From 2009 to 2011, during Södertälje's three latest seasons in the Elitserien, the team appeared in the Kvalserien three years in a row. In the respective Elitserien seasons they finished 12th and 11th. In both 2009 and 2010 the team survived Kvalserien and thus managed to stay in Elitserien. However, in 2011, things went worse. Prior to the last round, both Södertälje and Modo had 17 points. In the final round of the 2011 Kvalserien, both teams met each other in Fjällräven Center for a game that directly decided which team would be relegated to HockeyAllsvenskan. Södertälje lost the game 0–2 and thus were relegated to HockeyAllsvenskan. After Södertälje's failure to stay in Elitserien, Södertälje's then head coach Peter Popovic was forced to leave the club. Johan Strömwall became Södertälje's new head coach.