Once we contemplate ice hockey, one of many first names that come to thoughts is Sweden. For a rustic the place winter sports activities are extremely common, ice hockey takes priority over many different sports activities within the nation. It’s one in all Sweden’s 5 hottest sports activities, following intently behind soccer.
Not solely is ice hockey a favorite amongst locals, however the nation’s males’s and ladies’s nationwide groups have achieved appreciable worldwide success and gained quite a few medals and championships. The nation’s premier ice hockey league can also be one of many best on this planet, and lots of Swedish gamers, together with Johan Franzen, Patrik Berglund, and Thomas Steen, have performed within the NHL.
So, let’s take a look at the evolution of ice hockey in Sweden and the game’s present standing within the nation.
Historical past of Ice Hockey in Sweden
The recognition of ice hockey elevated rapidly after it was first launched in London in 1989. Quickly a lot of the European continent was taking part in the game. Earlier than ice hockey turned common, bandy dominated within the Scandinavian international locations. However it was quickly changed, and round 1910, ice hockey gained the standing of some of the common sports activities in Sweden.
In 1920 ice hockey was launched to the Olympics and was performed for the primary time on the Antwerp Summer time Olympics. Sweden completed the event in fourth place and made a robust place for itself internationally.
Initially, ice hockey was regulated and managed by the Swedish Soccer Affiliation. Nonetheless, in November 1922, the Swedish Soccer Affiliation’s ice hockey division separated and was formally established because the Swedish Ice Hockey Affiliation. The affiliation was a member of the Worldwide Ice Hockey Federation since 1920, even earlier than it was a separate entity from the nationwide soccer affiliation.
In the present day the Swedish Ice Hockey Affiliation is accountable for organising the nation’s home leagues and oversees participation in worldwide occasions.
Sweden’s Nationwide Ice Hockey Group
The Swedish males’s nationwide ice hockey workforce is without doubt one of the strongest on this planet and part of the Huge Six, the strongest ice hockey groups on this planet, together with Sweden, Canada, the USA, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Finland.
The boys’s nationwide workforce has a wonderful previous and continues to achieve success within the worldwide area. The workforce has gained many medals within the Olympics and World Championships. In 2006, Sweden gained each the Olympics and the World Ice Hockey Championship and have become the primary nation to say each titles in the identical yr.
Sweden was additionally the second nation to win the World Championship at dwelling floor in 2013, the primary one being the Soviet Union in 1986. Moreover the World Championship, the Swedish has gained quite a few Olympic medals, together with two gold, three silver, and 4 bronze.
In 2021, the boys’s workforce couldn’t attain the playoff spherical within the World Championship, which was a primary. The workforce is presently in 5th place within the IIHF rankings, whereas in 2021, it was ranked 7th, its lowest rank thus far.
The Swedish girls’s nationwide workforce has been taking part in internationally since 1987. The workforce secured a 3rd place on the World Championship in 2005 and 2007 and first place within the European Championship in 1998.
The ladies’s workforce has additionally appeared within the Olympics seven instances since 1998 and gained a silver medal in 2006 and a bronze medal in 2002. The Swedish girls’s ice hockey gamers are presently ranked in 8th place worldwide.
Home Ice Hockey Competitions in Sweden
Sweden has a complete home ice hockey construction with the SHL Swedish Hockey League, the nation’s highest division of males’s ice hockey. The league was established in 1975 and includes 14 groups presently. Essentially the most profitable workforce within the league is Farjestad BK, with ten titles, whereas Djurgardens IF and Brynas IF are in second place.
Matches performed within the SHL’s yearly season are one of many highest-attended sporting occasions within the nation and second solely to the home league matches of soccer. The winner of the SHL qualifies to take part within the Champion’s Hockey league.
The Swedish Ice Hockey League follows a promotion and relegations system with HockeyAllsvenskan, the second-highest skilled ice hockey league for males within the nation. The league was established in 2005, and presently, it has 14 groups just like the SHL. HockeyAllsvenskan follows a promotion and relegation system with Hockeyettan, the third-highest league within the nation.
For ladies, the Swedish Girls’s Ice Hockey League is the best division within the nation. It was established in 2007 as Riksserien and was renamed to Swedish Girls’s Ice Hockey League in 2017. The league follows a promotion and relegation system with Damettan, Sweden’s second-highest girls’s ice hockey division.
