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Brynäs IF facts for kids

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This page is about Brynäs IF's men's ice hockey section. For the women's team competing in the SDHL, see Brynäs IF (women). For the football section of the club, see Brynäs IF Fotboll.
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Brynäs IF
Brynäs IF logo.svg
City Gävle, Sweden
League SHL
Founded 12 May 1912; 113 years ago (1912-05-12)
Home arena Monitor ERP Arena
Colors               
General manager Johan Alcén
Captain Johan Larsson
Website brynas.se
Le Mat Trophy (13) (1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1993, 1999, 2012)

Brynäs IF is a professional ice hockey team from Gävle, Sweden. They are one of the most successful teams in Swedish hockey history. The club currently plays in the top league, the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).

Brynäs IF was promoted back to the SHL after the 2023–24 season. They had played in the top Swedish league for 63 seasons straight, from 1960 to 2023. This was longer than any other Swedish club! They have won the Swedish championship 13 times, which is the second-highest number of wins.

History of Brynäs IF

Brynäs IF was started by Nils Norin, Ferdinand Blomkvist, and Thure Ternström on May 12, 1912. The club began playing ice hockey in 1939. Besides hockey, the club has also had teams in soccer, athletics, bandy, swimming, and water polo.

The hockey team played in the top league from 1960 to 2023. They have won the Swedish championship 13 times. Their most recent win was in 2012.

Working with UNICEF and Gävle Municipality

Brynäs IF became the first ice hockey club in the world to work with UNICEF. They signed a five-year agreement with the organization in 2013. This showed their commitment to helping children around the world.

In 2014, the club also signed a five-year deal with Gävle Municipality. As part of this deal, the city bought the rights to name the club's home arena. It was renamed Gavlerinken Arena. This partnership also meant the club's jerseys would not have ads on them. This made them the only SHL team with ad-free jerseys at the time. Since September 2019, the arena has been called Monitor ERP Arena.

Recent Seasons

In the 2021 season, Brynäs IF finished 13th in the regular season. This meant they had to play a special series to stay in the SHL. They won this series against HV71.

However, after the 2022–23 season, Brynäs was moved down from the SHL for the first time ever. They lost a playout series to the Malmö Redhawks. But they quickly bounced back! In the 2023-24 HockeyAllsvenskan season, Brynäs won against Djurgården 4-0 in the final. This victory earned them promotion back to the SHL.

Team Captains

These are some of the players who have been team captains for Brynäs IF:

  • Jan Larsson (1999–2003)
  • Tommy Sjödin (2003–2008)
  • Andreas Dackell (2008–2012)
  • Jakob Silfverberg (2012)
  • Jörgen Sundqvist (2012–2014)
  • Niclas Andersén (2014–2015)
  • Anton Rödin (2015–2016)
  • Jacob Blomqvist (2016–2019)
  • Anton Rödin (2019–2023)
  • Johan Larsson (2023–)

Head Coaches

Here are some of the head coaches who have led the Brynäs IF team:

  • Axel Svensson (1943–1944)
  • Conny Eriksson (1954–1957)
  • Arne Backman (1960–1961)
  • Nils Bergström (1961–1963)
  • Herbert Pettersson (1963–1966)
  • Börje Mattsson (1966–1967)
  • Nils Bergström (1967–1969)
  • Tommy Sandlin (1969–1977)
  • Rolf Andersson (1977–1979)
  • Lennart Johansson (1979–1980)
  • Tord Lundström (1980–1981)
  • Lennart Johansson (1981–1982)
  • Stig Salming (1982–1987)
  • Tord Lundström (1987–1988)
  • Staffan Tholson (1988–1991)
  • Tommy Sandlin (1991–1996)
  • Göran Sjöberg (1996–1998)
  • Roger Melin (1998–2002)
  • Esko Nokelainen (2002)
  • Gunnar Persson (2002–2004)
  • Tomas Jonsson (2004)
  • Roger Kyrö (2004–2005)
  • Wayne Fleming (2005–2005)
  • Leif Boork (2005–2007)
  • Olof Östblom (2007–2008)
  • Tomas Thelin (2008)
  • Leif Boork (2008)
  • Niklas Czarnecki (2008–2011)
  • Tommy Jonsson (2011–2014)
  • Thomas Berglund (2014–2017)
  • Roger Melin (2017)
  • Tommy Sjödin (2017–2018)
  • Magnus Sundquist (2018–2020)
  • Peter Andersson (2020–2021)
  • Mikko Manner (2021-2023)
  • Ove Molin (2023)
  • Niklas Gällstedt (2023–)

Club Records and Top Players

Brynäs IF has had many amazing players over the years. Here are some of their best records:

  • Most Goals in a season: Tom Bissett, 40 goals (1998–99)
  • Most Assists in a season: Jan Larsson, 43 assists (1998–99)
  • Most Points in a season: Lars-Göran Nilsson, 62 points (1970–71)
  • Most Points in a season by a defenseman: Pär Djoos, 48 points (1998–99)

Top Scorers of All Time

These are the top ten players who have scored the most points for Brynäs IF in the SHL:

Points
Player Position Games Played Goals Assists Points Points per Game
Lars-Göran Nilsson Forward 425 273 257 530 1.25
Håkan Wickberg Forward 363 253 241 494 1.36
Tord Lundström Forward 367 261 232 493 1.34
Ove Molin Right Wing 772 192 295 487 .63
Jan Larsson Center 598 189 281 470 .79
Stefan Karlsson Forward 428 252 140 392 .92
Anders Huss Center 574 189 183 372 .65
Andreas Dackell Right Wing 524 132 217 349 .67
Tommy Sjödin Defenseman 681 117 198 315 .46
Hans Lindberg Forward 246 209 105 314 1.28

Trophies and Awards

Team Awards

  • Le Mat Trophy (Swedish Champions): Brynäs IF has won this trophy 13 times!
    • 1963–64, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1979–80, 1992–93, 1998–99, 2011–12

Individual Player Awards

Many Brynäs players and coaches have won special awards:

  • Coach of the Year
    • Tommy Sandlin: 1991–92, 1992–93
    • Roger Melin: 1998–99
  • Guldhjälmen (Most Valuable Player voted by players)
  • Guldpucken (Player of the Year)
    • Håkan Wickberg: 1970–71
    • William Löfqvist: 1971–72
    • Stig Östling: 1974–75
    • Mats Näslund: 1979–80
    • Tommy Sjödin: 1991–92
  • Håkan Loob Trophy (Top Goal Scorer)
    • Kenneth Andersson: 1983–84
    • Evgeny Davydov: 1996–97
    • Tom Bissett: 1998–99
    • Jan Larsson: 1999-00
  • Honken Trophy (Best Goaltender)
  • Rinkens Riddare (Most Gentlemanly Player)
    • Lars Bylund: 1968–69
    • Håkan Wickberg: 1969–70
    • Jan-Erik Lyck: 1971–72
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