The qualification system in Swedish ice hockey has been a topic of discussion, and last year, opinions were many when it became clear that a review would be conducted.
Now it is clear – and the qualification system will be retained.
This means that the system of promotion and relegation of one team between the series will continue.
"As an association, we have listened to the three league organisations, and we can establish that there is broad consensus on continuing with the current qualification mechanism," says Anders Larsson, Chairman of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association, according to a press release.
The three men's series that will retain the qualification model are SHL, HockeyAllsvenskan, and HockeyEttan.
The current system has been in place since the 2020-21 season.
One criticism that has been raised is that only one team can be promoted from HockeyAllsvenskan to SHL.
Before the change, two teams could take the step up, but then the two teams from HockeyAllsvenskan would qualify against SHL teams.
Now, the qualifications are held within the series where the teams play.
Another criticism has been that the bottleneck becomes too small in HockeyEttan, as only one of a total of 40 teams can take the step up to HockeyAllsvenskan.
The Swedish Ice Hockey Association writes in a press release that the cooperation agreement between the association and the three men's series applies until 2030, and a change to the current series model during the contract period requires agreement between the parties.
