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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 ice hockey history. The club currently plays in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), which is the top league in Sweden.

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

Team History and Achievements

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

Major Successes

Brynäs IF has won the Swedish championship 13 times. Their most recent championship win was in 2012. They are known for their strong history in the sport.

Special Partnerships

On November 20, 2013, Brynäs IF became the first ice hockey club in the world to work with UNICEF, a program by the United Nations that helps children. They signed a five-year agreement to support UNICEF's work.

The club also signed a five-year agreement with Gävle Municipality on June 3, 2014. As part of this deal, the city bought the rights to name the team's home arena. It was renamed Gavlerinken Arena. This partnership also meant that Brynäs IF was the only team in the SHL to play with jerseys that had no advertisements on them, starting from the 2014–15 season. The arena's name changed again in September 2019 to Monitor ERP Arena.

Recent Seasons and Promotion

In the 2021 season, Brynäs IF finished 13th out of 14 teams. This meant they had to play a special series to stay in the SHL. They won this series against HV71 and kept their spot in the top league.

However, at the end of the 2022–23 season, Brynäs IF was moved down to the second-tier league, HockeyAllsvenskan, for the first time ever. They lost their relegation series to the Malmö Redhawks. But they quickly bounced back! In the 2023–24 season, they won the HockeyAllsvenskan championship and were promoted back to the SHL. They beat their rivals Djurgården 4-0 in the final series. For the 2024–25 season, Brynäs IF finished 1st in the regular season. They reached the Swedish Championship playoffs finals but lost 2-4 to Luleå HF.

Team Personnel

Current Roster

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
29 Sweden Andersson, AxelAxel Andersson D R 25 2024 Järna, Sweden
– United States Bellows, KiefferKieffer Bellows LW L 27 2025 Edina, Minnesota, United States
15 Sweden Bertilsson, SimonSimon Bertilsson D L 34 2020 Karlskoga, Sweden
61 United States Delia, CollinCollin Delia G L 31 2025 Rancho Cucamonga, California, United States
3 Sweden Djoos, ChristianChristian Djoos D L 31 2024 Gothenburg, Sweden
– Sweden Hägg, RobertRobert Hägg D L 30 2025 Uppsala, Sweden
– Sweden Jonsson-Fjällby, AxelAxel Jonsson-Fjällby LW L 27 2025 Stockholm, Sweden
31 Sweden Källgren, ErikErik Källgren G L 28 2024 Stockholm, Sweden
– Czech Republic Kempný, MichalMichal Kempný D L 34 2025 Hodonin, Czech Republic
28 Sweden Kinnvall, JohannesJohannes Kinnvall D R 28 2022 Gävle, Sweden
52 United States Kopacka, JackJack Kopacka RW L 27 2023 Metamora, Michigan, United States
10 Sweden Larsson, JohanJohan Larsson (C) C L 33 2022 Lau, Sweden
37 Sweden Lejon, HugoHugo Lejon RW R 20 2024 Västerås, Sweden
23 Sweden Lindblom, OskarOskar Lindblom LW L 29 2024 Gävle, Sweden
– Sweden Norlinder, MattiasMattias Norlinder D L 25 2025 Kramfors, Sweden
36 Sweden Ölund, LinusLinus Ölund (A) C L 28 2019 Gävle, Sweden
– Sweden Pettersson, LucasLucas Pettersson C L 19 2025 Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
18 Sweden Rödin, AntonAnton Rödin (A) RW L 34 2019 Stockholm, Sweden
41 Canada Scott, GregGreg Scott C R 37 2019 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
33 Sweden Silfverberg, JakobJakob Silfverberg RW R 34 2024 Gävle, Sweden
8 United States Trivigno, BobbyBobby Trivigno LW L 26 2024 Setauket, New York, United States
20 United States Vesel, TylerTyler Vesel C R 31 2023 Duluth, Minnesota, United States

Updated 22 July 2025

Team Captains

The team captain is a very important player who leads the team on the ice. Here are some of the players who have been 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

The head coach is in charge of training the team and making game strategies. Here are some of the coaches who have led Brynäs IF:

  • 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 throughout its history. Here are some of their individual records:

Individual Season Records

  • Most Goals in one season: Tom Bissett, 40 goals (1998–99)
  • Most Assists in one season: Jan Larsson, 43 assists (1998–99)
  • Most Points in one season: Lars-Göran Nilsson, 62 points (1970–71)
  • Most Penalty Minutes in one season: Tommy Melkersson, 118 minutes (1996–97)
  • Most Points in one season by a defenseman: Pär Djoos, 48 points (1998–99)

Top Scorers in SHL History

Many Brynäs IF players have scored a lot of points in the SHL. Some of the top point-scorers in the team's history include:

  • Lars-Göran Nilsson
  • Håkan Wickberg
  • Tord Lundström
  • Ove Molin
  • Jan Larsson

Trophies and Awards

Brynäs IF has won many awards both as a team and for individual players.

Team Awards

Le Mat Trophy This is the trophy given to the Swedish ice hockey champions. Brynäs IF has won it 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

Coach of the Year

  • Tommy Sandlin: 1991–92, 1992–93
  • Roger Melin: 1998–99

Guldhjälmen (Golden Helmet - awarded to the league's most valuable player as voted by the players)

Guldpucken (Golden Puck - awarded to the best Swedish ice hockey 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 (awarded to the player who scores the most goals in the regular season)

  • Kenneth Andersson: 1983–84
  • Evgeny Davydov: 1996–97
  • Tom Bissett: 1998–99
  • Jan Larsson: 1999-00

Honken Trophy (awarded to the best goaltender)

Rinkens Riddare (Knight of the Rink - awarded for sportsmanship and skill)

  • Lars Bylund: 1968–69
  • Håkan Wickberg: 1969–70
  • Jan-Erik Lyck: 1971–72

Rookie of the Year (awarded to the best first-year player)

Images for kids

  • Green Arrow Up

    This arrow shows when a team is promoted to a higher league.

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