They become champions:

 Brynäs.

It will be the best of five matches that will decide the winner in the end, and I would just as well have been able to write HV71 or Luleå.

But with this year's line-up and with Lara Stalder in the lead, Brynäs can count on the favorite pressure.

They qualify: 

Gothenburg, Leksand.

Unfortunately, I think that young Leksand will also qualify with the new acquisition Suonpää in the goal.

However, Leksand is not a given qualifying team so it will be tight at the bottom this year.

Gothenburg will again this year qualify as they lack the stability and experience in the highest league.

It is difficult for them to find continuity with many new players ahead of this year's season.

The team that surprises

: SDE who plays a straight and hard ice hockey that is hard to face.

They also have last year's "goalkeeper of the year" in Lindsey Post, which means that they can continue their successful team building.

They will be a disappointment:

 I think AIK will have a tougher season, as they lack given goal scorers - if you ignore the sniper Lisa Johansson.

They surprised last year with a fifth place in the series, but I think it will be a bit lower this year.

This year's sporting snack ice cream: The

 number of foreigners in the league.

Ahead of this year's season, I see almost only foreign new acquisitions - as usual, this will be a snack bar as Damkronorna has an important year.

Winner of the points league:

 Lara Stalder, Brynäs.

She has an incredible eye for the game, shoots in the right positions and finds the smallest gap with her effective shot.

She has good help from Mrazova who is a really sharp forward.

Lara became "forward of the year" and won the points league last season.

CLIP: Lara Stalder: "We have what it takes"

Javascript is disabled

Javascript must be turned on to play video

Read more about browser support

The browser is not supported

SVT does not support playback in your browser.

We therefore recommend that you switch to another browser.

Read more about browser support

Lara Stalder

Most valuable player for his team: 

Jenni Hiirikoski Luleå.

Wow, what she means a lot to her team!

She is the difference for Luleå - if she plays, Luleå is always a given in the final ahead of the spring.

With her injured, things will be much slower.

 This

Jennfier Wakefield Linköping.

Believes that Wakefield regains her self-confidence now that she is back in Linköping where she had good seasons before.

In her best moments, she can carry the team and lift Linköping in the table.

Breakthrough of the season:

 Hanna Thuvik in Brynäs can have a really good season in new surroundings.

Hanna has the future ahead of her and maybe with the support of better players in Brynäs she can take that next step.

SDHL has some really young promising players who will want to show their front feet this year, Viivi Vainikka (Finland) in Luleå will also be worth seeing!

Season coach: 

Henrik Glaas, Brynäs.

With a strong squad on paper and finally that strong defensive also in place, it will take a lot if Glaas does not get his team to perform at the top.

This is how SDHL feels in the shadow of the pandemic: 

Still pretty okay.

SDHL does not stand and fall with the audience.

They are used to smaller people at the matches and fortunately have other sources of income.

Maria Rooth sums up before the start:

 An exciting season with many new faces is coming and there is no given series winner here.

Many want to join and fight for the gold and there are five teams in the top that make up for the top places.

The team has gotten better this year and the only loss that will be felt is that the league's biggest star for many years, Michelle Karvinen, has disappeared from Luleå.

Overall, it will be a very worthwhile story with many talented stars on the ice.