Frölunda HC

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Frölunda HC
League	Elitserien
Founded	February 3, 1938
History	Västra Frölunda IF 1944-1984 Västra Frölunda HC 1984-2004 Frölunda HC 2004-present
Arena	Scandinavium
City	Gothenburg, Sweden
Team Colors	Red, green, white
General Manager	Christer Kellgren
Head Coach	Per Bäckman
Captain	Jonas Johnson
Swedish Champions	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 1 History 1.1 Early Years 1.2 1980s 1.2.1 Independent 1.3 Now 2 Seasons and records 2.1 Elitserien 2.2 Team records 2.3 Scoring leaders 3 Current roster 4 Honored members 5 Leaders 5.1 Team captains 5.2 Head coaches 6 References 6.1 General 6.2 Footnotes 7 External links

[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. 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 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

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.^[5]

Frölunda set a new Elitserien record on April 6, 2006, by winning the Elitserien playoff semi finals against Linköpings HC 4-3 after trailing 1-3 in matches. 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] Seasons and records

[edit] Elitserien

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; Pts = Points; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against

Season	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	Finish	Playoffs
1975-76	36	14	18	4	32	154	153	7th, Elitserien	Did not qualify
1976-77	36	12	19	5	29	150	174	8th, Elitserien	Did not qualify
1977-78	36	17	10	9	43	158	122	6th, Elitserien	Did not qualify
1978-79	36	18	14	4	40	157	129	5th, Elitserien	Did not qualify
1979-80	36	19	14	3	41	153	137	3rd, Elitserien	Won in Semifinals, 2-1 (Björklöven) Lost in Finals, 2-3 (Brynäs)
1980-81	36	18	14	4	40	149	146	4th, Elitserien	Lost in Quarterfinals, 0-2 (AIK)
1981-82	36	14	15	7	35	132	123	7th, Elitserien	Did not qualify
1982-83	36	12	18	6	30	135	160	7th, Elitserien	Did not qualify
1983-84	36	8	20	8	24	129	195	10th, Elitserien	Relegated to Allsvenskan
1989-90	40	13	25	2	28	154	202	10th, Elitserien	Did not qualify
1990-91	22	3	13	6	12	59	97	12th, Elitserien	Relegated to Allsvenskan
1991-92	40	17	12	11	45	149	139	5th, Elitserien	Lost in Quarterfinals, 2-3 (Brynäs)
1992-93	22	8	12	2	18	67	74	11th, Elitserien	Relegated to Allsvenskan
1993-94	40	18	14	8	44	122	117	4th, Elitserien	Lost in Quarterfinals, 1-3 (Djurgården)
1994-95	22	6	11	5	17	63	70	11th, Elitserien	Relegated to Allsvenskan
1995-96	40	20	10	10	50	130	95	2nd, Elitserien	Won in Quarterfinals, 3-2 (Leksand) Won in Semifinals, 3-1 (Modo) Lost in Finals, 1-3 (Luleå)
1996-97	50	17	16	17	51	134	133	7th, Elitserien	Lost in Quarterfinals, 0-3 (Luleå)
1997-98	46	17	14	15	49	136	107	4th, Elitserien	Won in Quarterfinals, 3-0 (Brynäs) Lost in Semifinals, 1-3 (Färjestad)
1998-99	50	19	23	8	70	148	136	7th, Elitserien	Lost in Quarterfinals, 1-3 (Modo)
1999-00	50	25	15	10	89	155	131	3rd, Elitserien	Lost in Quarterfinals, 1-4 (Modo)
2000-01	50	21	22	7	72	155	139	8th, Elitserien	Lost in Quarterfinals, 1-4 (Färjestad)
2001-02	50	23	19	8	81	181	150	5th, Elitserien	Won in Quarterfinals, 4-1 (Djurgården) Lost in Semifinals, 1-4 (Modo)
2002-03	50	29	11	10	103	162	97	1st, Elitserien	Won in Quarterfinals, 4-2 (Modo) Won in Semifinals, 4-2 (Timrå) Swedish Champions, 4-0 (Färjestad)
2003-04	50	24	16	10	89	160	116	3rd, Elitserien	Won in Quarterfinals, 4-0 (Djurgården) Lost in Semifinals, 2-4 (HV71)
2004-05	50	33	8	9	112	180	96	1st, Elitserien	Won in Quarterfinals, 4-0 (Luleå) Won in Semifinals, 4-1 (Djurgården) Swedish Champions, 4-1 (Färjestad)
2005-06	50	28	14	8	96	169	130	2nd, Elitserien	Won in Quarterfinals, 4-0 (Brynäs) Won in Semifinals, 4-3 (Linköping) Lost in Finals, 2-4 (Färjestad)
2006-07	55	22	24	9	76	167	162	9th, Elitserien	Did not qualify
Elitserien Totals	1101	475	421	205	1416	3808	3530	5th, Elitserien[6]	—

[edit] Team records

• Most goals in a season: Magnus Kahnberg, 33 (2003-04)
• Most assists in a season: Niklas Andersson, 38 (2004-05)
• Most points in a season: Kristian Huselius, 67 (2000-01)
• Most penalty minutes in a season: Joel Lundqvist, 113 (2002-03)
• Most points in a season, defenseman: Magnus Johansson, 35 (2001-02)
• Most points in a season, rookie: Patrik Carnbäck, 54 (1989-90)
• Most shutouts in a season: Henrik Lundqvist, 7 (2003-04)
• Most power play goals in a season: Jonas Johnson, 12 (2005-06)

• Most goals in a playoff season: Daniel Alfredsson, 12 (2004-05)
• Most goals by a defenseman in a playoff season: Ronnie Sundin, 6 (2005-06)
• Most assists in a playoff season: Jonas Johnson, 11 (2005-06)
• Most points in a playoff season: Daniel Alfredsson, 18 (2004-05)
• Most points by a defenseman in a playoff season: Ronnie Sundin; Christian Bäckman, 9 (2002-03, 2005-06; 2004-05)
• Most shutouts in a playoff season: Henrik Lundqvist, 6 (2004-05)
• Most penalty minutes in a playoff season: Joel Lundqvist, 57 (2000-01)

• 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 2007-08 season, as of March 29, 2007.^[7]

Goaltenders
Number		Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth
1		Joel Gistedt	L	2003	Uddevalla, Sweden

Defensemen
Number		Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
00		Tuukka Mäntylä	L	2007	Tampere, Finland
23		Ronnie Sundin - A	L	1998	Ludvika, Sweden
25		Oscar Ackeström	L	2007	Gothenburg, Sweden
44		Jonas Ahnelöv	L	2005	Huddinge, Sweden

Forwards
Number		Player	Position	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
10		Fredrik Johansson	C	L	2006	Munkedal, Sweden
11		Magnus Kahnberg	RW	R	2006	Kållered, Sweden
12		Karl Fabricius	RW	L	2006	Boden, Sweden
18		Steve Kariya	LW	R	2006	North Vancouver, Canada
22		Jonas Esbjörs - A	LW	L	2002	Gothenburg, Sweden
24		Niklas Andersson	LW	L	2001	Gothenburg, Sweden
28		Martin Plüss	C	L	2004	Bülach, Switzerland
30		Jonas Johnson - C	C	L	1998	Gävle, Sweden
32		Johan Andersson	LW	L	2007	Mariestad, Sweden
61		Johan Ryno	RW	L	2006	Örebro, Sweden
71		Tomi Kallio	RW	L	2003	Turku, Finland

[edit] Honored members

Frölunda Hockey have retired the numbers of four players, all on March 3, 2002.^[4] The number retired were; the number 13 worn by Lars-Eric Lundvall, who spent 8 seasons with Frölunda, all of them serving as team captain. The number 14 worn by Ronald "Sura Pelle" Pettersson, who spent 7 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 Frölundas 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 10 seasons before joining the St. Louis Blues of the NHL. After 5 seasons in the NHL he returned and played another 3 seasons for the club. The number 29 worn by Stefan Larsson during his 16 seasons with Frölunda. With the exception of 2 seasons, Larsson played for Frölunda his entire professional career.

Two Frölunda players have been inducted into the IIHF 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.^[8] 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.^[8] In 2003, former Frölunda captain Christian Ruuttu was inducted to the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame.^[9]

[edit] Leaders

[edit] Team captains

[edit] Head coaches

[edit] References

[edit] General

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• Official Website
• Team History
• MittZonen Fan Forum
• Wild West Support Fan Site

Swedish Elitserien

Brynäs IF | Djurgårdens IF | Frölunda HC | Färjestads BK | HV71 | Linköpings HC | Luleå HF | Malmö Redhawks | MODO Hockey | Mora IK | Skellefteå AIK | Timrå IK