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Frölunda HC facts for kids

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Frölunda HC
Frölunda HC logo.svg
City Gothenburg, Sweden
League Swedish Hockey League
Founded 3 February 1938
Home arena Scandinavium
Colors          
General manager Fredrik Sjöström
Head coach Roger Rönnberg
Captain Max Friberg
Website frolundahockey.com
Franchise history
1944–1984 Västra Frölunda IF
1984–2004 Västra Frölunda HC
2004–present Frölunda HC
Championships
Le Mat Trophy 5 (1965, 2003, 2005, 2016, 2019)
Champions Hockey League 4 (2016, 2017, 2019, 2020)
Current season

Frölunda Hockey Club is a professional ice hockey team from Gothenburg, Sweden. They play in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), which is the top ice hockey league in Sweden. Frölunda has been in this league for most of its history.

The team has won the Swedish national championship five times. Their victories were in 1965, 2003, 2005, 2016, and 2019. They are also super successful in the Champions Hockey League, winning it four times.

Frölunda was started on February 3, 1938. At first, it was part of a sports club called Västra Frölunda IF. On March 29, 1984, the ice hockey team became its own club. Before the 1995-1996 season, the team got the nickname "Indians." This name came from their successful years in the 1960s. Fans called them the "Wild West" because of their home area, Västra Frölunda. Since they didn't want a nickname like "cowboys," they chose "Indians."

On June 16, 2004, the club changed its name from Västra Frölunda Hockey Club to Frölunda Hockey Club.

Frölunda plays its home games at the Scandinavium arena in Gothenburg. This arena can hold over 12,000 fans. If Scandinavium is busy, they use Frölundaborg. Frölunda often has the most fans at their home games in the league.

Team History and Achievements

Becoming Champions: A Look Back

Fabian Brunnström, Frölundas dag 2013 - 03 (croppedmay22)
Frölunda's older logo, which was changed in 2022.

In 2003, Frölunda won the Swedish championship after 38 years. The final game was on April 7 against Färjestad BK. Tomi Kallio scored the winning goal in the third overtime period. This made Frölunda champions!

The 2004–05 season was very special. It was the club's 60th anniversary. That year, the National Hockey League (NHL) in North America had a player strike. Many NHL players came to play in European leagues. Sweden had the most NHL players, including Daniel Alfredsson from Gothenburg. He joined his hometown team, Frölunda. This made the Swedish league very strong. Many people thought it was the best league in the world that season. Frölunda had the best record and won the Swedish Championship again.

On April 6, 2006, Frölunda made a new record in the playoffs. They won their semi-final series against Linköpings HC 4–3. They had been losing 1–3 in the series but came back to win! In the finals, they lost to Färjestads BK. During that final series, Ronnie Sundin played his 685th game for Frölunda. This made him the player with the most games for the club.

Champions Hockey League Success

Frölunda has won the Champions Hockey League four times. This is more than any other club! They won in 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2020. This shows they are one of the best teams in Europe.

On February 2, 2022, Frölunda Hockey Club showed off their new logo. The club said the new logo represents Gothenburg and hockey. It shows two "F" letters, two hands, and the letter "H" for hockey. The old logo had been used for 27 years. After some changes, the new logo was accepted by the fans on April 20, 2022.

Team Records and Top Players

Career Records

Here are some of Frölunda's all-time best records:

  • Most games played: Ronnie Sundin, 739 games.
  • Most seasons played: Joel Lundqvist, 20 seasons.
  • Most points scored: Niklas Andersson, 540 points.
  • Most goals scored: Niklas Andersson, 201 goals.
  • Most assists: Niklas Andersson, 339 assists.

Top Scorers (Since 1975–76)

These players have scored the most points for Frölunda HC in regular seasons since 1975–76.

Points
Player Pos GP G A Pts P/G
Niklas Andersson LW 548 176 297 473 0.86
Joel Lundqvist C 727 151 252 403 0.55
Jonas Johnson C 513 156 196 352 0.68
Tomi Kallio RW 433 168 180 348 0.80
Magnus Kahnberg RW 587 169 168 337 0.57
Patrik Carnbäck LW 379 133 179 312 0.82
Peter Ström F 472 86 127 213 0.45
Ronnie Sundin D 705 63 141 204 0.28
Ove Karlsson C 294 103 87 190 0.64
Stefan Larsson D 463 83 101 184 0.39

Honored Players and Coaches

Retired Jersey Numbers

Frölunda has retired several jersey numbers to honor their greatest players. This means no other player on the team can wear that number.

Frölunda HC retired numbers
No. Player Position Career No. retirement
5 Christian Bäckman D 1998–2002
2004–2005
2009–2015		 January 27, 2024
13 Lars Erik Lundvall RW 1960–1968 March 3, 2002
14 Ronald Pettersson RW 1960–1968 March 3, 2002
14 Patrik Carnbäck RW 1986–1992
1994–1995
1997–2003		 October 4, 2014
19 Jörgen Pettersson RW 1973–1980
1986–1991		 March 3, 2002
23 Ronnie Sundin D 1992–1997
1998–2009		 October 15, 2016
24 Niklas Andersson LW 1987–1991
2001–2011		 October 21, 2017
29 Stefan Larsson D 1983–1987
1989–2001		 March 3, 2002

On March 3, 2002, Frölunda retired four numbers. Number 13 was for Lars Erik Lundvall, who was captain for eight seasons. Number 14 was for Ronald Pettersson, a key player in the 1960s. Number 19 was for Jörgen Pettersson, who played for Frölunda before and after playing in the NHL. Number 29 was for Stefan Larsson, who played 16 seasons with the club.

Later, more numbers were retired:

  • Number 14 again for Patrik Carnbäck on October 4, 2014.
  • Number 23 for Ronnie Sundin on October 15, 2016.
  • Number 24 for Niklas Andersson on October 21, 2017.
  • Number 5 for Christian Bäckman on January 27, 2024.

Hall of Fame Inductees

Several former Frölunda players have been honored in the International Ice Hockey Federation's IIHF Hall of Fame.

  • Ulf Sterner was the first European-trained player to play in the NHL. He was inducted in 2001.
  • Ronald Pettersson played for the Swedish national team in three Olympics. He was inducted in 2004.
  • Ville Peltonen was a top scorer for Frölunda. He was inducted in 2016.
  • Daniel Alfredsson won a Swedish Championship with Frölunda and an Olympic gold medal with Sweden. He was inducted in 2018.
  • Petteri Nummelin was inducted in 2024.

Other former Frölunda players have also been inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame.

Awards and Honours

Team Awards

Le Mat Trophy
Swedish Champions

  • 1964–65, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2015–16, 2018–19

Champions Hockey League
Winners

  • 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20

Individual Player Awards

Guldpucken
The Golden Puck: Player of the year

Guldhjälmen
The Gold Helmet: Most valuable player as voted by players

  • Kristian Huselius: 2000–01
  • Niklas Andersson: 2002–03
  • Magnus Kahnberg: 2003–04
  • Henrik Lundqvist: 2004–05

Honken Trophy
Goaltender of the year

  • Henrik Lundqvist: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05
  • Johan Holmqvist: 2008–09
  • Lars Johansson: 2015–16, 2023–24

Håkan Loob Trophy
Top goal scorer

  • Kristian Huselius: 2000–01
  • Magnus Kahnberg: 2003–04
  • Tomi Kallio: 2005–06
  • Victor Olofsson: 2017–18

Skyttetrofén
Top point scorer

  • Lars-Eric Lundvall: 1961–62
  • Ronald Pettersson: 1962–63
  • Ville Peltonen: 1997–98
  • Kristian Huselius: 2000–01
  • Magnus Kahnberg: 2003–04
  • Ryan Lasch: 2015–16, 2018–19, 2021–22

Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy
Playoffs' most valuable player

  • Johan Sundström: 2015–16
  • Ryan Lasch: 2018–19

SHL Rookie of the Year

  • Patrik Carnbäck: 1989–90
  • Loui Eriksson: 2003–04
  • Andreas Johnsson: 2013–14

Årets junior
Junior of the year in Swedish hockey

Champions Hockey League MVP
Most valuable player

  • Mathis Olimb: 2014–15
  • Ryan Lasch: 2015–16, 2019–20
  • Joel Lundqvist: 2016–17

Salming Trophy
Best Swedish-born defenceman

  • Henrik Tömmernes: 2016–17

Rinkens riddare
Knight of the rink: The most gentlemanly player

Swedish All star team

  • Ronald Pettersson: 1961–62, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67
  • Ulf Sterner: 1961–62, 1962–63, 1968–69
  • Gert Blomé: 1961–62, 1964–65, 1966–67
  • Lars-Erik Sjöberg: 1969–70, 1971–72, 1973–74
  • Thommie Bergman: 1971–72
  • Kristian Huselius: 2000–01
  • Henrik Lundqvist: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05
  • Ronnie Sundin: 2002–03
  • Niklas Andersson: 2002–03
  • Magnus Kahnberg: 2003–04
  • Christian Bäckman: 2004–05
  • Samuel Påhlsson: 2004–05
  • Daniel Alfredsson: 2004–05
  • Joel Lundqvist: 2015–16, 2018–19
  • Lars Johansson: 2015–16
  • Johan Sundström: 2015–16
  • Henrik Tömmernes: 2016–17
  • Max Friberg: 2023–24
  • Malte Strömwall: 2023–24

Stora Grabbars Märke
Big Boys' Badge: Honorary award within Swedish sports

Coach of the Year

  • Lasse Falk: 1995–96
  • Conny Evensson: 2002–03
  • Stephan Lundh: 2004–05

Leader of the Year

  • Benny Westblom: 2004–05
  • Roger Rönnberg: 2015–16

Images for kids

  • Fredrik Pettersson

    Fredrik Pettersson playing for Frölunda

  • Lars-Eric Lundvall

    Team captain and playing coach Lars-Eric Lundvall with the Le Mat Trophy in 1965. His jersey number 13 is retired.

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