What: The Swedish Men's Ice Hockey Championship Final Series.
Where: Skellefteå Kraft Arena and Catena Arena, Ängelholm.
When: April 23-May 6 (at the latest).
TV: TV4 and TV4 Play.
+ Match schedule
Match 1, 23/4: Skellefteå–Rögle (7:00 p.m.).
Match 2, 25/4: Skellefteå–Rögle (3:15 p.m.).
Match 3, 28/4: Rögle–Skellefteå (7:00 p.m.).
Match 4, 30/4: Rögle–Skellefteå (7:00 p.m.).
Possible match 5, 2/5: Skellefteå–Rögle (3:15 p.m.).
Possible match 6, 4/5: Rögle–Skellefteå (7:00 p.m.).
Possible match 7, 6/5: Skellefteå–Rögle (7:00 p.m.).
+ The teams' path to the final series
Skellefteå (1st in the regular season): Malmö 4–1 in matches (quarterfinals), Luleå 4–1 (semifinals).
Rögle (4th in the regular season): Färjestad 4–3 (quarterfinals), Växjö 4–1 (semifinals).
Head-to-head matches during the regular season: 16/9: Skellefteå–Rögle 5–2, 20/11: Rögle–Skellefteå 2–3, 24/1: Rögle–Skellefteå 5–0, 10/3: Skellefteå–Rögle 3–5.
+ Made history - can do it again
Rögle made history by becoming the first team in Swedish ice hockey to turn a 0–3 deficit into a 4–3 victory in the quarter-final series against Färjestad. For coach Dan Tangnes, it was the second time; he was the coach of Swiss Zug who did the same thing in the 2022 final series against Zurich.
Rögle has never won SM gold and can thus make history once again. The Ängelholm team is in its third SM final ever.
+ Favorite in rematch could win fifth gold
Skellefteå has won four Swedish Championship gold medals in its history, and the most recent, in 2024, was against Rögle after a 4–1 series victory.
This is the tenth SM final series for Skellefteå since 2011.
+ “Forbidden to lie down in August”
There has been a baby focus in Rögle ahead of the final series. Three players have or will become fathers, as well as the assistant coach.
When the team gathered on Monday after a few days off, Linus Sandin and Paul LaDue were missing; they were in the hospital with their respective families. Fredrik Olofsson and assistant coach Max Bohlin are also on the waiting list.
Next year we'll probably say that it's forbidden to lie down in August, coach Dan Tangnes jokingly told Helsingborgs Dagblad.
A couple of players in Skellefteå are also expecting additions: Viktor Grahn and Rickard Hugg, writes Norran.
+ Will the super goalkeepers continue to alternate?
Throughout the playoffs, Skellefteå has alternated in goal between Linus Söderström (leading the goalkeeper league with a 94.00% save percentage) and record-holder Strauss Mann (seven shutouts, 91.74%), who broke the SHL record for shutouts in the regular season with ten. They have been in every other game.
Rögle's Arvid Holm is second in the goalkeeper league, 92.48%.
+ The Rise of the Hidden Icemen
Rögle's Daniel Zaar leads the points league in the playoffs with 12 points (5+7) in as many games.
But the teams also have their share of surprises in the goal and point records. Rögle's Albin Sundsvik has scored 5 goals so far - one less than the 6 he scored in 52 games in the regular season.
Skellefteå's Lars Bryggman has also accounted for 5 goals - the 33-year-old scored 10 in 47 games in the regular season.
+ Latest champion teams
2025: Luleå, 2024: Skellefteå, 2023: Växjö, 2022: Färjestad, 2021: Växjö, 2020: no playoffs due to the pandemic.
