Question marks that will be resolved during the next six weeks when the SM playoffs in ice hockey now start with quarterfinals.
+ How the quarterfinals are played:
Starting on Thursday:
Brynäs (1 in the regular season)–Malmö (10).
Luleå (2)–Växjö (8).
Other match days: 22, 24, 26, possibly 28, 30/3 and 1/4.
Starting on Friday:
Frölunda (3)–Timrå (6).
Färjestad (4)–Skellefteå (5).
Other match days: 23, 25, 27, possibly 29, 31/3, 2/4.
The match series are played in best of seven matches. The highest-ranked team starts with two home matches, then two away matches, and then alternates between home and away.
+ This is what the schedule looks like.
The SM semifinals are played from 4 to 17 April and the SM final series starts on 19 April with a potential seventh and decisive match on 3 May.
+ Rönnberg can finish with a double.
In twelve seasons, Frölunda's Roger Rönnberg has been SHL's top coach profile. Can he finish by leading Frölunda to a historic gold double?
As the newly crowned champions on the women's side, Frölunda can become the first club to win SM gold on both the women's and men's sides in the same year.
If so, it will be Rönnberg's third SM gold in the club before he moves to Switzerland and Fribourg-Gottéron after the season.
+ Malmö this year's Rögle?
Rögle surprised everyone last season with their incredible season finale, which ended with the SM final. The team secured a playoff spot in the last round and then sensationally advanced to the final, where they lost to Skellefteå.
In the quarterfinals, series winners Färjestad were eliminated in four straight matches.
Malmö secured both a playoff ticket and quarterfinal advancement against Rögle.
Now, series winners Brynäs await in the quarterfinals.
+ A safe spring sign.
Cowslip, wheatear, and...Luleå–Växjö. The quarterfinal meeting between the two combatants is decided for the third year in a row and is becoming a safe spring sign. Växjö drew the longest straw both in 2023 (when the team became Swedish champions) and last year. This time, Luleå enters as favorites after a second-place finish in the regular season, while Växjö has had a shaky season. Last year, Växjö won in four straight matches, while in 2023 it went to seven matches.
+ The winning goalkeeper.
Luleå's Matteus Ward, 23, has gone a bit under the radar as SHL's winningest goalkeeper in the regular season. With 21 wins, he is the best of the goalkeepers entering the playoffs. Ward has stepped forward when star goalkeeper Joel Lassinantti has had a troubled season with injuries.
+ The back ace.
Victor Söderström chose to return home – as one of many returnees in Brynäs – when it didn't quite work out in the NHL. The 24-year-old elegant player finished fifth in the defensemen's scoring league (9 goals + 28 assists), won the plus/minus statistics (+28), and averages over 22 minutes of ice time.
+ The point and goal king.
Färjestad's David Tomasek won the scoring league with 57 points (24 goals + 33 assists) after finishing third last season. Then, the Czech scoring machine won the goal-scoring title instead, a title that went to teammate Oskar Steen this season with 30 goals. The offense is undoubtedly in Färjestad.
+ MVP.
Brynäs star Jakob Silfverberg has made a success of his homecoming, and his importance to the regular season winners cannot be underestimated. He left for the NHL as a gold hero in 2012; will his return be equally golden?
