While the SDHL has watched the launch of the PWHL closely, they remain solely focused on growing the game in Sweden, and expect little immediate impact from the new league.
While the SDHL has watched the launch of the PWHL closely, they remain solely focused on growing the game in Sweden, and expect little immediate impact from the new league.
Until January, the Swedish SDHL and PHF were the two best women’s leagues in the world. In recent years, the SDHL become the go-to league for the best European talent as the Swedes decided that a thriving women’s league, instead of import quotas, was a way to advance their program.
When the league kicks off on September 24, a little over half, 56 percent, of the players on the opening night rosters are Swedes. The rest hail from Finland, Czechia, Canada, USA, Japan, Norway, and Hungary, representing the top of their class in their respective countries.
All in all, 92 players in the SDHL have represented their country in a World Championship – 64 of them are non-Swedes.
“Our being on the frontlines is great for Swedish hockey,” says Oscar Alsenfelt, SHDL, Director of Hockey Operations.
When the PWHL kicks off in January, the PWHL will take over as the undisputed best league in the world, but according to Alsenfelt, not much else will change.
“In the short run, I don’t think it will affect our operations much, maybe we’ll see a few individuals leave our league, but naturally, if they succeed in launching and then expanding it, we’ll see the ripple effects here. But right now, we’ve got access to a bigger pool of better import players. Having said that, most teams had already signed their players when the news about the PHF came,” he said.
One of those teams was Frölunda, a team that earned promotion to the SDHL at the end of last season.
“We had our roster filled and were happy with it, so we didn’t look to sign any PHFers,” said Kim Martin, GM of Frolunda.
“I don’t think the PWHL will have a big effect on the SDHL until there’s an expansion.”
One of the biggest contributing factors to the number of imports in Sweden is the domestic player pool.
"It’s still too shallow," said Alsenfelt. "While good players are cropping up continually, there aren’t enough players to create a system to support a full-fledged professional hockey league. Instead, players looking for the best environment to develop, have to make the jump to women’s leagues almost as teenagers."
This year, Stockholm’s Djurgardens decided to go through a re-build. Their average age is under 20. By contrast, the reigning champions, Lulea, ices the oldest team in the league, at 24.9.
“In Djurgardens case it’s simply a strategic decision, but generally speaking, we still have too few senior players. We have young players and lots of imports, and we need to attract and retain more players so that we can build a system that works and supports the league,” Alsenfelt says.
For this season, there will be four regional under-18 leagues, but many still prefer to take the step up to women’s leagues – SDHL or the NDHL, the second-tier league - as soon as possible.
“We’d like to see girls playing with girls of the same age, that the leagues will be competitive and that players will be able to play on just one team. But it’s not easy and it will take time,” said Alsenfelt.
“Also, we’re not alone. The Finns are working on their league, Czechia is coming up,” he adds.
Women’s hockey is growing in Sweden, both at the grassroots level and at the top. The number of girls under nine has doubled since 2021, and all fourteen men’s SHL organizations now also have a women’s team.
This season, to drum up interest, all SDHL teams will also arrange a few games with special focus on filling the seats.
“All teams as well as the league and our TV partners will also focus on those a little extras,” Alsenfelt concludes.