IF Björklöven

IF Björklöven (often simply referred to as Löven) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club in Umeå, Västerbotten, in northern Sweden. The club is currently playing in the second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan as of the 2014–15 season, but has played 15 seasons in the top Swedish league Elitserien (1976–77, 1978–79 to 1988–89, 1993–94, 1998–99 and 2000–01, becoming national champions in 1987).

IF Björklöven
CityUmeå, Sweden
LeagueHockeyAllsvenskan
FoundedMay 15, 1970 (1970-05-15)
Home arenaWinpos Arena
Colours   
General managerPer Kenttä
Head coachViktor Stråhle
CaptainFredric Andersson
Websitebjorkloven.com
Franchise history
26Seasons in Sweden's highest division
3Swedish Championship Finals appearances
Championships
Le Mat Trophy1987

History

IF Björklöven was formed in 1970 when the ice hockey sections of IFK Umeå and Sandåkerns SK were merged. The IFK Umeå team had already at times been referred to as 'björklöven' (the birch leaves) as a tongue in cheek reference to Canadian ice hockey and Umeå being known as the 'city of birch trees', and after the merger the nickname became the official team name.

The team was quite successful at the Elitserien (SEL) level, the highest league in Sweden, during the 1980s and won the Swedish championship in 1987. They were, however, relegated only two years later, and since then have not been able to establish themselves permanently in the Elitserien again. Instead, they have mostly played in the second-tier league Allsvenskan, save for a few short stints in the 90s. Some notable players from Björklöven are Calle Johansson, Ulf Dahlén, Tore Öqvist and twins Patrik Sundström and Peter Sundström.

From 2001 to 2010, Björklöven played in HockeyAllsvenskan, the second highest ice hockey league for men in Sweden. Although the team finished 12th in the 2009–10 HockeyAllsvenskan season (which meant that the team was set to play in HockeyAllsvenskan the following season), the club was in big economical problems in March–May 2010. The club went bankrupt in April 2010, but got the bankruptcy allayed a month later. Despite huge further efforts by the club to obtain an elite license to play in HockeyAllsvenskan the following season, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association (SIHA) decided not to give Björklöven an elite license and thus the team was relegated to the third-tier league Division 1 for the 2010–11 season. Björklöven was eventually promoted back to HockeyAllsvenskan in the 2012–13 season.

The team has recently had many promising young players, including Alexander Hellström, Alexander Sundström, Patrik Nevalainen, Daniel Rahimi and Kristofer Berglund. Due to lack of funds however, Björklöven lost all of these young players to other teams, although Hellström, Sundström and Nevalainen later rejoined the team.

Björklöven Dam

Björklöven's women's side currently plays in Damettan, in the north division of the second tier of Swedish women's hockey. Ahead of the 2018–19 SDHL season, the club hosted the Damcup Umeå exhibition tournament between Björklöven, Luleå HF/MSSK, Modo Hockey, and the Japanese national team. Luleå were crowned winners of the tournament after winning all three of their games.[1]

Season-by-season records
List of Björklöven seasons
Season Level Division Record Avg.
home
atnd.		 Notes Ref
Position W-OTW-OTL-L
This is a partial list, featuring the five most recent seasons. For a more complete list, see List of IF Björklöven seasons
2017–18 Tier 2 HockeyAllsvenskan 5th of 14 20–6–8–18 3,902 [2]
Playoff to SHL qualifiers 3rd of 6 2–2–0–1 4,028 [3]
2018–19 Tier 2 HockeyAllsvenskan 10th of 14 16–6–8–22 3,879 [4]
2019–20 Tier 2 HockeyAllsvenskan 1st of 14 36–5–3–8 4,754 [5]
HockeyAllsvenskan Finals – 1–0–1–0 5,400 Playoffs cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic [6]
2020–21 Tier 2 HockeyAllsvenskan 3rd of 14 26–6–3–17 23 [7]
HockeyAllsvenskan Playoffs – 6–2–3–5 56 Won in quarterfinals 3–1 in games vs Mora IK
Won in semifinals 4–3 in games vs BIK Karlskoga
Lost in finals 1–4 in games vs Timrå IK		 [8]
2021–22 Tier 2 HockeyAllsvenskan 4th of 14 26–7–6–13 3,855 [9]
HockeyAllsvenskan Playoffs – 8–2–2–6 5,176 Won in quarterfinals 4–1 in games vs Västerås IK
Won in semifinals 4–3 in games vs Modo Hockey
Lost in finals 2–4 in games vs HV71		 [10]

Players and personnel

Current roster

Updated 5 March, 2023.[11]

No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
13 Sweden Fredric Andersson (C) C L 35 2017 Gnesta, Sweden
37 Sweden Jacob Andersson D L 28 2022 Umeå, Sweden
47 Canada Charles-David Beaudoin D R 29 2022 Drummondville, Quebec, Canada
25 Sweden Christopher Bengtsson C L 30 2021 Stockholm, Sweden
24 Sweden Linus Cronholm D L 23 2022 Malmö, Sweden
33 Canada Alex D'Orio G R 24 2022 Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
68 Sweden Elliot Ekefjärd RW L 21 2021 Vaxholm, Sweden
76 Sweden Elliot Ekmark C L 21 2023 Linköping, Sweden
10 Canada Gerry Fitzgerald C R 30 2021 Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada
41 Canada Maxime Fortier RW R 25 2022 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
20 Sweden Carl Holmner Härgestam LW L 20 2020 Umeå, Sweden
90 Canada Alex Hutchings C/RW R 32 2019 Burlington, Ontario, Canada
58 Sweden Kim Johansson D L 25 2022 Luleå, Sweden
18 Sweden Oliver Johansson LW L 20 2022 Sundsvall, Sweden
92 Finland Viljami Juusola D L 20 2021 Kirkkonummi, Finland
5 Sweden Jesper Lindgren D R 26 2021 Umeå, Sweden
81 Sweden Jens Lööke RW R 26 2023 Gävle, Sweden
39 Finland Joel Mustonen C L 31 2022 Oulu, Finland
15 Norway Mattias Nørstebø (A) D L 28 2021 Trondheim, Norway
32 Sweden Jacob Olofsson C L 23 2021 Piteå, Sweden
12 United States Scott Pooley RW R 29 2022 Granger, Indiana, United States
71 Sweden Gustav Possler LW L 28 2020 Södertälje, Sweden
48 Sweden Daniel Rahimi D L 36 2020 Umeå, Sweden
7 United States Nick Schilkey RW R 29 2022 Marysville, Michigan, United States
6 Finland Veeti Vainio D R 26 2021 Espoo, Finland
29 Sweden Alexander Viklund (A) W L 32 2018 Piteå, Sweden
30 Finland Joona Voutilainen G L 26 2021 Espoo, Finland
22 Sweden Fredric Weigel C L 31 2022 Stockholm, Sweden

Team captains
  • John Slettvoll, 1976–77
  • Ulf Lundström, 1977–80
  • Torbjörn Andersson, 1981–83
  • Rolf Berglund, 1983–86
  • Peter Andersson, 1986–89
  • Ulf Andersson, 1989–90
  • Peter Andersson, 1990–93
  • Patrik Sundström, 1993–94
  • Peter Andersson, 1994–95
  • Jens Öhman, 1995–96
  • Robert Ljunggren, 1996–97
  • Peder Bejegård, 1997–98
  • Jens Öhman, 1998–99
  • Christian Lechtaler, 1999–01
  • Göran Hermansson, 2001–02
  • Jörgen Hermansson, 2002–05
  • Mats Lavander, 2005–07
  • Magnus Gästrin, 2007–09
  • Fredrik Öberg, 2009–10
  • Martin Johansson, 2010–11
  • Johan Jarl, 2011–13
  • Mats Lavander, 2013–14
  • Stefan Öhman, 2014–17
  • Fredric Andersson, 2017–present

Honored members
IF Björklöven retired numbers
No. Player Position Career No. retirement
9Aleksandrs BeļavskisRW1991–2003–
17Patrik SundströmRW1978–1982, 1992–1994–
23Roger HägglundD1977–1983, 1985–1992–
27Tore Ökvist[12]F1974–1988–

Notable players

References
  1. Payne, Shelley (September 11, 2018). "IF Bjorkloven: Damcup Umea Pre-Season Tournament".
  2. "Allsvenskan: 2017–18: Allsvenskan". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  3. "Allsvenskan: 2017–18: Allsvenskan Playoffs". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  4. "Allsvenskan: 2017–18: Allsvenskan". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  5. "Allsvenskan: 2019–20: Allsvenskan". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 26 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  6. "Allsvenskan: 2019–20: Allsvenskan Playoffs". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 26 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  7. "Allsvenskan: 2020–21: Allsvenskan". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 26 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  8. "Allsvenskan: 2020–21: Allsvenskan Playoffs". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 26 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  9. "Allsvenskan: 2021–22: Allsvenskan". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 26 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  10. "Allsvenskan: 2021–22: Allsvenskan Playoffs". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 26 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  11. "Björklöven roster". IF Björklöven (in Swedish). 5 March 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  12. "Retired Numbers". European Hockey.net. Retrieved January 23, 2007.
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