Hockeyettan

{{Short description|Third level of Swedish men's ice hockey}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox sports league | current_season = | logo = Hockeyettan logo.svg | Formerly = Division I (1944–2014) Division 1 (1999–2014) | sport = [[Ice hockey]] | founded = 1944 | Leader = | promotion = [[HockeyAllsvenskan]] | relegation = [[Hockeytvåan]] | motto = | teams = 40 in 4 groups | country = {{SWE}} | champion = | website = [http://www.hockeyettan.com hockeyettan.com] }}

'''Hockeyettan''' is the third tier of [[ice hockey in Sweden]]. As of the [[2015–16 Hockeyettan season|2015–16 season]], the league consists of 39 teams divided geographically into four groups. Hockeyettan operates a system of [[promotion and relegation]] with [[HockeyAllsvenskan]] and [[Division 2 (Swedish ice hockey)|Division 2]].

From 1944 to 1975, Division I was the highest league in the Swedish ice hockey system, but with the creation of [[Swedish Hockey League|Elitserien]] (now the SHL) in 1975, it became the second tier. Division I was further relegated to third-tier status in 1999 as [[HockeyAllsvenskan]] was spun off into a standalone league, but was frequently written as "Division 1" on the Internet, as it was pronounced "Division One". The league was renamed Hockeyettan for the [[2014–15 Hockeyettan season|2014–15 season]].

Hockeyettan is the lowest tier to be organized by the [[Swedish Ice Hockey Association]]; all men's tiers below Hockeyettan are organized regionally.

==Format== As of the 2022–23 season, the league consists of 39 teams divided into four groups of 12 geographically. The clubs meet each other twice, home and away, after which the top four teams from each group form two new groups of eight. Each of these Allettan groups then plays an additional home-and-away series. Meanwhile, the remaining eight teams in each starting group play each other again in a continuation series.<ref name="seriebestämmelser">{{cite web |url=http://www.swehockey.se/ImageVaultFiles/id_96753/cf_78/SB_2015-2016_150525.PDF |title=SERIEBESTÄMMELSER och VERKSAMHETSPLAN Säsongen 2015/2016 |publisher=[[Swedish Ice Hockey Association]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119233039/http://www.swehockey.se/ImageVaultFiles/id_96753/cf_78/SB_2015-2016_150525.PDF |archive-date=19 November 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

===Post-season=== The winner of each Allettan group qualifies directly for the 2023 HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers. Teams 2–5 in the Allettan groups, along with teams 1–2 from the continuation groups, play a playoff to fill the remaining two spots in the HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers. Teams 7–8 from the continuation groups are forced to requalify for Hockeyettan against teams from Division 2.<ref name="seriebestämmelser"/>

==Participating teams== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Hockeyettan North ! Hockeyettan South ! Hockeyettan West ! Hockeyettan East |- | valign=top | [[Bodens HF]] [[Clemensnäs HC]] [[Hudiksvalls HC]] [[IF Sundsvall Hockey]] [[Kalix HC]] [[Kiruna IF]] [[Piteå HC]] [[Strömsbro IF]] [[Vännäs HC]] [[Örnsköldsvik Hockey]] | valign=top | [[Alvesta HK]] [[Borås HC]] [[Halmstad Hammers HC]] [[IF Troja-Ljungby]] [[Karlskrona HK]] [[KRIF Hockey]] [[Kristianstads IK]] [[Mörrums GoIS IK]] [[Tyringe SoSS]] [[Vimmerby HC]] | valign=top | [[Borlänge HF]] [[Falu IF]] [[Forshaga IF]] [[HC Dalen]] [[Lindlövens IF]] [[Mariestad BoIS HC]] [[Mjölby HC]] [[Skövde IK]] [[Surahammars IF]] [[Tranås AIF]] | valign=top | [[Väsby IK HK]] [[Enköpings SK HK]] [[Eskiltuna Linden Hockey]] [[Hanvikens SK]] [[Huddinge IK]] [[Nyköpings SK]] [[Segeltorps IF]] [[IF Vallentuna BK]] [[Visby/Roma HK]] [[Wings HC Arlanda]] |}

==History== [[Image:Lars-Eric Lundvall.jpg|thumb|right|275px|[[Frölunda HC|Västra Frölunda IF]]'s [[Lars Erik Lundvall]] receiving the [[Le Mat Trophy]] in 1965.]] {| class="wikitable floatright" |- |+ Swedish Champions during the Division 1 era !Season!!Winners!!Runners-up |- | [[1944–45 Swedish Division I season|1945]] || [[Hammarby Hockey (1921–2008)|Hammarby IF]] || [[Södertälje SK]] |- | [[1945–46 Swedish Division I season|1946]] || Hammarby IF || [[Södertälje SK]] |- | [[1946–47 Swedish Division I season|1947]] || Hammarby IF || [[Södertälje SK]] |- | [[1947–48 Swedish Division I season|1948]] || [[Södertälje SK]] || Hammarby IF |- | [[1948–49 Swedish Division I season|1949]] || Hammarby IF || [[Gävle GIK]] |- | [[1949–50 Swedish Division I season|1950]] || [[Södertälje SK]] || Hammarby IF |- | [[1950–51 Swedish Division I season|1951]] || [[Djurgårdens IF Hockey|Djurgårdens IF]] || [[AIK IF|AIK]] |- | [[1951–52 Swedish Division I season|1952]] || Södertälje SK || [[Gävle GIK]] |- | [[1952–53 Swedish Division I season|1953]] || [[Södertälje SK]] || [[Hammarby Hockey (1921–2008)|Hammarby IF]] |- | [[1953–54 Swedish Division I season|1954]] || [[Djurgårdens IF Hockey|Djurgårdens IF]] || {{nowrap|[[Gävle Godtemplares IK]]}} |- | [[1954–55 Swedish Division I season|1955]] || [[Djurgårdens IF Hockey|Djurgårdens IF]] || [[Hammarby Hockey (1921–2008)|Hammarby IF]] |- | [[1955–56 Swedish Division I season|1956]] || [[Södertälje SK]] || [[Djurgårdens IF Hockey|Djurgårdens IF]] |- | [[1956–57 Swedish Division I season|1957]] || {{nowrap|[[Gävle Godtemplares IK]]}} || [[Djurgårdens IF Hockey|Djurgårdens IF]] |- | [[1957–58 Swedish Division I season|1958]] || [[Djurgårdens IF Hockey|Djurgårdens IF]] || [[Skellefteå AIK]] |- | [[1958–59 Swedish Division I season|1959]] || [[Djurgårdens IF Hockey|Djurgårdens IF]] || [[Leksands IF]] |- | [[1959–60 Swedish Division I season|1960]] || [[Djurgårdens IF Hockey|Djurgårdens IF]] || [[Södertälje SK]] |- | [[1960–61 Swedish Division I season|1961]] || [[Djurgårdens IF Hockey|Djurgårdens IF]] || [[Skellefteå AIK]] |- | [[1961–62 Swedish Division I season|1962]] || [[Djurgårdens IF Hockey|Djurgårdens IF]] || [[Frölunda HC|Västra Frölunda IF]] |- | [[1962–63 Swedish Division I season|1963]] || [[Djurgårdens IF Hockey|Djurgårdens IF]] || [[Skellefteå AIK]] |- | [[1963–64 Swedish Division I season|1964]] || [[Brynäs IF]] || [[Leksands IF]] |- | [[1964–65 Swedish Division I season|1965]] || [[Frölunda HC|Västra Frölunda IF]] || [[Brynäs IF]] |- | [[1965–66 Swedish Division I season|1966]] || [[Brynäs IF]] || [[Frölunda HC|Västra Frölunda IF]] |- | [[1966–67 Swedish Division I season|1967]] || [[Brynäs IF]] || [[Frölunda HC|Västra Frölunda IF]] |- | [[1967–68 Swedish Division I season|1968]] || [[Brynäs IF]] || [[AIK IF|AIK]] |- | [[1968–69 Swedish Division I season|1969]] || [[Leksands IF]] || [[Brynäs IF]] |- | [[1969–70 Swedish Division I season|1970]] || [[Brynäs IF]] || [[Frölunda HC|Västra Frölunda IF]] |- | [[1970–71 Swedish Division I season|1971]] || [[Brynäs IF]] || [[Leksands IF]] |- | [[1971–72 Swedish Division I season|1972]] || [[Brynäs IF]] || [[Leksands IF]] |- | [[1972–73 Swedish Division I season|1973]] || [[Leksands IF]] || [[Södertälje SK]] |- | [[1973–74 Swedish Division I season|1974]] || [[Leksands IF]] || [[Timrå IK]] |- | [[1974–75 Swedish Division I season|1975]] || [[Leksands IF]] || [[Brynäs IF]] |}

Division 1 was founded in 1944, replacing [[Svenska Serien]] as the top flight of Swedish ice hockey. From its foundation until the [[1954–55 Swedish Division I season|1954–55 season]], the league consisted of twelve teams, with group winners facing off in a best-of-three final, and with two teams from the bottom of each group being relegated. From the [[1955–56 Swedish Division I season|1955–56 season]], the best-of-three series was replaced with a double round-robin final round with the top two teams from each group. The league was expanded to two groups of eight for the [[1956–57 Swedish Division I season|1956–57 season]]. The league would continue to have two groups of eight under a variety of different post-season formats until the [[1974–75 Swedish Division I season|1974–75 season]]. With [[Swedish Hockey League|Elitserien]], a new top flight of Swedish hockey to begin play the following year, this final Division 1 season was played in a single group of 16, with the top eight teams going on to play in the new Elitserien, teams 9 and 10 playing (and winning) a northern and a southern qualifier, respectively, of four teams each, and the bottom six remaining in Division 1 in its new status as Sweden's second-tier league.

Division 1 was a much broader league as the second tier, consisting of 49 teams in its inaugural season, eventually being reduced to ca. 40, and then 32 during its final second-tier season in [[1998–99 Division 1 season (Swedish ice hockey)|1998–99]]. During this entire period, the league was divided into four geographical groups, and operated a system of promotion and relegation with Elitserien and Division 2. Starting in the [[1982–83 Division 1 season (Swedish ice hockey)|1982–83 season]], the top teams from each group formed a new group in the spring called Allsvenskan. For the [[1999–2000 Allsvenskan (ice hockey) season|1999–2000 season]], Allsvenskan was spun off into a new second-tier league, resulting in Division 1 becoming the third tier of Swedish hockey.

Division 1's relegation to third-tier status resulted in a massive expansion in the number of teams. 78 teams participated in the [[1999–2000 Division 1 season (Swedish ice hockey)|1999–2000 season]], though this was reduced over the following seasons. Initially, the league was divided into four regions, all of which were further divided into two groups. By the [[2004–05 Division 1 season (Swedish ice hockey)|2004–05 season]], Division 1 had been cut all the way down to 48 teams that were organized into four groups. The league expanded again to 54 teams the following season, and would be numbered in the fifties until 2014.

In 2014, the league was rebranded Hockeyettan, and trimmed down to 48 teams competing in the current format with four starting groups of twelve that are then reorganized into 6 groups of eight in the spring. For the [[2014–15 Hockeyettan season|first season under this format]], the [[Swedish Ice Hockey Association|Hockey Association]] decided to have only 11 teams in Hockeyettan North, giving a total of 47 teams.

==Notes== {{note|a|a}}There has been an ice hockey league named Division 1 in Sweden since 1944 when it was the name of the top flight of Swedish hockey. In 1975 with the creation of [[Swedish Hockey League|Elitserien]] (now the SHL), Division 1 became the second tier. In 1999 with the creation of an independent second-tier [[HockeyAllsvenskan|Allsvenskan]], it became the third tier.

==See also== *[[List of ice hockey leagues#Sweden|List of ice hockey leagues in Sweden]] *[[Ice hockey in Sweden]]

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.hockeyettan.com Hockeyettan - Official website for Hockeyettan]

[[Category:Hockeyettan| ]] [[Category:Third-tier ice hockey leagues in Europe|Swe]] [[Category:Sports leagues established in 1944]] [[Category:1944 establishments in Sweden]] [[Category:Professional ice hockey leagues in Sweden]]