Elitserien (Paperback)

Elitserien, or the Swedish Elite League (SEL), as it is often unofficially called in English, is a professional ice hockey league composed of twelve teams in Sweden. It is the highest-level ice hockey league in Sweden, and is ranked by the IIHF as the fourth best league in Europe after the Russian Kontinental Hockey League, the Finnish SM-liiga, and the Czech Extraliga. The first season under the name Elitserien was played in 1975-76. The Swedish ice hockey championships have been played in various forms since 1922. Naturally, Swedes constitute a large majority of the players in Elitserien, approximately 70% during the 2006-07 season. According to the Swedish Ice Hockey Association there were 99 foreign players in the teams' rosters, and a total of 127 foreigners registered with the twelve Elitserien teams at the start of the 2006-07 season.