Skellefteå AIK

Skellefteå AIK Hockey
City Skellefteå, Sweden
League SHL
Founded 1921
Home arena Skellefteå Kraft Arena (cap. 6,001)
Colors Black, yellow
         
General manager Lars Johansson
Head coach Stefan Klockare
Bert Robertsson
Hans Wallson
Captain Jimmie Ericsson
Le Mat Trophy 1978, 2013, 2014

Skellefteå AIK is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Skellefteå, playing in the SHL, the highest tier of ice hockey in Sweden. They play their games in Skellefteå Kraft Arena, which seats 6,001 spectators. The team has won the Swedish Championship three times – in 1978, 2013, and 2014.

History

Early years

Skellefteå AIK was founded in 1921, although hockey was not played until 1943, with only training matches being played the first season. In the 1943–44 season, the club played in the local league Skellefteserien, which could not be finished due to unsuitable hockey weather as the games were played outdoors.

In 1955 Skellefteå qualified for the highest league in Sweden. Around this time the team was led by the so-called "Mosquito Line", which consisted of Anders "Akka" Andersson, "Garvis" Määttä and Kalle Hedlund. In the 1957–58 season they won the Allsvenskan's northern group and later finished second in SM-serien, only one point behind the winner Djurgårdens IF. Skellefteå AIK then played in Division 1 North until 1967. The club had difficulties qualifying for continued play in the Division 1 series but in 1975 the series was won and Skellefteå later finished in fourth place in SM-serien.

Elitserien

When the Swedish Elite League under the name Elitserien was formed in 1975, Skellefteå AIK was one of the teams participating.

In the 1977–78 regular season Martin Karlsson led the league in goals and points while Hardy Nilsson was the league's most penalized player. Skellefteå went on to win the playoffs led by a strong performance by Göran Lindblom (five goals and four assists in five games), becoming Swedish champions in 1978, and in 1981 Skellefteå won the regular season series.

In 1985, the club's hockey organization split from the mother club, and competed as Skellefteå HC until 1991, when the club would retake the Skellefteå AIK name.[1]

Relegation

In 1990 Skellefteå was relegated but after 16 seasons of play in the Swedish second league (Allsvenskan) Skellefteå again qualified for the highest series and has played in Elitserien since 2006–07.

Return to the top tier

In their first year after promoting from the Swedish second league to Elitserien (now named the SHL), Skellefteå AIK became the best newcomer in Elitserien at that time with 73 points in 55 games. At one point during the 2007–08 season, Skellefteå led the league for the first time in 30 years. They also qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1981 as the 8th seed. In the quarterfinals, Skellefteå were beaten by the eventual champions HV71 by 4–1 in games. At the end of the 2008–09 season, Skellefteå qualified for the playoffs again; in the quarterfinals, Skellefteå defeated Linköpings HC in 7 games, and in the series Skellefteå came back from a 1–3 deficit to win 4–3 in games. In game seven, Skellefteå won an overtime game that had gone to the 6th period (and thus had become the third longest playoff game in Elitserien history) with a goal by Kimmo Koskenkorva. In the semifinals, Skellefteå fell in four games to Färjestad BK who went on to win the Swedish Championship.

Joakim Lindström in Skellefteå AIK

The following season, Skellefteå faced Färjestad in the playoffs once again, this time in the quarterfinals. Skellefteå won the series in seven games and went on to play HV71. HV won in five games on their way to become the 2010 champions.

Skellefteå had the three highest scoring players in the league in the 2010–11 seasonJoakim Lindström, Mikko Lehtonen and David Rundblad. In the playoffs Skellefteå made it to the finals for the first time in 33 years, but were defeated in five games by Färjestad.

In the 2011–12 season, Skellefteå would return to the Swedish Championship Finals, where they lost to Brynäs IF in six games.

In the 2012–13 season, the team won the regular season. In the playoffs, Skellefteå once again reached the Finals, where they met their northernmost rival, Luleå HF. Skellefteå swept Luleå in four straight games 4–0 and clinched the Swedish Championship for the first time since 1978, and only the second time in club history. Skellefteå finished the playoffs with an impressive 12–1 record, and became the first team since 2003 to sweep their opponents in the Finals.

In the 2013–14 SHL season, Skellefteå once again won the regular season. In the playoffs, Skellefteå reached the Finals for the fourth year in a row, where they met Färjestad BK. Like in 2013, Skellefteå swept their opponents in the Finals in four straight games 4–0. Skellefteå clinched the Swedish Championship title for the third time in club history, and became the first team to defend the Swedish Championship title since Djurgårdens IF did so with their consecutive Swedish Championship titles in 2000 and 2001. Skellefteå AIK also became the first team since Brynäs IF in 197677 to win consecutive Swedish Championships by not losing a single game in both Finals series. Their 8–1 crush in game three marked the biggest goal margin (7 goals) in a single Finals game in SHL history.

In the 2014–15 SHL season, Skellefteå won their third consecutive regular season trophy.[2] Doing so after having lost 14 players of top European class however, experts were impressed by the consistency of their managing, training and playing style. Going in to the playoffs after their impressive regular season win, Skellefteå once again were huge favorites to win the le mat trophy. Although experts generally agreed that they were going to face a tougher challenge this year.[3]

In the round of quarter finals Skellefteå once again had to face their opponent from the finals of 2012, Brynäs IF. Even though Skellefteå did sweep Brynäs in four consecutive quarterfinal games, some people started wondering if the dynasty of Skellefteå was over. Those wonderings mostly appeared due to the tightness and even scorelines of the quarter final games.[4]

In the 2015 semifinals, Skellefteå for the third year in a row had to face Linköpings HC. Once again Skellefteå was going to prove the experts, who predicted a tight and tough series of games, wrong. With the round of semifinals ending 4–1 in favor to Skellefteå, they went in to the finals as huge favorites.[5]

The first game in the round of finals 2015 was played on 12 April between Skellefteå AIK and Växjö Lakers. The Lakers surprised most people when they "stole" Skellefteå's home game and won with two goals to one.[6] The second game of the finals was by most media described as a "do or die game" for Skellefteå, arguing that a 2-0 lead for Växjö would be too difficult for Skellefteå to turn into a victory. Skellefteå AIK themselves however did not agree at all, but did emphasize the needs of improvement in the play around the nets.[7] This was something they did manage to improve and it resulted in a clean sheet victory with three goals to nil. With the impressive 0–3 victory behind them, Skellefteå AIK was once again seen as the major favorites to win the le mat trophy.[8][9]

Season-by-season

10 000 citizens of Skellefteå, celebrating Skellefteå AIK's first Swedish Championship title in 35 years.
Season Level Division Record Avg.
home
atnd.
Notes
Position W-T-L
W-OT-L
This is a partial list featuring the past seasons. For prior seasons, see List of Skellefteå AIK seasons.
2009–10 Tier 1 Elitserien 4th 26–9–20 4,892
Swedish Championship playoffs 5–7 5,680 Won in quarterfinals, 4–3 vs Färjestad
Lost in semifinals, 1–4 vs HV 71
2010–11 Tier 1 Elitserien 3rd 25–9–3–18 4,993
Swedish Championship playoffs 9–9 5,691 Won in quarterfinals, 4–3 vs Linköping
Won in semifinals, 4–2 vs Luleå
2nd Lost in finals, 1–4 vs Färjestad
2011–12 Tier 1 Elitserien 2nd 26–5–7–17 5,078
Swedish Championship playoffs 10–9 5,757 Won in quarterfinals, 4–2 vs MODO
Won in semifinals, 4–3 vs AIK
2nd Lost in finals, 2–4 vs Brynäs
2012–13 Tier 1 Elitserien 1st 34–4–4–13 5,197
Swedish Championship playoffs 12–1 5,862 Won in quarterfinals, 4–0 vs Brynäs
Won in semifinals, 4–1 vs Linköping
Won in finals, 4–0 vs Luleå
1st 2013 Swedish Champions (2nd title)
2013–14 Tier 1 SHL 1st 32–4–7–12 5,225
Swedish Championship playoffs 12–2 5,691 Won in quarterfinals, 4–1 vs HV71
Won in semifinals, 4–1 vs Linköping
Won in finals, 4–0 vs Färjestad
1st 2014 Swedish Champions (3rd title)

Current roster

Updated 2 September 2015.[10][11]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
63 Sweden Aho, SebastianSebastian Aho D L 20 2011 Umeå, Sweden
73 United States Broadhurst, TerryTerry Broadhurst LW L 27 2015 Orland Park, Illinois, USA
3 Sweden Burström, NiclasNiclas Burström D L 25 2006 Skellefteå, Sweden
19 Canada Calof, AndrewAndrew Calof RW R 24 2015 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
21 Sweden Ericsson, JimmieJimmie Ericsson (C) C L 36 2014 Skellefteå , Sweden
20 Sweden Forssell, ErikErik Forssell (A) C L 34 2007 Skellefteå, Sweden
34 Sweden Hanses, ErikErik Hanses G L 25 2014 Leksand, Sweden
4 Sweden Heed, TimTim Heed D R 25 2013 Gothenburg, Sweden
25 Sweden Holmström, AxelAxel Holmström C R 19 2011 Arvidsjaur, Sweden
61 Sweden Lindgren, FredrikFredrik Lindgren D L 35 2010 Arvidsjaur, Sweden
54 Sweden Lindholm, AntonAnton Lindholm D L 21 2013 Skellefteå, Sweden
17 Sweden Lindholm, PärPär Lindholm (A) C L 24 2014 Kusmark, Sweden
52 Sweden Lundberg, ArvidArvid Lundberg D L 22 2009 Skellefteå, Sweden
27 Sweden Lundberg, MartinMartin Lundberg C L 25 2005 Skellefteå, Sweden
37 Sweden Norman, JohnJohn Norman C L 25 2013 Stockholm, Sweden
22 Finland Pesonen, JanneJanne Pesonen LW L 33 2014 Suomussalmi, Finland
12 Sweden Pettersson, AdamAdam Pettersson C/RW L 24 2006 Skellefteå, Sweden
8 Sweden Pettersson, MarcusMarcus Pettersson D R 19 2010 Skellefteå, Sweden
18 Sweden Petterström, PontusPontus Petterström (A) LW L 33 2012 Nybro, Sweden
13 Sweden Ritola, MattiasMattias Ritola RW L 29 2015 Borlänge, Sweden
35 Sweden Svensson, MarkusMarkus Svensson G L 31 2012 Kalmar, Sweden
55 Sweden Urbom, AlexanderAlexander Urbom D L 25 2015 Stockholm, Sweden
9 Sweden Zackrisson, PatrikPatrik Zackrisson (A) C R 29 2014 Ekerö, Sweden

Club records

Scoring leaders

As of July 2014

These are the top-ten point-scorers in club history. Figures are updated after each completed season.

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; * = current Skellefteå AIK player

Player Pos GP G A Pts P/G
Pär Mikaelsson F 547 212 253 465 .85
Göran Lindblom D 499 92 246 338 .68
Roland Stoltz F 391 147 156 303 .77
Anders Söderberg LW 394 115 185 300 .76
Johan Åkerman D 300 88 212 300 1.00
Jörgen Wännström F 373 143 154 297 .80
Daniel Pettersson F 388 109 181 290 .75
Jimmie Ericsson* F 506 107 182 289 .57
Martin Pettersson F 382 107 175 282 .74
Thomas Hedin F 272 148 108 256 .94

Individual club records

Awards and trophies

Le Mat Trophy

  • 1977–78
  • 2012–13
  • 2013–14

Guldpucken

Guldhjälmen

Peter Forsberg Trophy

First-round NHL Entry Draft picks

Players who were drafted in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft while playing for Skellefteå.

References

  1. "Skellefteå AIK". Eliteprospects.com.
  2. "SHL".
  3. "Aftonbladet".
  4. "Aftonbladet".
  5. "expressen".
  6. "SVT".
  7. "Norran interview".
  8. "Aftonbladet".
  9. "Oddsportal".
  10. "Skellefteå AIK - A-Lag - Spelare" (in Swedish). skellefteaaik.se/. Retrieved 2015-01-21.
  11. "Eliteprospects.com - Skellefteå". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2015-01-21.
  12. "SvD".

External links

Preceded by
Brynäs IF
Swedish ice hockey champions
1978
Succeeded by
Modo AIK
Preceded by
Brynäs IF
Swedish ice hockey champions
2013, 2014
Succeeded by
Växjö Lakers
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, March 08, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.