The 2009–10 Elitserien season was the 35th season of Elitserien. It started on September 21, 2009, and ended on March 13, 2010. The playoffs started on March 18, 2010, and ended on April 24, 2010. HV71 won the playoffs, beating Timrå IK 4–1 in the quarter final series, Skellefteå AIK 4–1 in the semifinal series, and Djurgårdens IF 4–2 in the final series. The season had a mid-season break that started on February 9 and ended on February 26 to allow participation of Elitserien players in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

In Kvalserien, Södertälje SK requalified and AIK qualified for the 2010–11 Elitserien season at the expense of Rögle BK.

League business

Rule changes

Elitserien will bring in a number of rule changes for the start of the 2009–10 Elitserien season aimed at increasing offence. Two rule changes are to Rule 440 on faceoffs. Firstly, the first faceoff of a power play will now be in the defending zone of the team that committed the foul, regardless of where the play was stopped. Secondly, a faceoff will always be located at one of the nine faceoff spots. In previous seasons a faceoff could have been located anywhere on the rink.^[1][2]

Referees

For the 2009–10 Elitserien season around 100 matches will be refereed by four referees.^[3] Also, the referees uniforms will change to the classical black striped shirts with a number on the back instead of the referee's name, as in previous seasons.^[2]

Season schedule

Each team will play each other five times during the regular season. Due to play in the Champions Hockey League and matches against two NHL teams, Färjestads BK's and Linköpings HC's matches in round 4 are played out of the schedule.^[4] After the initial season schedule have changes been made for rounds 3, 6, 13, 16 and 38.^[5]

General managers' meeting

The general managers of the 12 elite league clubs in Elitserien met on June 9, 2009, and agreed on creating a jointly-owned development company that will focus its work on the development of elite ice hockey in Sweden. The company's executive officer is Håkan Loob who will put is work in Färjestads BK on hold. It was also decided that the elite clubs will produce a new shareholder deal for the Swedish hockey league, Svenska Hockeyligan AB (SHL), as the current deal expires on April 30, 2010. The clubs will participate in the current league system for seasons 2009–10 and 2010–11.^[6]

Outdoor game

On December 28, 2009, Frölunda HC and Färjestads BK played their round 33 game outdoors at Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg. The match organizers' goal was to break the previous outdoor game spectator record from 1962 where 23,192 spectators attended a match between Frölunda HC and Djurgårdens IF at Ullevi. In the 2009 match, the boards of the rink were completely transparent and Frölunda HC played in jerseys looking as the jerseys from 1962, void of advertisements.^[7][8] 31,144 spectators watched the game.

Regular season

Standings

x – clinched playoff spot; y – clinched regular season league title; e – eliminated from playoff contention; r – played in relegation series

Statistical leaders

Scoring leaders

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/–	PIM
Mats Zuccarello Aasen	Modo Hockey	55	23	41	64	+6	62
Tony Mårtensson	Linköpings HC	55	19	44	63	+8	26
Johan Davidsson	HV71	55	12	46	58	+21	18
David Petrasek	HV71	52	15	38	53	+17	101
Jan Hlaváč	Linköpings HC	38	30	21	51	+15	24
Marcus Nilson	Djurgårdens IF	53	24	27	51	+25	32
Linus Klasen	Södertälje SK	51	19	32	51	-14	20
Jaroslav Hlinka	Linköpings HC	41	13	37	50	+11	12
Magnus Johansson	Linköpings HC	52	8	41	49	+5	14
Eero Somervuori	Brynäs IF	55	19	25	44	0	18

As of the end of the regular season.^[9]

Leading goaltenders

GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Player	Team	GP	TOI	GA	SO	Sv%	GAA
Jacob Markström	Brynäs IF	43	2,542:03	85	5	.927	2.01
Gustaf Wesslau	Djurgårdens IF	32	1,836:10	70	2	.917	2.29
Stefan Ridderwall	Djurgårdens IF	26	1,488:02	57	0	.916	2.30
Andreas Hadelöv	Skellefteå AIK	50	2,954:47	117	4	.912	2.38
Henrik Karlsson	Färjestads BK	34	1,933:58	79	3	.913	2.45
Anders Lindbäck	Timrå IK	42	2,536:33	104	3	.912	2.46
Mattias Modig	Luleå HF	34	1,925:08	80	2	.899	2.49
Fredrik Norrena	Linköpings HC	45	2,550:36	106	3	.907	2.49
Niklas Svedberg	Modo Hockey	32	1,898:34	82	1	.900	2.59
Stefan Liv	HV71	43	2,542:05	110	4	.908	2.60

As of the end of the regular season.^[10]

Attendance