Horse Racing stats man, Andy has contributed to OLBG for 18 years – An Ipswich fan and F1 fanatic, he also contributes EFL football and Motor Sport opinion.
After the massive surprise during the 2022-23 season when one of the most successful teams in Sweden, thirteen times champions Brynäs IF were relegated to the HockeyAllsvenskan after a 4-1 defeat in the play-out to Malmö Redhawks, which ended their 63-year stay in the top flight they will be back in 2024-25 after making an immediate return.
Four-time SHL champions Skellefteå AIK will be one of the bookie’s pre-season favourites to lift the Le Mat Trophy which is presented to the SHL champions each year, they picked up their fourth title in 2024 which was their first since 2014 after seeing off Rögle BK in a final series in which they dominated to win 4-1.
We have specialist European-based hockey fans who will be sharing their SHL Predictions throughout this season so be sure to see which Swedish Hockey League teams they are tipping today.
When comparing the big three leagues, the KHL, the SHL and the NHL, this league falls in line with the NHL more than the KHL, over the past five seasons 60% of favourites have been successful in the SHL, which is not too far of the NHL which is 60.9% with both of those remaining well behind the KHL (63.2%). Home favourites are more favourable with 62.1% of them winning compared to just 54.1% of favourites on the road which makes sense as home-ice advantage can be a big advantage.
Vaxjo is decent at home when favourites, they went on to win 71.3% of their games over the past five seasons and they are not too bad on the road either with a 65.0% win rate which means overall they won 69.2% of their games when favourites. The team that gets closest to them is Skelleftea who won 71.0% of their home matches and 54.5% as favourites on the road with their overall win rate standing at 65.3%.
When looking at the underdogs there is only one team who is worth mentioning as they have a win rate of 52.9% when underdogs meaning they could well dish up some value throughout the season. Skelleftea is 37-70 as underdogs with all bar four of those also coming on the road. So, have a look at the Swedish ice hockey predictions for today to see if the tipsters are backing either of these teams on the road.
*Favourite statistics only include regular-season games
Here are the last ten regular-season champions and how they went on to perform in the playoffs.
Le Mat Trophy is what the SHL Champions receive and have done so since 1926, the trophy was donated by Raoul Le Mat, the man who brought ice hockey to Sweden and is the oldest trophy in Sweden that is competed for by professional athletes.
Djurgårdens IF lead the way in both final appearances and success, from their twenty-eight finals appearances, they have gone on to be crowned SHL Champions a total of sixteen times giving them a 57% success rate when making the finals, however, their last win came back in 2001 and they have only made two finals since losing both times (2010 & 2019).
Brynäs IF have won thirteen SHL Championships and their success rate when making the final is much better as they have only made eighteen finals meaning they have won 72%.
Färjestad BK along with Djurgårdens IF are the only other team to have made twenty or more finals, however, they have lost more than they have won with ten titles meaning they have lost eleven times.
Who will be crowned Swedish Champions for the 2024-25 season? If you are planning on having an ante-post bet or betting throughout the season then have a read of our Best Bookmaker for Ice Hockey guide.
Andy Powell manages this Swedish Hockey League (SHL) Preview & Betting Guide and other hockey content in this section of the site as well as the Ice Hockey Tipsters in the OLBG tipster competition in his role in the OLBG Expert Team. Andy meticulously updates the date and results for these pieces and is an erstwhile Penguins fan in the NHL. He provides Ice Hockey betting advice in our bookmaker reviews as well as providing a huge contribution to the Best Ice Hockey Betting Sites Guide.
Andy Powell
Content Editor
As well as those already mentioned in this blog, we also have these articles looking at the tournaments:
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