The Contenders (63-65 pts)
The three teams in fourth, fifth and sixth were Leksand IF, HV71 and Djurgården IF were separated by just three points and are all capable of beating the top three in the forthcoming playoffs.
For Leksand IF top scorers have been Sweden's Anna Borgqvist and Canadian import, Danielle Stone whilst 22 year old Julia Åberg has performance well in net also getting the chance to play for the Swedish national team. They will be looking to find their early season form again which saw them top the table and beat Luleå in back to back meetings.
HV71 have the league's top performing import netminder, Alba Gonzalo from Spain in her second season at the Jönköping club. The team is also the home of another batch of Finnish internationals. The team's top scorers are 45 year old, Riikka Sallinen (formerly Välilä) and 21 year Sanna Hakala both of whom who were in the top ten of Total Points. Two years ago they knocked out favourites Luleå in the semifinals and will be hoping for similar result this year.
Meanwhile Djurgården IF will be going into the playoffs without one of their (and Sweden's) best players - 20 year old, Hanna Olsson, who quit the club dramatically this month. That leaves the other Nordic members of the squad, Norwegian Andrea Dalen (who finished in 11th on Total Points) and Dane Josefine Jakobsen (15th), left behind to continue to provide firepower upfront if the Stockholm team are to defy the odds and take the title again as they did in 2016/7.
@ABritOnThinIce1
