Frölunda HC

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2007-08 Frölunda HC season
Frölunda HC
City: Gothenburg, Sweden
League: Elitserien
Founded: February 3, 1938
Home Arena: Scandinavium
Colors: Red, Green, White
General Manager: Flag of Sweden Kent Norberg
Head Coach: Flag of Sweden Ulf Dahlén
Captain: Vacant
Affiliates: Borås HC (HockeyAllsvenskan)
Franchise history
1944–1984: Västra Frölunda IF
1984–2004: Västra Frölunda HC
2004–present: Frölunda HC
Championships
Playoff Championships: 1965, 2003, 2005

Frölunda Hockey Club, also known as the Frölunda Indians,[1] are a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Gothenburg. They are currently playing in the highest Swedish league, Elitserien, where they have played the majority of the seasons during its existence. The last time they played in the lower division, Allsvenskan, was in 1995. Frölunda have won the national championship title three times, in 1965, 2003, and 2005.

The club was originally founded on February 3, 1938,[2] as an ice hockey section in Västra Frölunda IF and became independent on March 29, 1984.[3] On June 16, 2004, the club shortened the name from Västra Frölunda Hockey Club to Frölunda Hockey Club.[4]

Frölunda's home venue is the 12,044 capacity Scandinavium arena in central Gothenburg. Frölundaborg is used when Scandinavium is occupied with other events.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Early years

Frölunda Hockey Club originates from Älvsborg's gymnastics- and sports association, an association, which shortly after its foundation on January 2, 1930, changed name to Västra Frölunda Idrottsförening.[5] On February 3, 1938, during a board meeting at Café Lorry, the ice hockey section in Västra Frölunda IF was founded.[2] Chairman Nils "Johan" Johansson was the advocate of an ice hockey section in the association. The board agreed to pay 75 kronor to the Swedish Ice Hockey Association to gain membership and acquire free equipment. The equipment was however borrowed to the military pilots at Säve airbase, by the main impugner/deprecator Bengt ”Bittan” Johansson.

In 1944 Frölunda registered a team for league competition. Due to the mild weather it would take 2 years before the premier. On January 25, 1946, Västra Frölunda IF played there first ice hockey game against local rival Fellows at Krokslätts ice rink. A small notice in Göteborgs-Posten attracted 160 people to watch the game that ended in a 1–8 loss. The team fielded for the game included one goalie, two defenseman and six forwards. Only one of the nine players, Gunnar Gerdne, had played hockey earlier, the other players came from the associations bandy section. Despite the big loss, the newspapers proclaim it as a good debut.Another two games were played in their first season, a 2–1 win over Chalmers and a 10–1 loss against Udden. Frölunda finnished third in the Group B of the Gothenburg series.

On January 22, 1947, in the season premier against Hisingen Frölunda had three players ill, and were only able to dress six players for the game. At the end of the first period Frölunda players Björn Andersson got injured with a broken nose. With one player out Frölunda had to play the rest of the game one man down. They were able to keep the game tied to the final period before Hisingen got the lead, the game ended in a 4–7 loss. After a 4–4 tie against Göteborgs SK and a 13–1 win over Chalmers, Frölunda finished second in the standings which was one position higher then the last year.

[edit] 1980s

[edit] Independent

 This section does not cite any references or sources. (February 2007)
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
Västra Frölunda Hockey Club logo between 1984-1996.
Västra Frölunda Hockey Club logo between 1984-1996.

After the 1982/83 season the hockey section presented a budget deficit of 675 000 SEK. At this point, the tension between the hockey section and the clubs management was high. Everyone with insight in the organisation knew that it was just a matter of time before the two parties would separate.

The only thing preventing an immediate separation between the two blocks, was the sentimental issue of Bittan Johansson. Bittan, a legend within the organisation, was at the time of the conflict deadly ill and only had months left to live. On September 9, 1983, only two months after his 65th birthday, Bittan Johansson died. Now when there were no more ties to VFIF, club president Rune Kristiansson didn't see any reasons why the hockey section should be a part of VFIF.

On March 11, 1984, VFIF played their last ice hockey game, 38 years, 1 month and 15 days after the premier against Fellows on Krokslätts ice rink.

On March 29, 1984, VFIF held their annual meeting, where the hockey section would participate for the last time. With a strike of a gavel, Rune Kristiansson ended the hockey section in VFIF. Kristiansson handed over the podium to Rolf Kling, who had been the last president of the hockey section. Kling cheerfully and ironically asked "So, is there anyone who wants to start a hockey club?"

[edit] Now

In the 2004-05 season, the club's 60th anniversary and 20th as independent club, the team won the league title, by having the best record during the regular season, and the Swedish Championship. That particular year was notable because the National Hockey League had a labour stoppage due to labour negotiations between the league and the players. Many professional hockey players who could not play in the NHL chose to play in European or North American leagues. The largest number of professional NHL players were in Sweden for the season. This increased the quality of play dramatically and many observers said that the Elitserien was the best league in the world during 2004-05.[6]

Frölunda set a new Elitserien record on April 6, 2006, by winning the Elitserien playoff semi finals against Linköpings HC 4-3 after trailing the series 1-3. The season ended with a 2-4 defeat against Färjestads BK in the finals. The second game in the finals Ronnie Sundin played his 685th game for Frölunda becoming the player with most career games for the club.

[edit] Season-by-season results

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by Frölunda. For the full season-by-season history, see Frölunda HC seasons

Season League Regular Season[7] Post Season Results
Finish GP W L T GF GA Pts
2003-04 Elitserien 3rd 50 24 16 10 160 116 89 Won in Quarterfinals, 4-0 (Djurgården)
Lost in Semifinals, 2-4 (HV71)
2004-05 Elitserien 1st 50 33 8 9 180 96 112 Won in Quarterfinals, 4-0 (Luleå)
Won in Semifinals, 4-1 (Djurgården)
Won Swedish Championship, 4-1 (Färjestad)
2005-06 Elitserien 2nd 50 28 14 8 169 130 96 Won in Quarterfinals, 4-0 (Brynäs)
Won in Semifinals, 4-3 (Linköping)
Lost in Finals, 2-4 (Färjestad)
2006-07 Elitserien 9th 55 22 24 9 167 162 76
2007-08 Elitserien 6th 55 23 22 10 159 157 82 Lost in Quarterfinals, 3-4 (Färjestad)

[edit] Team records

[edit] Regular season

[edit] Playoffs

[edit] Team

  • Most points in a season: 112 (2004-05)
  • Most wins in a season: 33 (2004-05)
  • Most goals in a season: 181 (2001-02)
  • Fewest goals against in a season: 96 (2004-05)

[edit] Scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers of Frölunda HC since the 1975-76 season. Figures are updated after each completed regular season. Bold indicates a player still active with Frölunda. Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player POS GP G A Pts
Patrik Carnbäck LW 553 216 274 490
Niklas Andersson LW 500 182 282 464
Jonas Johnson C 532 158 220 378
Jörgen Pettersson LW 357 188 141 329
Peter Gustavsson C 414 157 157 314
Stefan Larsson D 684 136 174 310
Christer Kellgren LW 342 162 144 306
Peter Ström RW 574 108 162 270
Tomi Kallio RW 280 127 142 269
Peter Berndtsson C 476 112 153 265

[edit] Current roster

Players under contract for the 2008-09 season, as of May 8, 2008.[8]

Goaltenders
Number Player Catches Acquired Place of Birth
31 Flag of Finland Ari Ahonen L 2007 Jyväskylä, Finland
Defensemen
Number Player Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
3 Flag of Denmark Philip Larsen R 2006 Esbjerg, Denmark
7 Flag of Finland Antti-Jussi Niemi L 2003 Vantaa, Finland
20 Flag of Finland Tuukka Mäntylä L 2007 Tampere, Finland
23 Flag of Sweden Ronnie Sundin L 1998 Ludvika, Sweden
26 Flag of Finland Toni Söderholm L 2007 Kauniainen, Finland
41 Flag of Sweden Oscar Hedman L 2008 Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
81 Flag of Sweden Andreas Holmqvist R 2007 Stockholm, Sweden
Forwards
Number Player Position[9] Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
10 Flag of Sweden Fredrik Pettersson RW R 2007 Gothenburg, Sweden
11 Flag of Sweden Magnus Kahnberg RW R 2006 Kållered, Sweden
12 Flag of Sweden Karl Fabricius LW L 2006 Boden, Sweden
16 Flag of Sweden Jonas Nordquist C L 2007 Leksand, Sweden
18 Flag of Sweden Joakim Andersson C L 2005 Munkedal, Sweden
21 Flag of Sweden Mikael Johansson C R 2007 Gothenburg, Sweden
24 Flag of Sweden Niklas Andersson LW L 2001 Gothenburg, Sweden
28 Flag of Sweden Andreas Karlsson C L 2008 Ludvika, Sweden
32 Flag of Sweden Johan Andersson LW L 2007 Mariestad, Sweden
61 Flag of Denmark Lars Eller C L 2005 Rødovre, Denmark
71 Flag of Finland Tomi Kallio RW L 2003 Turku, Finland
84 Flag of Sweden Patric Blomdahl LW L 2008 Stockholm, Sweden


[edit] Honored members

Frölunda Hockey have retired the numbers of four players, all on March 3, 2002. The number retired were; the number 13 worn by Lars Erik Lundvall, who spent eight seasons with Frölunda, all of them serving as team captain. The number 14 worn by Ronald "Sura Pelle" Pettersson, who spent seven seasons with Frölunda before suffering a career ending injury on December 14, 1967. The duo of Lundvall and Pettersson was one of the reason behind Frölunda's success in the 60's and secured that hockey got a strong foothold in Gothenburg. The number 19 worn by Jörgen Pettersson during his two stints with Frölunda. Pettersson joined the club in 1970 and played ten seasons for the club before joining the St. Louis Blues of the NHL. After five seasons in the NHL he returned and played another three seasons for the club. The number 29 worn by Stefan Larsson during his sixteen seasons with Frölunda. With the exception of two seasons, Larsson played for Frölunda his entire professional career.

Two Frölunda players have been inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation's Hall of Fame. Forward Ulf Sterner, played three seasons for Frölunda before becoming the first European-trained player to play in the NHL during his short sojourn with the New York Rangers during the 1964-65 NHL season; he was inducted in 2001.[10] Forward Ronald "Sura Pelle" Pettersson, represented team Sweden in three olympic games and ten IIHF World Championships, totaling 252 games played for the national team; he was inducted in 2004.[10] In 2003, former Frölunda players Christian Ruuttu and Jorma Salmi were inducted to the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame.[11]

[edit] Leaders

[edit] Team captains


[edit] Head coaches


[edit] References

[edit] General

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Facts. Frölunda HC. Retrieved on 2007-01-29.
  2. ^ a b Szemberg, Szymon. Västra Frölunda 50 År, p.12. 
  3. ^ Szemberg, Szymon. Västra Frölunda 50 År, p.170. 
  4. ^ {{subst:cite email |author=Carlsson, Lars O |title=SV: Tröjor |senddate=2007-02-27 |email=Lars.O.Carlsson@frolundaindians.com |accessdate=2007-02-29 }}
  5. ^ Carlsson, Lars O (2005-11-27). Del 13 - Innan isen lagt sig... (Swedish). Nostalgiska återblickar. Frölunda HC. Retrieved on 2007-11-22.
  6. ^ Elitserien världens bästa hockeyliga (PDF) (Swedish). Pro Hockey (2005-04-27). Retrieved on 2007-01-25.
  7. ^ Code explanation; GP—Games Played, W—Wins, L—Losses, T—Tied games, GF—Goals For, GA—Goals Against, Pts—Points
  8. ^ A-truppen Säsongen 2008/2009 (Swedish). Frölunda HC. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
  9. ^ Position key; C—Centre, LW—Left winger, RW—Right winger
  10. ^ a b Complete list of IIHF Hall of Fame Inductees from 1997-2006. International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved on 2007-02-28.
  11. ^ Finnish Hall of Fame - Honoured Members. Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 2007-02-28.

[edit] External links

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Related articles: IIHF  · IIHF Continental Cup  · IIHF European Champions Cup