Djurgårdens IF (men's hockey) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Djurgårdens IF
City	Stockholm, Sweden
League	HockeyAllsvenskan
Founded	1922
Home arena	Hovet and Avicii Arena
Colors
General manager	Niklas Wikegård
Head coach	Robert Kimby
Captain	Marcus Krüger
Franchise history
1922–1934	Djurgårdens IF
1938–present	Djurgårdens IF
Championships
Le Mat Trophy	(16) (1926, 1950, 1954, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1983, 1989, 1990, 1991, 2000, 2001)

Djurgårdens IF Ishockeyförening, often called Djurgården Hockey or just Djurgården, is a professional ice hockey team from Stockholm, Sweden. They are part of the larger Djurgårdens IF sports club. Currently, Djurgården plays in HockeyAllsvenskan, which is Sweden's second-highest ice hockey league.

This team is the most successful Swedish ice hockey team ever! They have won the Swedish Championship an amazing 16 times. They've also been runners-up 12 times and reached the finals 26 times. The ice hockey part of the club started in 1922. They have played in the Swedish league system almost continuously since then.

Djurgården usually plays their home games at Hovet. This is an older arena built in the 1950s that can hold 8,094 fans. For bigger games, like rival matches against AIK or important playoff games, they might play at Avicii Arena. This arena is much larger, holding up to 13,850 people.

Djurgården has honored nine of its legendary players by retiring their jersey numbers. They even retired the number 2 twice! This was for Roland Stoltz and Charles Berglund. Some popular nicknames for the team are "Järnkaminerna" (The Iron Stoves), "Stockholms stolthet" (The Pride of Stockholm), and "Mesta mästarna" (The Winners of Most Championships). The team shares a fan club called Järnkaminerna with the football team.

Team History: From the Start to Now

Djurgårdens IF was founded on March 12, 1891, in Stockholm. Ice hockey became popular in Sweden in 1921. The club's hockey team officially started in 1922. They played in their first Swedish championship that same year. They lost in the semifinals to Hammarby.

The team was small at first, with only six players. But they quickly got stronger. By 1926, Djurgården won its first Le Mat trophy! They beat Västerås IK 7–1 in the final. Many Djurgården players were chosen to play for Sweden in the 1924 Winter Olympics.

In the early 1930s, the team faced tough times. The hockey section was even closed for a few years in 1934. But it was restarted in 1938. Old players like Einar "Stor-Klas" Svensson and Gustaf "Lulle" Johansson helped bring the team back. Their goal was to climb back to the top league.

Sven "Tumba" Johansson, a Djurgården legend.

The team worked hard through the 1940s. They slowly moved up through the different leagues. By the 1948–49 season, Djurgården was back in the highest league! They finished second that year. The club also started training its own young players. These new talents helped the team become even better.

The 1950s were a great time for Djurgården. In 1950, they won their first Swedish Championship in 24 years! They beat Mora IK 7–2 in the final. Gösta "Lill-Lulle" Johansson scored three goals in that game.

The championship format changed in 1953. The winners of the north and south divisions played each other. Djurgården won the championship again in 1954 and 1955. In 1955, led by Sven "Tumba" Johansson's amazing 19 goals, they won both final games against Hammarby IF. The second final, an 11–2 victory, still holds the record for most goals in a Swedish championship final!

A game between Djurgården Hockey and Malmö Redhawks in 2006.

After the 2004–05 season, Djurgården had money problems. They lost many players. The team had to rely on younger players from their junior teams. Their main goal was to avoid being moved down to a lower league, which they did. But for the first time in 20 years, they didn't make the playoffs.

For the 2007–08 season, Djurgården moved most of their home games back to Hovet. They still played some big games at the larger Stockholm Globe Arena. They made the playoffs that year but were knocked out by Linköping HC. In the 2009–10 season, Djurgården did very well. They finished second in the league and reached the finals. They lost to HV71 in a close series, with five of six games going into overtime.

Djurgården players celebrating a goal against Färjestad BK.

In 2012, after a tough season, Djurgården was moved down to the second-tier league, HockeyAllsvenskan. This ended their 35-year run in the top league. The team worked hard to get back. They set a goal to return to the top league right away. After two seasons in HockeyAllsvenskan, Djurgården finally earned their spot back in Sweden's top league in 2014! They secured their return in the very last game of the qualification series.

Recent Season Results

Here's a quick look at how Djurgården has done in recent seasons. Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Tied games, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points.

Season	League	Regular season								Post season results	Top scorer (regular season)
		Finish	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
2018–19	SHL	4th	52	23	17	12	149	120	86	Lost in finals, 2–4 (Frölunda HC)	J. Lilja 37 (12+25)
2019–20	SHL	6th	52	24	17	11	137	135	88	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	L. Hultström 32 (15+17)
2020–21	SHL	10th	52	17	26	9	139	151	65	Lost in eighth-finals, 1–2 (Frölunda HC)	B. Nardella 33 (7+26)
2021–22	SHL	13th	52	14	27	11	130	169	58	Lost in Play out, 0–4 (Timrå IK)	M. Sörensen 44 (20+24)
2022–23	HockeyAllsvenskan	4th	52	25	13	14	162	121	95	Lost in SHL Qualifier Finals, 3–4 (Modo Hockey)	M. Krüger 49 (12+37)

Players and Coaches

Current Roster

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
7		Alm, JohanJohan Alm	D	L	33	2022	Skellefteå, Sweden
–		Andersson, AxelAxel Andersson	D	R	25	2023	Järna, Södertälje Municipality, Sweden
8		Arnesson, LinusLinus Arnesson	D	L	30	2021	Stockholm, Sweden
26		Berglund, EmilEmil Berglund	C	R	31	2021	Stockholm, Sweden
53		Blomgren, DavidDavid Blomgren	LW	L	21	2022	Stockholm, Sweden
34		Brodin, DanielDaniel Brodin	RW	R	35	2022	Stockholm, Sweden
74		Danielsson, NicklasNicklas Danielsson	RW	R	40	2022	Uppsala, Sweden
6		Elliott, StefanStefan Elliott	D	R	34	2022	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
41		Falk, AlexanderAlexander Falk	D	L	32	2022	Stockholm, Sweden
58		Forsberg, FredrikFredrik Forsberg	LW	L	29	2021	Gothenburg, Sweden
30		Galajda, MatthewMatthew Galajda	G	L	27	2022	Aurora, Ontario, Canada
33		Glad, DanielDaniel Glad	D	L	32	2023	Stockholm, Sweden
4		Hammarlund, EdvinEdvin Hammarlund	D	L	28	2022	Stockholm, Sweden
42		Hedström, LudvigLudvig Hedström	D	L	24	2019	Stockholm, Sweden
90		Karlsson, KevinKevin Karlsson	D	L	28	2022	Linköping, Sweden
86		Klasen, LinusLinus Klasen	LW	L	39	2022	Stockholm, Sweden
32		Krüger, MarcusMarcus Krüger (C)	C	L	35	2022	Stockholm, Sweden
88		Lekkerimäki, JonathanJonathan Lekkerimäki	RW	R	20	2021	Stockholm, Sweden
35		Lindbom, CarlCarl Lindbom	G	L	22	2021	Stockholm, Sweden
44		Liss, OlleOlle Liss	RW	R	32	2022	Dala-Floda, Sweden
62		Nilsson, WiktorWiktor Nilsson	RW	R	23	2020	Vendelsö, Sweden
37		Norman, JohnJohn Norman (A)	C	L	34	2022	Stockholm, Sweden
20		Odelius, CalleCalle Odelius	D	L	21	2021	Nykvarn, Sweden
28		Öhgren, LiamLiam Öhgren	LW	L	21	2021	Stockholm, Sweden
45		Östlund, NoahNoah Östlund	C	L	21	2021	Nykvarn, Sweden
24		Rensfeldt, LudvigLudvig Rensfeldt (A)	C	L	33	2021	Gävle, Sweden
9		Schilling, CameronCameron Schilling	D	L	36	2022	Carmel, Indiana, United States
–		Thoresen, PatrickPatrick Thoresen	LW	L	41	2024	Oslo, Norway
14		Vejdemo, LukasLukas Vejdemo	C	L	29	2022	Stockholm, Sweden
3		Ytterell, AlexanderAlexander Ytterell	D	R	33	2022	Vetlanda, Sweden

Updated 6 March 2023

Team Captains

Head Coaches

Honored Jersey Numbers

The banners hanging at Avicii Arena, honoring Djurgården's legendary players.

Djurgården has honored nine players by retiring their jersey numbers. This means no other player on the team will wear that number again.

Roland Stoltz wore number 2 for 15 seasons (1955-1970). Charles Berglund, who also wore number 2, had his jersey retired in 2012. Berglund played 12 seasons and won five Swedish Championships with Djurgården. He was also the team's captain for his last four seasons.

Sven "Tumba" Johansson's number 5 was retired. He played 16 seasons for Djurgården (1950-1966). Jens Öhling's number 11 was retired in 2002. He played an incredible 18 seasons (1979-1997). Lasse Björn's number 12 was also retired. He played 18 seasons (1949-1966).

Nichlas Falk's number 16 was retired in 2017. He played 16 seasons and 751 games for the team (1995-2011). Håkan Södergren's number 22 was retired. He played 14 seasons (1977-1991). Mikael Johansson's number 25 was retired in 2007. He played for Djurgården for seven seasons, then returned for eight more. Thomas Eriksson's number 27 was also retired. He played for Djurgården for four seasons, then two more, and finally eight more seasons.

Several Djurgården players and club leaders have been honored in the IIHF Hall of Fame. This includes Arne Grunander, a long-time club chairman, and Arne Strömberg, a former head coach. Players like Sven "Tumba" Johansson, Lars Björn, Roland Stoltz, and Kent Nilsson have also been inducted. These players were also stars for the Swedish national team.

Club Records and Top Scorers

Top Point Scorers

These are the top ten players who have scored the most points for Djurgårdens IF since the 1975–76 season. Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game;      = current Djurgårdens IF player

Team Trophies and Player Awards

Team Achievements

• Le Mat Trophy (Swedish Champions): 16 times! (1926, 1950, 1954, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1983, 1989, 1990, 1991, 2000, 2001)
• European Cup (Best in Europe): 2 times (1990, 1991)
• European Trophy: 1 time (2009)
• Tampere Cup: 2 times (1990, 2000)

Individual Player Awards

Many Djurgården players and coaches have won special awards for their great performances.