In Hockeyettan, teams do not compete nationally, but rather break into four divisions/groups organized geographically. These smaller divisions play half a season together, after which the more successful teams in the four divisions join two new groups, organized geographically into "Allettan North" and "Allettan South", and play the rest of the season in the new groups. Meanwhile, the teams in the four beginning groups that did not qualify for Allettan continue playing in the original groups, with the poorest performing teams being forced to defend their spots against the winning teams from Division 2 in the qualification tournament known as Kvalserien. The two Allettan winners battle for a direct spot in the Kvalserien for HockeyAllsvenskan in a series known as Hockeyettanfinalen. The teams ranked 2–9 in each Allettan group, the loser of Hockeyettanfinalen and the winners of the continuation groups qualify for a three-round playoff where the final three remaining teams qualify for the same Kvalserien. These four teams are joined by the two worst HockeyAllsvenskan teams to battle for two spots in the following HockeyAllsvenskan season. Tiers 4–7 All leagues in Swedish ice hockey after Hockeyettan are organized regionally. There is Hockeytvåan, the fourth tier. Most regions also have Hockeytrean. The eastern region also has Hockeyfyran. Stockholm also has a seventh division, Division 5, and has also briefly had an eighth, Division 6. Women's leagues The highest women's ice hockey league is Swedish Women's Hockey League, which has eight teams. Lower leagues are Damettan and Damtvåan. References