Global Information2008 Kvalserien information
The 2008 Kvalserien was played between 19 March and 10 April 2008. The top two ranked teams, which were Brynäs and Rögle, qualified for the 2008–09 Elitserien season.
This year's Kvalserien maybe was one of the closest ones ever; the excitement went on until the end, when 4 out of 6 teams all had 16 points before the final round and had the chance to qualify for the 2008–09 Elitserien season. In the final round, Rögle beat former Elitserien club Mora at home 3–2 and Brynäs beat Västerås away 7–0, which made Brynäs win the group, followed by Rögle. Before the qualification began, no one believed Rögle could qualify, but they surprised everyone and qualified for the 2008–09 Elitserien season, despite finishing only third in HockeyAllsvenskan. Brynäs finished last in the 2007–08 Elitserien season, but succeeded to win the qualification and thus managed to stay in the highest division. Rögle's game-winning goal against Mora in the final round was scored with 26 seconds left of regulation time.
Leksand were a big disappointment for everyone; they were one of the favourites to have a possibility to qualify, but failed. Even Malmö were one of the favourites, having 15 points after the first six rounds and topping the Kvalserien at that time, but the team only managed two more points in the last four games.
Västerås was by far the worst team in the qualification. They were the 5th team in HockeyAllsvenskan and qualified for the qualification in a kind-of-playoff series between the teams from 4 to 7 in HockeyAllsvenskan to compete for the last spot in the qualification rounds for Elitserien. Västerås' only win in the 2008 Kvalserien came against Malmö.