[3] Teams from the SHL participate in the IIHF's annual Champions Hockey League (CHL), competing for the European Trophy.

The inaugural Elitserien season began on 5 October 1975, with the league consisting of 10 teams, each playing one another four times—two at home and two on the road—for a total of 36 games.

They meant that, apart from just the economic situation for some of the clubs, the competition from HockeyAllsvenskan had shown that more teams were needed in the top-tier league SHL.

[8] In 2009, Håkan Loob, the general manager of Färjestad BK, sent a letter to Alexander Medvedev, the owner and president of the Russian Kontinental Hockey League, on behalf of five SHL teams – Färjestad, Frölunda, Djurgården, Linköping and HV71 – that were reportedly "interested in discussing the future of European hockey".

These plans were abandoned in November 2011, however, with Frölunda's chairman expressing hopes for the future of the European Trophy (which was disbanded with the formation of the Champions Hockey League in 2013).

[15] If the game is tied following the 60-minute regulation time, a five-minute three-on-three sudden death overtime period is played.

Power breaks do not, however, take place directly after a goal, penalty shot, icing call or during a powerplay.

In the event of a tied game during the playoffs, additional 20-minute overtime periods are played perpetually until one team scores.

[18] Counting from the formation of the SHL in 1975, Färjestad BK is the most successful team with ten Swedish Championship titles.

[20] The league consists of 14 teams; Brynäs IF returned to the SHL after one season in the HockeyAllsvenskan, where they won the 2023–24 title.

The SHL season is divided into a regular season from late September through the beginning of March, when teams play against each other in a pre-defined schedule, and a playoffs from March to April, which is an elimination tournament where two teams play against each other to win a best-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round.

At the end of the regular season, the team that finishes with the most points is crowned the league champion and is awarded a prize sum of 1,000,000 SEK[21] (approx.

31,144 spectators saw the game, setting a new record for the largest attendance at an ice hockey league match in Sweden.

[citation needed] The following year, Färjestad and Frölunda met again in an outdoor game, this time in Karlstad.

The 2013 outdoor game was played on 14 December 2013, between Frölunda HC and Skellefteå AIK at Gamla Ullevi.

The top five career scorers in the SHL are Johan Davidsson (561 points), Fredrik Bremberg (501), Håkan Loob (500), Stefan Nilsson (489) and Ove Molin (484).

[29] The top three point-scoring forwards for the 2021–22 season were Ryan Lasch (66 points), Max Véronneau (60) and Linus Omark (58).

[30] The top three point-scorers on defence were Jonathan Pudas (44 points), Joel Persson (39) and Joey LaLeggia (38).

[31] The top three goaltenders by save percentage among those who played more than 40% of their team's minutes were Jhonas Enroth (.923), Christoffer Rifalk (.921) and Gustaf Lindvall (.920).

[32] The winning team of the SHL playoffs is named Swedish Champions and awarded the Le Mat Trophy.