IF Björklöven facts for kids

Quick facts for kids IF Björklöven
City	Umeå, Sweden
League	HockeyAllsvenskan
Founded	May 15, 1970 (1970-05-15)
Home arena	Winpos Arena
Colours
General manager	Per Kenttä
Head coach	Daniel Rahimi
Captain	Axel Ottosson
Website	bjorkloven.com
Franchise history
26	Seasons in Sweden's highest division
3	Swedish Championship Finals appearances
Le Mat Trophy	1987

IF Björklöven, often called Löven, is a professional ice hockey team from Umeå, a city in northern Sweden. The team plays in HockeyAllsvenskan, which is the second-highest league in Sweden. Björklöven has played 15 seasons in Sweden's top league, Elitserien. They even won the Swedish championship in 1987!

Team History

IF Björklöven was created in 1970. This happened when two other ice hockey teams, IFK Umeå and Sandåkerns SK, joined together. The name 'björklöven' means 'the birch leaves' in Swedish. People sometimes called IFK Umeå this name because Umeå is known as the 'city of birch trees'. After the teams merged, 'Björklöven' became their official name.

The team was very successful in the 1980s. They played in the Elitserien, which is Sweden's top league. In 1987, they won the Swedish championship, which was a huge achievement! However, just two years later, they moved down to a lower league. Since then, they have mostly played in the second-tier league, HockeyAllsvenskan. They did have a few short times back in the top league during the 1990s.

Some famous players who played for Björklöven include Calle Johansson, Ulf Dahlén, Tore Öqvist, and the twin brothers Patrik Sundström and Peter Sundström.

From 2001 to 2010, Björklöven played in HockeyAllsvenskan. In 2010, the club faced big financial problems. They went bankrupt in April 2010, but managed to fix the issue a month later. Even with a lot of effort, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association did not allow them to play in HockeyAllsvenskan. So, the team moved down to Division 1, the third-tier league, for the 2010–11 season. Björklöven worked hard and was promoted back to HockeyAllsvenskan in the 2012–13 season.

The team has had many promising young players over the years. These include Alexander Hellström, Alexander Sundström, Patrik Nevalainen, Daniel Rahimi, and Kristofer Berglund. Because of money issues, Björklöven sometimes lost these players to other teams. However, Hellström, Sundström, and Nevalainen later returned to play for the team.

Björklöven Women's Team

Björklöven also has a women's ice hockey team. This team currently plays in Damettan, which is the second level of women's hockey in Sweden. In 2018, the club hosted a special tournament called Damcup Umeå. Teams like Luleå HF/MSSK, Modo Hockey, and the Japanese national team played in it. Luleå won the tournament by winning all their games.

Players and Team Members

Current Roster

Updated 10 October, 2019.

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
13		Andersson, FredricFredric Andersson (C)	C	L	36	2017	Gnesta, Sweden
96		Andreasson, PontusPontus Andreasson	F	L	26	2019	Stockholm, Sweden
35		Cannata, JoeJoe Cannata	G	L	35	2019	Wakefield, Massachusetts, United States
12		Cooper, BrianBrian Cooper	D	L	31	2019	Anchorage, Alaska, United States
8		Deilert, AlexanderAlexander Deilert	D	R	36	2019	Stockholm, Sweden
91		Crandall, JustinJustin Crandall	RW	R	33	2019	Lakeville, Minnesota, United States
53		Eriksson, LukasLukas Eriksson	C/LW	L	36	2017	Karlstad, Sweden
11		Eriksson, WilliamWilliam Eriksson	F	R	27	2018	Stockholm, Sweden
90		Hutchings, AlexAlex Hutchings	C/RW	R	34	2019	Burlington, Ontario, Canada
7		Hellström, AlexanderAlexander Hellström	D	L	38	2018	Falun, Sweden
5		Häman Aktell, HardyHardy Häman Aktell	D	L	27	2018	Kåge, Sweden
77		Lindquist, DavidDavid Lindquist	C/LW	L	32	2018	Piteå, Sweden
26		Larsen, OliverOliver Larsen	D	R	26	2019	Aalborg, Denmark
79		Lundberg, EmilEmil Lundberg	W	L	31	2018	Luleå, Sweden
30		Pettersson, MattiasMattias Pettersson	G	L	34	2018	Halmstad, Sweden
21		Rainersson, ErikErik Rainersson	RW	R	26	2017	Umeå, Sweden
40		Selin, SebastianSebastian Selin	RW	R	33	2018	Skellefteå, Sweden
19		Söder, KristofferKristoffer Söder	C	L	34	2018	Skövde, Sweden
24		Stenvall, LudwigLudwig Stenvall	D	R	26	2019	Skellefteå, Sweden
52		Tornberg, AugustAugust Tornberg	D	R	33	2018	Pajala, Sweden
15		Vesel, TylerTyler Vesel	C	R	31	2019	Duluth, Minnesota, United States
28		Viklund, AlexanderAlexander Viklund	W	L	34	2018	Piteå, Sweden
39		Åström, FiliphFiliph Åström	LW	L	24	2016	Umeå, Sweden

Team Captains

Honored Members

Some players are so important to the team that their jersey numbers are "retired." This means no other player on the team will ever wear that number again. It's a special way to remember their amazing contributions.

Notable Players