The first organized women's ice hockey game in Sweden was played in 1969 between
Modo AIK and
Timrå IK. The
Swedish women's national team played its first games in April 1987, during the
1987 Women's World Tournament in
Ontario, Canada. The first, unofficial National Championship was played in 1985. Three unofficial championships were held, in 1984–85, 1985–86, and 1986–87. The championships were played with
round-robin tournament structure.
Nacka HK won the National Championship title in all three seasons. The
Swedish Ice Hockey Association (SIF) established the first, official Swedish Championship for the 1987–88 season. Division 1 served as the qualifying league for the Swedish Championship. This league had a variable number of teams distributed into some small regional leagues, followed by a national playoff. During the 2007–08 season, the best Division 1 teams qualified for a new league, the Riksserien (‘National Series’), which became the top-tier league. Division 1 became the second level of women's hockey in Sweden. The Riksserien comprised eight teams. Each team would face the seven opposing teams in four games, two at home and two away. The top two teams at the end of the
regular season would qualify for the semi-finals. The teams classified in third to sixth place would each play a three-game playoff qualifying series. In the semifinals, the match for the third place and final depend on a simple match. The teams ranked seventh and eighth at the end of the regular season would face the top two from Division 1 in a
promotion/relegation series to remain in the Swedish Women's Hockey League or be
relegated Division 1 The Riksserien was reorganized and rebranded as the
Svenska damhockeyligan (SDHL, ) prior to the
2016–17 season. The change was meant to increase public interest and sponsorship of the teams by branding the league in the style of the
Swedish Hockey League (SHL) and to encourage SHL teams to promote their sister teams. ==Domestic league structure==