Nationella Damhockeyligan

Nationella Damhockeyligan
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	[[2007 (2007)]]
Inaugural season	[[ as Division 1 Premier league, 1988–89 Second league, 2007–08 as DamEttan, 2015–16 as NDHL, 2021–22 ]]
No. of teams	27
Country(ies)	Sweden
Most recent champion(s)	Norra: Skellefteå AIK Södra: Södertälje SK
Official website	ndhlsverige.se

Nationella Damhockeyligan (literally National Women's Hockey League) or NDHL is the second-highest women's ice hockey league in Sweden. It was previously known as the Damettan or Damettan i ishockey during 2015 to 2021, and Division 1 during 2007 to 2015. The league engages in active promotion and relegation with the top-tier Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) and the third-tier Damtvåan.

Beginning with the first official women's ice hockey Swedish Championship in 1988, the Division 1 served as the premier league for women's ice hockey and the winner of its playoffs was named Swedish Champion. During the 2007–08 season, the best Division 1 teams qualified for a newly created premier league, the Riksserien (renamed SDHL in 2016), at which point Division 1 was reconfigured as the second-tier league.

Bodychecking was allowed for the 2022–2023 season.

League

Season structure

The current NDHL season structure was first implemented in the 2021–22 season and minor modifications have subsequently been made. Unlike the SDHL, which is governed entirely by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association (SIF), or the Damtvåan, which is governed entirely by regional ice hockey associations, the governance of the NDHL is split between regional associations and the SIF. Regional associations oversee their respective the NDHL DamEttan divisions until teams have been selected for the regional qualifier. The SIF oversees the Dam HockeyAllsvenskan, the regional qualifier, the Dam HockeyAllsvenskan playoffs, and the Kvalserie till SDHL.

NDHL DamEttan

The season begins with four regional series, collectively called the Damettan (Women's First). Teams are sorted into one of four geographical divisions: NDHL Damettan Norra (North), NDHL Damettan Östra (East), NDHL Damettan Södra (South), and NDHL Damettan Västra (West). Each Damettan division is administered locally by a regional sub-organ of the SIF, which results in some structural and regulatory differences between divisions, for example, the number of games played and the manner in which teams are selected for the regional qualifier.

Dam HockeyAllsvenskan

The two top-ranking teams from each Damettan division qualify for the Damhockeyallsvenskan (Women's Hockey All-Sweden), which is administered directly by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association and is generally played during February. Damettan divisions are partially merged for the Damhockeyallsvenskan to form two groups of four teams: Norr/Väst (North/West), called Damhockeyallsvenskan Norra, and Syd/Öst (South/East), called Damhockeyallsvenskan Södra. Each group is played as a double round-robin; the top-three teams progress to the NDHL playoffs, while the teams placing fourth qualify for the next NDHL Damettan season.

Regional qualifier

In mid-February, the top teams from the NDHL Damettan Östra, Södra, and Västra compete for the remaining playoff berths in a regional qualifier (regionalt förkval). Each division used a different method for determining its top team The series is played as a single round-robin; the top two teams earn positions in the NDHL playoffs and the third-place team qualifies for the next NDHL Damettan season.

Playoffs

The NDHL playoffs feature the top-three teams from the two divisions of the Dam HockeyAllsvenskan and the top-two teams from the regional qualifier. The divisions from the Dam HockeyAllsvenskan – Norra and Södra – remain in place and one team from the regional qualifier is added to each of the divisions. Each round is played using a best-of-three format.

Kvalserie till SDHL

The Dam HockeyAllsvenskan playoff champions earn the opportunity to compete in the Kvalserie till SDHL ('qualification series for the SDHL'), in which they play against the two bottom ranked teams from the SDHL regular season. The teams ranking first and second in the kvalserie earn placement in the SDHL for the following season, meaning one or both NDHL teams can gain promotion to the SDHL and one or both of the SDHL teams can be relegated to the NDHL DamEttan.

Teams

2023–24 NDHL DamEttan teams

NDHL DamEttan Norra

Team	Location	Home venue	Head coach	Captain
IF Björklöven	Umeå	Winpos Arena	Johansson, UlfUlf Johansson	Aho, SelinaSelina Aho
Luleå HF 2	Luleå	Lulebohallen	Henriksson, Saga MariaSaga Maria Henriksson	Sundin, SigridSigrid Sundin
MoDo Hockey 2	Örnsköldsvik	Hägglunds Arena	Tejralová, AnetaAneta Tejralová	Lindgren, FilippaFilippa Lindgren
Skellefteå AIK	Skellefteå	Skellefteå Kraft Arena	Liitola, TuomosTuomos Liitola	Lövgren, EllenEllen Lövgren
Timrå IK	Timrå	Lill-strimma Hallen	Douglas, ShannonShannon Douglas	Lindström, SofieSofie Lindström

Source:

NDHL DamEttan Östra

Team	Location	Home venue	Head coach	Captain
AIK 2	Solna	Ulriksdals IP	Yngve, ChristianChristian Yngve	Al-Hammami, MadeleineMadeleine Al-Hammami
Hammarby IF	Stockholm	Zinkensdamms IP	Viklund, JanJan Viklund	Peterson, FridaFrida Peterson
Haninge Anchors HC	Haninge	Torvalla Ishall	Berg, MagnusMagnus Berg	Löfstedt, AnnaAnna Löfstedt
SDE HF 2	Stocksund	Enebybergs Ishall	Blomqvist, HannaHanna Blomqvist	Cansund-Lundin, JuliaJulia Cansund-Lundin
SHK Hockey	Skärplinge	PEK-Hallen	Lundvall, JanJan Lundvall	Lindvall, ElinElin Lindvall
Södertälje SK	Södertälje	Scaniarinken	Johansson, RobertRobert Johansson	Mosher, HunterHunter Mosher
Team Uppsala HC	Uppsala	Gränby Ishall	Öhrqvist, OlleOlle Öhrqvist	Almén, LeontineLeontine Almén

Source:

NDHL DamEttan Södra

Team	Location	Home venue(s)	Head coach	Captain
Hvidovre IK	Hvidovre	Frihedens Idrætscenter	Knudsen, HenrikHenrik Knudsen	Mørch, Simone HammerSimone Hammer Mørch
Karlskrona HK	Karlskrona	NKT Arena Karlskrona	Areklätt, MickaelMickael Areklätt	Olsson, VeraVera Olsson
Linköping HC 2	Linköping	Stångebro Ishall & Saab Arena	Nord, BjörnBjörn Nord	Åkelid, TindraTindra Åkelid
IF Malmö Redhawks	Malmö	Malmö Isstadion	Palm, HenrikHenrik Palm	Törner, HildaHilda Törner
Rögle BK	Ängelholm	Catena Arena	Falkenbäck Bergkvist, JuliusJulius Falkenbäck Bergkvist	Hjelm, WilmaWilma Hjelm
Rödovre SoIK	Rödovre	Rödovre Centrum Arena	Hintze, HasseHasse Hintze	Jensen, NicolineNicoline Jensen
IF Troja-Ljungby	Ljungby	Ljungby Arena	Lindh, MartinMartin Lindh	Eklind, IdaIda Eklind

Source:

NDHL DamEttan Västra

Team	Location	Home venue(s)	Head coach	Captain
Brynäs IF 2	Gävle	Monitor ERP Arena	Östlund, AndreasAndreas Östlund	Edling Karlsson, JolinaJolina Edling Karlsson
Falu IF	Falun	Lugnets Ishall	Stenvall, JimmyJimmy Stenvall	Huot-Marchand, MargotMargot Huot-Marchand
Färjestad BK	Karlstad	Löfbergs Arena	Holös, SiljeSilje Holös	Pettersson, JuliaJulia Pettersson
Hedesunda IF	Hedesunda	Hedesunda Ishall	Friberg, EricEric Friberg	Lööf, WilmaWilma Lööf
Leksands IF 2	Leksand	Clas Ohlson Foundation Arena	Borgqvist, AnnaAnna Borgqvist	Lagh, MoaMoa Lagh
Mora IK/Hällefors IK	Mora	Smidjegrav Arena	Amnér, ViktorViktor Amnér	Berlin, JosefineJosefine Berlin
Västerås IK	Västerås	Mimerhallen	Husar, EvelinaEvelina Husar	Malloy, MeredithMeredith Malloy
Örebro HK	Örebro	Behrn Arena	Norrlund, DanielDaniel Norrlund	Karlsson, AlvaAlva Karlsson

Source:

2023–24 Dam HockeyAllsvenskan teams

Dam HockeyAllsvenskan Norra Skellefteå AIK Färjestad BK IF Björklöven Falu IF Örebro HK Source:

Dam HockeyAllsvenskan Södra Södertälje SK Rögle BK IF Malmö Redhawks Haninge Anchors HC IF Troja-Ljungby Team Uppsala HC Source:

References

• SIF Tävlingsavdelningen. Seriebesämmelser & Verksamhetsplan : Säsongen 2022-2023 (in sv). Svenska Ishockeyförbundet. 

External links

• [ Official website] (in Swedish)
• League statistics and data from the statistics site of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association