Nationella Damhockeyligan

Nationella Damhockeyligan (lit. '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.

Nationella Damhockeyligan

Formerly	Division 1, 2007–2015 Damettan, 2015–2021
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	2007 (2007)
Founder	SIF
First 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	Sweden
Most recent champion(s)	Norra: Skellefteå AIK Södra: Södertälje SK (2023–24)
Promotion to	SDHL
Relegation to	Damtvåan
Official website	ndhlsverige.se

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 (lit. '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 (lit. '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 (lit. 'North/West'), called Damhockeyallsvenskan Norra, and Syd/Öst (lit. '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 (Swedish: 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	Ulf Johansson	Selina Aho
Luleå HF 2	Luleå	Lulebohallen	Saga Maria Henriksson	Sigrid Sundin
MoDo Hockey 2	Örnsköldsvik	Hägglunds Arena	Aneta Tejralová	Filippa Lindgren
Skellefteå AIK	Skellefteå	Skellefteå Kraft Arena	Tuomos Liitola	Ellen Lövgren
Timrå IK	Timrå	Lill-strimma Hallen	Shannon Douglas	Sofie Lindström

Source:

NDHL DamEttan Östra

Team	Location	Home venue	Head coach	Captain
AIK 2	Solna	Ulriksdals IP	Christian Yngve	Madeleine Al-Hammami
Hammarby IF	Stockholm	Zinkensdamms IP	Jan Viklund	Frida Peterson
Haninge Anchors HC	Haninge	Torvalla Ishall	Magnus Berg	Anna Löfstedt
SDE HF 2	Stocksund	Enebybergs Ishall	Hanna Blomqvist	Julia Cansund-Lundin
SHK Hockey	Skärplinge	PEK-Hallen	Jan Lundvall	Elin Lindvall
Södertälje SK	Södertälje	Scaniarinken	Robert Johansson	Hunter Mosher
Team Uppsala HC	Uppsala	Gränby Ishall	Olle Öhrqvist	Leontine Almén

Source:

NDHL DamEttan Södra

Team	Location	Home venue(s)	Head coach	Captain
Hvidovre IK	Hvidovre	Frihedens Idrætscenter	Henrik Knudsen	Simone Hammer Mørch
Karlskrona HK	Karlskrona	NKT Arena Karlskrona	Mickael Areklätt	Vera Olsson
Linköping HC 2	Linköping	Stångebro Ishall & Saab Arena	Björn Nord	Tindra Åkelid
IF Malmö Redhawks	Malmö	Malmö Isstadion	Henrik Palm	Hilda Törner
Rögle BK	Ängelholm	Catena Arena	Julius Falkenbäck Bergkvist	Wilma Hjelm
Rödovre SoIK	Rödovre	Rödovre Centrum Arena	Hasse Hintze	Nicoline Jensen
IF Troja-Ljungby	Ljungby	Ljungby Arena	Martin Lindh	Ida Eklind

Source:

NDHL DamEttan Västra

Team	Location	Home venue(s)	Head coach	Captain
Brynäs IF 2	Gävle	Monitor ERP Arena	Andreas Östlund	Jolina Edling Karlsson
Falu IF	Falun	Lugnets Ishall	Jimmy Stenvall	Margot Huot-Marchand
Färjestad BK	Karlstad	Löfbergs Arena	Silje Holös	Julia Pettersson
Hedesunda IF	Hedesunda	Hedesunda Ishall	Eric Friberg	Wilma Lööf
Leksands IF 2	Leksand	Clas Ohlson Foundation Arena	Anna Borgqvist	Moa Lagh
Mora IK/Hällefors IK	Mora	Smidjegrav Arena	Viktor Amnér	Josefine Berlin
Västerås IK	Västerås	Mimerhallen	Evelina Husar	Meredith Malloy
Örebro HK	Örebro	Behrn Arena	Daniel Norrlund	Alva Karlsson

Source:

2023–24 Dam HockeyAllsvenskan teams

Dam HockeyAllsvenskan Norra

1. Skellefteå AIK
2. Färjestad BK
3. IF Björklöven
4. Falu IF
5. Örebro HK

Source:

Dam HockeyAllsvenskan Södra

1. Södertälje SK
2. Rögle BK
3. IF Malmö Redhawks
4. Haninge Anchors HC
5. IF Troja-Ljungby
6. Team Uppsala HC

Source:

References

• SIF Tävlingsavdelningen (20 January 2023). Seriebesämmelser & Verksamhetsplan : Säsongen 2022-2023 (PDF) (in Swedish). Svenska Ishockeyförbundet. Retrieved 4 June 2023.

External links

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