Tønsberg Vikings

Tønsberg Vikings
City Tønsberg, Norway
League 1. divisjon
Founded 1963 (1963)
Home arena Tønsberg Ishall
Colors Red and white
         
General manager Tim Ryder
Head coach Brett Stewart
Captain Emil Holst Volden
Website http://tonsberghockey.no/

The Tønsberg Vikings, officially Tønsberg og Omegn Ishockeyklubb, are an ice hockey club based in Tønsberg, Norway. Tønsberg Vikings plays in the second highest Norwegian league, the Norwegian First Division. The team's colours are red and white; home games are played at Tønsberg Ishall.

History

Tønsberg og Omegn Ishockeyklubb was founded on 4 April 1963. For most of its history, the club competed in the lower divisions of Norwegian ice hockey, never reaching beyond the third tier.

In 2002, the club set itself the goal of becoming an established team in the 1. divisjon by 2006.[1] For many years, Tønsberg had focused on developing youth players; with the first team at the time languishing in the 3. divisjon, these players invariably moved elsewhere upon reaching a certain age.[2]

Canadian Dave Flanders was hired as head coach ahead of the 2002–03 season, and would also be playing for the team.[3] It took three games for the Vikings to record their first win,[4] and the campaign was dealt a decisive blow four rounds from the end of the season when they lost 5–6 to Holmen.[5] Tønsberg eventually finished in sixth place with 14 points from as many games. Flanders stepped down after the season; his successor as player-coach, Lars Oddvard Fjeldvang, later maintained that the Canadian had gotten the most out of a mediocre team.[6]

Fjeldvang coached the Vikings during the 2003–04 season. He succeeded where Flanders had not, largely due to a better roster. The team recorded a run of 11–2–2 to finish on 24 points; enough to claim first place and a historic promotion to the 2. divisjon.[7][8]

During the off-season, the club formed a limited company to manage commercial activities and improve finances. Morten Sandø, a member of the team since 2002, was appointed player-coach and later also head of marketing.[9] Three experienced players were brought in to reinforce the team ahead of its first outing in the 2. divisjon. By mid-season, half that team had been lost to injury, transfer or other, forcing the management to rely on junior team members to fill the roster.[10] At the cost of the junior team's performance, the first team eventually finished fifth.

In the following seasons, the Vikings struggled at the bottom of the standings. Despite having advanced to the third tier of the league system, the club continued to lose its most talented young players. The lack of a regional ice hockey academy meant that national youth team players from Tønsberg were still moving to Bærum or Oslo when they entered high school.[11] From 2006 to 2008, the club did not have enough eligible players for a separate junior team. In his second and final season as head coach, Sandø also criticized the team's inability to adopt a proper training culture.[12] For the 2006–07 season, Sandø handed over the reins to Jimmy Svensson, who failed to make an impact.

With the appointment of Andreas Toft as head coach in 2007, a concerted effort began to lift the club up to a higher level, both on and off the ice. As the club's first full time head coach, Toft was inexperienced at only 25 years of age, but had achieved positive results with Jutul's juniors from 2005 to 2007.[13] By the 2008–09 season, a more robust management was in place to support him, and which succeeded in bringing several former junior team members back to the club, as well as signing the former Czech professional Jiri Jantovsky.[14] A successful campaign ensued, in which the Vikings won the 2. divisjon—and promotion—with a 16–1–1 record.

In 2012, the club qualified for the GET-ligaen for the first time in club history,[15] and managed to stay there for the two following seasons. But due to struggeling economy, the board of the Tønsberg Vikings asked that the team was to be moved down one division before the 2014-15 season.

Season-by-season record

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Tønsberg Vikings. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Tønsberg Vikings seasons.

Norwegian Champions Regular Season Champions Promoted Relegated
Season League Regular season Postseason
GP W L T OTW OTL GF GA Pts Finish
2011–12 1. divisjon 34 33 1 0 — — 228 65 66 1st 1st in Qualifying for Eliteserien
2012–13 Eliteserien 45 5 32 — 4 4 126 256 27 10th 2nd in Qualifying for Eliteserien
2013–14 Eliteserien 45 3 37 — 3 2 90 227 17 10th 2nd in Qualifying for Eliteserien1
2014–15 1. divisjon 36 28 6 — 0 2 239 119 85 1st 3rd in Qualifying for Eliteserien
2015–16 1. divisjon 36 27 8 — 0 1 168 71 82 1st 3rd in Qualifying for Eliteserien

1Due to struggeling economy, the board of the Tønsberg Vikings asked that the team was to be moved down one division.[16] The vacant spot was given to Kongsvinger Knights.[17]

Current roster

As of October 31th, 2015.

Goaltenders
Number Player Catches Born Place of Birth
1 Norway Daniel Jørgensen L 30.05.1995 Hønefoss, Norway
30 Norway Peter Strøm L 08.07.1994 Trondheim, Norway
34 Slovakia Martin Surek L 22.08.1987 Bratislava, Slovakia
Defensemen
Number Player Shoots Born Place of Birth
2 Norway Frederic Viggen L 02.02.1995 Trondheim, Norway
6 Norway Marius Nielsen L 05.01.1992 Trondheim, Norway
11 Norway Fredrik Gran Nilsen L 11.12.1995 Lørenskog, Norway
26 Norway Emil Holst Volden L 26.03.1991 Trondheim, Norway
57 Sweden Rickard Eriksson R 21.03.1988 Gävle, Sweden
61 Sweden Kristoffer Karlsson L 22.04.1990 Sundsvall, Sweden
66 Norway Tor Sønju Bårnes R 09.11.1989 Tønsberg, Norway
77 Norway Emil Sæteraas Lyngstad L 07.07.1996 Trondheim, Norway
Forwards
Number Player Shoots Born Place of Birth
4 Sweden Anton Persson R 04.01.1989 Gävle, Sweden
17 Norway Stian Uttakleiv R 19.07.1994 Lørenskog, Norway
20 Norway Henrik Medby L 26.02.1992 Lillehammer, Norway
22 Finland Juha Virtanen L 24.10.1987 Sonkajärvi, Finland
23 Norway Mikkel Christiansen R 15.01.1992 Oslo, Norway
41 Finland Valter Rönning L 30.09.1988 Skärholmen, Sweden
42 Finland Henri Sandvik L 11.03.1987 Nivala, Finland
47 Norway Kanwar Singh L 10.07.1995 Oslo, Norway
49 Norway Joakim Stadsvik R 11.04.1987 Bærum, Norway
88 Norway Niklas Andresen L 30.07.1994 Lørenskog, Norway
89 Norway Gustav Runbjer L 22.04.1989 Huddinge, Sweden
91 Finland Mika Halava R 20.05.1987 Pori, Finland

References

  1. ↑ "Tønsberg Vikings satser stort". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2002-07-29. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  2. ↑ "Slår et slag for A-laget i ishockey". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2002-05-16. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  3. ↑ "Kanadier skal redde Tønsberg Vikings". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2002-10-18. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  4. ↑ "Viking-seier over Drammen". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2002-11-04. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  5. ↑ "Mistet seieren og opprykket". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2002-02-17. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  6. ↑ "Kneskade stopper Flanders". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2003-09-26. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  7. ↑ "Historisk ishockeyopprykk". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2004-03-09. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  8. ↑ "Triumferende vikinger". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2004-03-22. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  9. ↑ "Skal jobbe for hockey på heltid". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2004-06-03. Retrieved 2012-05-19.
  10. ↑ "Tønsberg Vikings halvert". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2005-02-08. Retrieved 2012-05-19.
  11. ↑ "Tappet for talenter". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2006-10-20. Retrieved 2012-05-19.
  12. ↑ "–Mangler treningskultur". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2006-02-17. Retrieved 2012-05-19.
  13. ↑ "Andreas Toft ny trener for TOIKs A-lag sesongen 2007-08". Tønsberg Vikings (in Norwegian). 2007-07-16. Retrieved 2012-05-19.
  14. ↑ "Veteranen ser noe stort". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2008-09-18. Retrieved 2012-05-19.
  15. ↑ "Nå er de klare for eliteserien". NRK (in Norwegian). 2012-03-23. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  16. ↑ "Vikings trekker laget fra eliteserien". Tønsberg Blad (in Norwegian). 2014-07-16. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  17. ↑ "Knights fikk lisensen". Glomdalen (in Norwegian). 2014-07-26. Retrieved 2014-07-26.

External links

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