2011–12 Elitserien season

AIK

Brynäs

Djurgården

Frölunda

Färjestad

HV71

Linköping

Luleå

Modo

Skellefteå

Timrå

Växjö

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Location of the participating clubs

^ The local derby games between AIK and Djurgårdens IF were played in the Ericsson Globe, which has a capacity of 13,850 spectators.

The first game of the season was played on 13 September 2011 between Frölunda HC and the Elitserien newcomers Växjö Lakers. The game counted as round 6 and was won by Frölunda 2–0 in front of an outsold Scandinavium, with Frölunda defenceman Christian Bäckman scoring the first goal of the season.^[7]

The first Småland derby game in Elitserien history was played on 8 October 2011 between reigning regular-season champions HV71 and Växjö Lakers, at Kinnarps Arena in Jönköping.^[8] In front of a sold out Kinnarps Arena—exactly 7,000 spectators—Växjö Lakers came out with a 3–2 victory in a shootout. Växjö Lakers forward Mike Iggulden scored three penalty shot goals in the game, two of them counted in the statistics.^[9]

On 22 September 2011, Linköpings HC forward Mikael Håkanson played his 912th Elitserien game—regulation and playoff games included—and thus wrote history as he surpassed previous record holder Roger Åkerström. However, Skellefteå AIK wiped out Linköping in that game with a 4–0 shutout win.^[10]

On 23 November 2011, Linköpings HC forward Andreas Jämtin became the most penalized player in Elitserien history. He received a penalty of five minutes for elbowing and a match penalty after a hit on Luleå HF's Daniel Mannberg to reach a total of 1088 penalty minutes, surpassing Thomas Berglund's 1083.^[11][12]

Like the previous season, an outdoor game was played. It was played between HV71 and Linköpings HC (known as the E4 rivalry) on 10 December 2011, in a temporary arena at Elmia. The outdoor game was played as part of HV71 celebrating its 40th anniversary as a club. For the first time since the start of the yearly tradition of Elitserien outdoor games in 2009, the road team—this year Linköping—came out on top with a 1–0 overtime win in a tight game. 18,884 spectators attended the game, setting a new record for the most spectators at a single sports event in Jönköping; the previous record was 18,582 spectators, set at Stadsparksvallen in 1950.^{[13][14][15][16]}

Certain chosen games were broadcast in 3D, marking the first time in history that Elitserien was broadcast in 3D.^[17] The local derby game on 20 September 2011, between Stockholm rivals Djurgårdens IF and AIK at the Ericsson Globe, was the first game to have a 3D broadcast.^[18] In front of a soldout Ericsson Globe, the game ended 4–2 in Djurgården's favour.^[19]

As a result of the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash, where Swedish former HV71 goaltender Stefan Liv and the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team were killed, the premier round games between 13–15 September 2011 began with a one-minute silence.^[20] In honour of Stefan Liv, his No. 1 jersey was retired and raised to the rafters by HV71 in Kinnarps Arena prior to HV71's home game against Timrå IK on 10 January 2012.^[21]

Djurgårdens IF legend Sven Tumba died on 1 October 2011. As a result, Tumba was honoured in all Elitserien arenas that day. The biggest honours were held in Djurgården's home game against Växjö Lakers at Hovet, which was won by Djurgården 2–1.^[22][23]

On 24 January 2012, former five-time Djurgården Swedish champion Charles Berglund's No. 2 jersey was retired and raised to the rafters in Hovet prior to a game against Färjestad. Djurgården won 2–1 after a shootout.^[24][25][26]

x – clinched playoff spot; y – clinched regular season league title; e – eliminated from playoff contention; r – play in relegation series

Updated as of the end of the regular season.^[27]
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/–	PIM
Robert Rosén	AIK	55	21	39	60	+22	20
Jakob Silfverberg	Brynäs IF	49	24	30	54	–2	10
Nicklas Danielsson	Modo Hockey	53	21	31	52	+26	77
Per-Åge Skrøder	Modo Hockey	53	22	29	51	+21	52
Bud Holloway	Skellefteå AIK	55	21	28	49	+11	32
Richard Gynge	AIK	55	28	16	44	+12	18
Rob Schremp	Modo Hockey	55	19	22	41	+1	48
Mathis Olimb	Frölunda HC	55	10	31	41	+23	34
Niklas Olausson	Luleå HF	53	8	33	41	+10	20
Mika Pyörälä	Frölunda HC	53	22	18	40	+24	12

These are the leaders in GAA among goaltenders who have played at least 40% of the team's minutes. Updated as of the end of the regular season.^[28]

GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Player	Team	GP	TOI	GA	SO	Sv%	GAA
Frederik Andersen	Frölunda HC	39	2335:11	65	7	.941	1.67
Johan Gustafsson	Luleå HF	29	1753:35	51	6	.930	1.74
Joacim Eriksson	Skellefteå AIK	33	2016:14	61	3	.932	1.82
David Rautio	Luleå HF	27	1602:44	49	4	.925	1.83
Cristopher Nihlstorp	Färjestad BK	45	2590:08	88	5	.923	2.04
Viktor Fasth	AIK	46	2682:50	95	5	.931	2.12
Martin Gerber	Växjö Lakers HC	42	2417:16	88	4	.928	2.18
Fredrik Norrena	Linköpings HC	47	2698:54	104	4	.918	2.31
Gustaf Wesslau	Djurgårdens IF	54	3216:41	126	2	.917	2.35
Johan Holmqvist	Brynäs IF	28	1598:48	63	1	.917	2.36
Daniel Larsson	HV71	36	2107:55	83	1	.915	2.36

^[1]

In the first round, the top-seeded team chose which of the four lowest remaining seeds to be matched against; the 2nd-seed chose any of the three remaining seeds; the 3rd-seed chose any of the two remaining seeds; and the 4th-seed was automatically matched against the remaining seed. In the second round, the highest remaining seed was matched against the lowest remaining seed, while two remaining seeds matched up against each other. In each round the higher-seeded team was awarded home ice advantage. Each best-of-seven series followed an alternating home team format: the higher-seeded team played at home for games 1 and 3 (plus 5 and 7 if necessary), and the lower-seeded team was at home for games 2 and 4 (plus 6 if necessary).

Luleå entered the playoffs as the regular-season champions for the first time since 1996, with 100 points. AIK finished the regular season as the seventh seed with 82 points. This was the second playoff series between these teams; in 1997, Luleå defeated AIK in three games to advance to the finals. In the regular season, Luleå won four of the five games against AIK, allowing no goals in either of these four games.

Skellefteå finished second in the regular season with 95 points. Modo finished eighth and managed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2007. The teams previously met in the 1978 semifinals, where Modo were swept in two games by Skellefteå. Skellefteå won all five games against Modo in the regular season, although each game was decided by only one goal.

HV71 finished third with 92 points and failed to make the top two spots for the first time since 2009. Färjestad finished sixth with 87 points, marking the team's worst regular season since 2000. The teams had previously faced each other six times; HV71 had only come out on top once. The most recent meeting was in the 2009 finals, when Färjestad won in five games to become the Swedish Champions.

Brynäs' fourth-place finish in the regular season was the team's best since 2001. Frölunda finished fifth and made their best regular season since 2009. This was the fifth playoff series between the teams; the two most recent ones had been won by Frölunda. The previous meeting occurred in 2006, when Frölunda swept Brynäs in four games to advance to the semifinals.

All times are local (UTC+2).

Skellefteå won four of the five regular-season meetings against AIK, only one of which was decided by more than one goal. In the playoffs, the teams had previously faced each other in the 1978 finals; Skellefteå came out on top and clinched the championship in three games that time.

Brynäs won three of the five regular-season games against Färjestad. The teams had previously met each other in the playoffs eight times; Färjestad had come out on top in the six latest occasions. The most recent meeting occurred in 2011, when Färjestad knocked Brynäs out in the quarterfinals, winning in five games.

Brynäs won three of the five regular-season games between the two teams. This was only the second playoff series between these teams. The first playoff meeting took place in the 1976 semifinals, when Brynäs defeated Skellefteå two games to zero and advanced to the finals.

Updated as of 19 April 2012.^[29]
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/–	PIM
Bud Holloway	Skellefteå AIK	19	10	13	23	+4	4
Jakob Silfverberg	Brynäs IF	17	13	7	20	+17	4
Joakim Lindström	Skellefteå AIK	19	5	12	17	+1	22
Jimmie Ericsson	Skellefteå AIK	19	7	9	16	–1	38
Calle Järnkrok	Brynäs IF	16	4	12	16	+12	12
Oscar Möller	Skellefteå AIK	19	7	8	15	+4	8
Lee Goren	Skellefteå AIK	14	5	8	13	0	22
Kent McDonell	AIK	12	6	6	12	+9	18
Pierre-Édouard Bellemare	Skellefteå AIK	15	4	8	12	+6	12
Jonathan Granström	Brynäs IF	17	5	5	10	+10	30

These are the leaders in GAA and save percentage among goaltenders who played at least 40% of the team's minutes. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded. Updated as of the end of the season.^[29]

GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Player	Team	GP	TOI	GA	SO	Sv%	GAA
Niklas Svedberg	Brynäs IF	13	813:36	23	4	.947	1.70
Cristopher Nihlstorp	Färjestad BK	7	399:51	12	1	.938	1.80
Mikael Tellqvist	Modo Hockey	6	360:59	12	1	.946	1.99
Joacim Eriksson	Skellefteå AIK	19	1199:52	44	1	.918	2.20
Daniel Larsson	HV71	4	233:38	9	0	.914	2.31
Viktor Fasth	AIK	12	752:27	35	1	.921	2.79

Media related to 2011-2012 Swedish Elite League season at Wikimedia Commons