberg 1 - 17:20 | ||||||
| Henrik Lundberg ( 29 saves / 33 shots ) | Goalie stats | Linus Ullmark ( 31 saves / 32 shots ) | ||||||
| Modo Hockey won series 4–0 | |
VIK Västerås HK vs. Rögle BK
| 17 March | VIK Västerås HK | 3–4 | Rögle BK | ABB Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | Ludvig Rensfeldt 1 - pp - 3:27 | ||||||
| Stefan Gråhns 1 - 3:14 Erik Andersson 1 - 13:17 | Second period | Christopher Liljewall 1 - 3:43 Jordan Smotherman 1 - pp - 11:59 | ||||||
| Stefan Gråhns 2 - pp - 14:42 | Third period | Jordan Smotherman 2 - pp - 16:37 | ||||||
| Jonas Fransson ( 20 saves / 24 shots ) | Goalie stats | Lars Volden ( 44 saves / 47 shots ) | ||||||
| 20 March | Rögle BK | 4–3 | VIK Västerås HK | Lindab Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Calle Rosén 1 - pp - 3:18 Sebastian Stålberg 1 - 6:39 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ludvig Rensfeldt 2 - 4:40 Peter LeBlanc 1 - 6:41 | Third period | Brock Montpetit 1 - 5:33 Jonte Berg 1 - 10:16 Eddie Davidsson 1 - 13:06 | ||||||
| Lars Volden ( 25 saves / 28 shots ) | Goalie stats | Jonas Fransson ( 18 saves / 22 shots ) | ||||||
| 23 March | VIK Västerås HK | 3–0 | Rögle BK | ABB Arena | Recap | |||
| Fredrik Johansson 1 - 10:52 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mikael Frycklund 1 - 4:13 Stefan Gråhns 3 - 19:45 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jonas Fransson ( 38 saves / 38 shots ) | Goalie stats | Lars Volden ( 24 saves / 27 shots ) | ||||||
| 26 March | Rögle BK | 6–1 | VIK Västerås HK | Lindab Arena | Recap | |||
| Daniel Sylwander 1 - 15:26 | First period | Jeremy Williams 1 - 16:38 | ||||||
| Niklas Hansson 1 - 4:24 Jakob Lilja 1 - 7:57 Peter LeBlanc 2 - 14:04 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Calle Rosén 2 - 3:28 Taylor Matson 1 - 11:49 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Lars Volden ( 34 saves / 35 shots ) | Goalie stats | Jonas Fransson ( 23 saves / 29 shots ) | ||||||
| 29 March | VIK Västerås HK | 0–2 | Rögle BK | ABB Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | Jesper Jensen 1 - 5:06 | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | Christopher Liljewall 2 - 12:38 | ||||||
| Jonatan Bjurö ( 18 saves / 20 shots ) | Goalie stats | Lars Volden ( 31 saves / 31 shots ) | ||||||
| Rögle BK won series 4–1 | |
2015 HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers
AIK and Södertälje SK, ranked 13th and 14th after the regular season, were forced to defend their HockeyAllsvenskan spots against four teams from Hockeyettan in the 2015 HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers (Swedish: Kvalserien till HockeyAllsvenskan). Joining them from Hockeyettan were AllEttan North winners IF Sundsvall, AllEttan South winners IK Pantern, and the two surviving teams from the Hockeyettan playoffs, Västerviks IK and Tingsryds AIF. These six teams played a double round-robin tournament, with the top four teams qualifying for play in HockeyAllsvenskan for the 2015–16 season.[7] AIK defended their spot in the HockeyAllsvenskan while Södertälje SK were relegated to Hockeyettan. Tingsryds AIF, IK Pantern and IF Sundsvall Hockey were promoted to HockeyAllsvenskan.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AIK | 10 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 35 | 23 | +12 | 20 | Qualify for play in the 2015–16 HockeyAllsvenskan season |
| 2 | Tingsryds AIF (P) | 10 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 37 | 28 | +9 | 17 | |
| 3 | IK Pantern (P) | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 26 | 29 | −3 | 17 | |
| 4 | IF Sundsvall (P) | 10 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 19 | 22 | −3 | 15 | |
| 5 | Västerviks IK | 10 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 29 | −12 | 11 | Qualify for play in the 2015–16 Hockeyettan season |
| 6 | Södertälje SK (R) | 10 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 26 | 29 | −3 | 10 |