SDHL Playoff Preview: MoDo vs SDE

SDE's United Nations must find a common language to topple steady MoDo in the opening round of the SDHL playoffs.

MoDo and SDE HF will square off in the opening round of the SDHL playoffs. While MoDo enters as the favorite, SDE will be no pushover. Here's a look at their opening round match up.

MoDo won a lot of close games this season. Eleven of their 25 victories came by a one goal margin. They won games in every which way: in overtime, via shootout, and of course in regulation time. That they won so much is perhaps surprising, at least when one considers that MoDo had the league’s third worst power play (13.3% success rate), and only one of the league’s top ten scorers, teenager Adela Sapovalivova. MoDo won by committee, and depended on contributions from up and down the lineup. Nine players tallied 12 or more points this season; Ebba Hedqvist, Emma Seitz, Lauren Bellefontaine and Darcie Lappan brought consistency while youngsters like Mira Hallin and Wilma Sundin showed flashes of brilliance and a glimpse of what the future may hold. In goal, Andrea Brändli was a steadying hand. Her sterling .942 save percentage and 1.56 goals against average gave MoDo a chance to win every night. Indeed, Brändli and MoDo knocked off both Luleå and Frölunda multiple times this season, the only team to do so. SDE, however, is unlikely to feel intimidated.

SDE has been a fun team to watch this season because of their flair for the dramatic. They have offensive defenders who love to jump up into the play and score, in Lotti Odnoga, Emma Bergesen, Dominique Kremer and Kayleigh Hamers. They have perhaps the league’s most talented rat in veteran Lisa Johansson, who led Sweden to a 2026 Olympic birth with her stellar national team play earlier this month. They have Malia Schneider, who doubled her SDHL career best in goals with 10 this season. SDE is the league’s United Nations, with Norwegian captain Mathea Fischer at the helm, leading a group that includes Swedes, Canadians, Dutch, Americans, Hungarians, half a Finn, and a German for good measure. Fischer, limited to ten games this season due to injury, has returned just in time for the playoffs and brings a steadying hand and consistent competitiveness to a squad that has looked rudderless at times. A mid-season coaching change proved a boon, as international veteran Peter Elander quickly improved the team’s training culture and brought order to the team’s systems. SDE wins by committee: twelve of the team’s players, including four defenders, tallied 12 or more points this season. If recent acquisition Madison Bizal, a defender with both NCAA and PWHL experience, and Fischer can also contribute offence, SDE could field three solid scoring lines. Between the pipes, goaltender Kassidy Sauvé has returned from injury, and should provide the insurance that her teammates need in order to take valuable offensive risks. When healthy, Sauvé is one of the league’s best and most experienced goalies, and could make life difficult for relatively low-scoring MoDo. This series has the potential to be the first round’s most tightly contested.

Fearless Prediction: MoDo wins series 3-2