Do SHL Timeouts Actually Work? What 1,303 Coach's Timeouts Over 5 Seasons Reveal

Picture the last minutes of a tight game. A coach signals for a timeout, the arena roars, the players huddle around the bench — and everyone assumes the momentum is about to swing. But does that little break actually change anything?

To find out, we looked at every single timeout used in Sweden’s top professional hockey league (the SHL) over five full seasons — 1,303 of them — and checked what happened each time. You don’t need to know anything about hockey to follow along. Here’s the story the numbers tell.

How we know this

For every one of the 1,854 games from 2020/21–2024/25, we used the league’s official records — every timeout, every goal, and every time a team took its goalie off the ice. So these aren’t opinions or estimates; it’s simply a count of what actually happened.

1. Coaches use it in most games — but not every game

Each team gets just one timeout per game. Coaches used it in roughly 2 out of every 3 games (62%). So it’s common — but plenty of games go by where a coach decides to keep it in their pocket.

2. They save it for the very end

This is the clearest pattern in the whole study. 81% of timeouts are used in the final period, and 68% in the last five minutes of the game. Coaches almost never use it early to calm things down — they hold onto it for a crunch moment at the finish.

3. And it’s almost always a team that’s losing

At the moment the timeout is used, the team calling it is losing 63% of the time. Only 14% come from a team that’s ahead. In other words, a timeout is usually a sign that things aren’t going a team’s way — most often when they’re behind by a single goal and the clock is running down.

4. The real reason: setting up a big gamble

Here’s what the timeout is usually for. When a losing team uses it late, 83% of the time they immediately take their goalie off the ice and put on an extra attacker (see the primer above). The 30-second break is the coach’s chance to organise that all-out push.

Does the gamble pay off? Rarely. It ties the game only 16% of the time — and the open net gets punished: the other team scored 254 goals into the empty net, while the gambling team scored just 93. It’s a long shot, and the timeout simply sets it up.

5. So does calling a timeout spark a comeback?

Let’s compare fairly. Take every team that was losing by exactly one goal at the start of the final period, and split them into two groups: those who later used a timeout and those who didn’t. The teams that didn’t use one rescued the game (forced overtime or won) 50% of the time; the teams that did only 18%.

Read this carefully: it does not mean the timeout hurts the team. It’s the other way around — coaches only reach for the timeout when things are already going badly (they’ve fallen further behind, they’re about to pull the goalie). The timeout is a sign of trouble, not the cause of it.

6. Does it change the momentum?

If a timeout really “fired up” a team, they’d score the next goal more often than normal. They don’t. After a losing team’s timeout, they score the next goal only about 33% of the time — a bit less often than a normal team in the same spot (43%). There’s simply no momentum boost in the numbers.

The coaches who reach for it most

Some coaches trust the timeout more than others. Over the five seasons, these used it the most often:

#	Coach	Times used
1	Eriksson, Niklas	86
2	Berglund, Thomas	82
3	Mitell, Thomas	71
4	Rönnberg, Roger	68
5	Ohlsson, Robert	65
6	Hellkvist, Björn	62

The takeaway in one line

A hockey timeout looks dramatic, but the data says it’s mostly a last resort for a team that’s already losing — a way to organise one final gamble that usually doesn’t come off. It’s not the momentum-changing magic button it appears to be on TV.

Common questions

What is a timeout in hockey?

Each team is allowed one 30-second timeout per game. The coach can call it whenever they want to stop play, talk to the players and rest the best line. Because there is only one, coaches save it for a big moment.

How often do teams actually use it?

In 1,854 games over five seasons (2020/21–2024/25), coaches used their timeout 1,303 times — in roughly 2 out of every 3 games (62%).

When in the game do they use it?

Almost always at the end. 81% are used in the final (third) period, and 68% in the last five minutes of the game.

Are the teams that call it winning or losing?

Mostly losing. 63% of timeouts are used by a team that is behind, 22% when the score is tied, and only 14% by a team that is ahead.

Does the timeout help the team come back?

Not much. A losing team usually uses the timeout to set up a last-ditch gamble — pulling its goalie off the ice for an extra attacker (83% of the time). That gamble ties the game only 16% of the time, and the open net it leaves behind is punished: 254 goals went into the empty net versus 93 the gambling team scored. The timeout is a sign a team is in trouble, not a magic reset.

Where do these numbers come from?

Official Swedish Hockey League game records (every timeout, goal and goalie change) for the five completed seasons 2020/21–2024/25, from The Hockey Analytics’ hockey database.

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Based on official Swedish Hockey League records (every timeout, goal and goalie change) for five complete seasons, 2020/21–2024/25. Regular season only. We’re describing what happened, not proving cause and effect.

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