Frederikshavn White Hawks

White Hawks logo

The Frederikshavn White Hawks are a Danish professional ice hockey team playing in the top Danish ice hockey league currently called the AL-Bank Ligaen. The team is based in the town of Frederikshavn on the east coast of Northern Jutland, Denmark, and is run by the Frederikshavn Ishockey Klub (F.I.K).

History

The White Hawks were founded in 1964 and have won the Danish title twice (1989, 2000) and have been runners-up three times (1999, 2008, 2011).

Recent history

2007/08

In 2008 they progressed to the final after finishing the regular season seeded 8th (the first team in Danish league history to do so) knocking top seed Rødovre out in the first best of 7 series in the 7th game by scoring two late goals to win by 1. They beat SønderjyskE in the semi final series, but lost the final in five games to the then reigning champions Herning.

2008/09

2009 saw them seeded 7th. If not for the bankruptcy of Hvidovre they would have finished 8th and probably faced Herning and forced their local rivals AaB out of the finals by 1 goal differential. However Hvildovre's bankruptcy left an open slot for AaB and put the White Hawks up a place to face Rødovre (second seed) again in the quarter finals. This was also a very close series with the White Hawks winning three games over the much favored Rødovre, and pushing them to game 7 again. Rødovre won game 7 fairly easily, but the decisive moment was really Rødovre's overtime win in game 4, without which the White Hawks would have progressed after winning game 6. Rødovre went on to lose the semi finals to SønderjyskE who beat Herning in the finals.

2009/10

The 09/10 season was a Jekyll and Hyde one for The White Hawks, they were virtually unbeatable at home yet struggled to take points away. Despite this they finished the regular season in a very impressive 3rd behind the 2 favorites SønderjyskE & AaB. 3rd giving them home advantage in the quarter finals they choose to play Rødovre again for the 3rd straight year. Some experts doubted they could progress saying "The White Hawks can't win away so all Rødovre needs to do is win 1 game away and they will win the series". This series would turn out to be another classic, Rødovre won the first 2 games despite the White Hawks dominating the first, the 3rd game saw an impressive come from behind win by The White Hawks. The series was really decided with the White Hawks away win in the 4th game, a game that saw a goal scored by White Hawks goalkeeper Frederik Andersen. Andersen had tried to score in game 3 after Rødovre pulled their keeper but just missed, in game 4 he made sure of his aim and scored in the empty net. The White Hawks went on to win a close game 5 and then game 7 easily. They were then put out in the semifinals after just 4 games by a dominant SønderjyskE who progressed to easily beat AaB in the finals in only 4 games to claim another championship. The White Hawks lost the bronze playoff to Herning and finished 2009/10 in 4th.

Current state

2011 saw the White Hawks finish second to Herning, this along with a profit from the year saw the team sign a large number of import players for the 2011/12 season for the first time in several years. There was a very high expectation in the Danish Hockey community that the team could win the title but they never jelled and finished in 7th place losing the quarterfinals to eventual runners-up Odense in 4 straight games. Looking forward to 2012/13 the team has a large number of changes and is again expected to do well, yet after the disappointment of last 2011/12 most people are just expecting a top 4 finish at present.

Team

Goaltenders

Rob Nolan
Matthias Hansen

Defencemen

Phil Paquet
Anders Thode
Christian Schioldan
Kasper Kristensen
Rasmus Christiansen
Mads Bech Christensen
Rasmus Søndergaard
Alexander Ytterell

Forwards

Thomas Søndergaard
Oscar Andersson
Kennie Christensen
Rasmus Bjerrum
Tobias Kisum
Lasse Overgaard
Morten Lie
Christian Chapman
Nicolai Meyer
Trent Daavettila
Kristoffer Jonsson
Robin Bergman
Christopher Frederiksen

Coach

Lars Ivarsson

Assistant coaches

Henrik Christiansen
Mike Grey

Notable players

Mike Grey (Retired 2012 to become assistant Coach - played 864 Games for the club)
Tomi Jokinen (Retired 2012 holds record for most games played in Danish League by a non-Dane)
Frederik Andersen (Current draft of Anaheim Ducks)
Thomas Reinert
Rob Globke
Martin Spanhel
Matt Davidson
Mike Martin
Lubos Pisar
Olegs Sorokins
Ilya Dubkov
Bent Christensen
Jesper Jensen
Martin Eklund
Emil Uggerhøj
Mads Johnsen
Bjørn Stoklund

External links

Metal Ligaen

Teams	Aalborg Esbjerg Frederikshavn White Hawks Gentofte Stars Herlev Eagles Herning Blue Fox Odense Bulldogs Rungsted Rødovre Mighty Bulls SønderjyskE

Seasons	1954–55 1955–56 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

See also IIHF IIHF Continental Cup IIHF European Champions Cup

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