2008–09 Elitserien season

The 2008–09 Elitserien season was the 34th season of Elitserien. It began on September 15, 2008, with the regular season ending February 28, 2009. The playoffs of the 85th Swedish Championship ended on April 8, with Färjestads BK taking the championship. The season started earlier than previous seasons due to the 2009 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships in Switzerland had been scheduled earlier than normal.

League business
The match start time for Saturday matches was changed to start at 16:00 local time (UTC+1) instead of 15:00 as in previous seasons.

Regular season
Djurgårdens IF changed their arena for home matches from Stockholm Globe Arena to Hovet. Also, Rögle BK changed to a new arena, Lindab Arena in Ängelholm.

The first goal of the season was scored by Lars Eller of Frölunda HC in Jönköping against HV71.

In the end of the regular season, Peter Forsberg played three games for Modo Hockey, totalling 3 points.

The top team: Färjestads BK, Linköpings HC, Frölunda HC, HV71, Luleå HF, Skellefteå AIK, Brynäs IF, and Timrå IK advanced to the playoffs. Whereas the bottom two teams advanced to the 2008-09 Kvalserien.

Final standings
GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTW = Overtime Wins, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points

Scoring leaders
GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, +/– = Plus/Minus, PIM = Penalty Minutes

Playoffs
After the regular season, the standard of 8 teams qualified for the playoffs.

Playoff bracket
In the first round, the highest remaining seed chose which of the four lowest remaining seeds to be matched against. In the second round, the highest remaining seed was matched against the lowest remaining seed. In each round the higher-seeded team was awarded home ice advantage. Each best-of-seven series followed a 1–1–1–2–1–1 format: the higher-seeded team played at home for games 2 and 4 (plus 5 and 7 if necessary), and the lower-seeded team was at home for game 1, 3 and 6 (if necessary).

Records

 * January 5, 2009 – Chris Abbott, forward with Rögle BK, scored four goals in a single game against HV71, tying the current record.
 * January 31, 2009 – Johan Harju, centre with Luleå HF, scored four goals in a single against Brynäs IF, tying the current record.