Skellefteå AIK facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Skellefteå AIK
City	Skellefteå, Sweden
League	Swedish Hockey League
Founded	1 July 1921
Home arena	Skellefteå Kraft Arena
Colors
General manager	Erik Forssell
Head coach	Robert Ohlsson
Captain	Jonathan Pudas
Website	skellefteaaik.se
Championships
Regular season titles	5 (1981, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2023)
Le Mat Trophy	4 (1978, 2013, 2014, 2024)

Skellefteå AIK is a professional ice hockey team from Skellefteå, Sweden. They play in the top Swedish league, the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Their home games are held at Skellefteå Kraft Arena, which can hold 6,001 fans.

The team has won the Swedish Championship four times. These victories happened in 1978, 2013, 2014, and 2024. Skellefteå AIK made it to the SHL championship finals for six years in a row. This amazing streak was from 2011 to 2016. They won the championship twice during this period.

Team History: Skellefteå AIK on Ice

How It All Started

Skellefteå AIK was created on July 1, 1921, at a place called Café Norden in Skellefteå. But they didn't start playing ice hockey until 1943. In their first season, they only played practice games.

In the 1943–44 season, the club joined a local league called Skellefteserien. However, the season couldn't finish because the games were played outdoors. The weather just wasn't right for hockey!

In 1955, Skellefteå AIK made it to Sweden's highest hockey league. Around this time, a famous group of players called the "Mosquito Line" led the team. These players were Anders "Akka" Andersson, "Garvis" Määttä, and Kalle Hedlund.

In the 1957–58 season, they won the northern group of the Allsvenskan. They then finished second in the SM-serien, just one point behind the winners, Djurgårdens IF. Skellefteå AIK played in Division 1 North until 1967. They had some tough times, but in 1975, they won their series. After that, they finished fourth in the SM-serien.

Joining the Elite League

In 1975, a new top Swedish league was formed. It was called Elitserien. Skellefteå AIK was one of the first teams to join this new league.

During the 1977–78 season, Martin Karlsson was the best scorer in the league. Skellefteå AIK went on to win the playoffs that year. They became Swedish champions in 1978! Göran Lindblom played a huge role in their playoff success. In 1981, Skellefteå also won the regular season.

In 1985, the hockey part of the club became its own team, called Skellefteå HC. But in 1991, they changed back to the Skellefteå AIK name.

Back to the Top Tier

In 1990, Skellefteå AIK was moved down to a lower league. They played in the Swedish second league (Allsvenskan) for 16 seasons. But they worked hard and finally made it back to the top league in 2006–07. Since then, they have stayed in the SHL.

In their first year back in the top league, Skellefteå AIK became the best new team. They earned 73 points in 55 games. At one point in the 2007–08 season, Skellefteå even led the league. This was the first time in 30 years! They also made it to the playoffs for the first time since 1981. They were beaten by HV71 in the quarterfinals.

In the 2008–09 season, Skellefteå AIK made the playoffs again. They beat Linköpings HC in a thrilling 7-game series. They came back from being down 1–3 to win 4–3! In the final game, Skellefteå won in overtime. The game went into the sixth period, making it one of the longest playoff games in Elitserien history. Kimmo Koskenkorva scored the winning goal. They lost in the semifinals to Färjestad BK.

The next season, Skellefteå played Färjestad again in the playoffs. Skellefteå won that series in seven games. They then played HV71, who won and became champions in 2010.

In the 2010–11 season, Skellefteå AIK had the top three scorers in the league. These players were Joakim Lindström, Mikko Lehtonen, and David Rundblad. In the playoffs, Skellefteå reached the finals for the first time in 33 years! But they were defeated by Färjestad.

Joakim Lindström was a top scorer for Skellefteå AIK.

In the 2011–12 season, Skellefteå AIK made it to the Swedish Championship Finals again. This time, they lost to Brynäs IF.

Championship Glory

The 2012–13 season was a huge success for Skellefteå AIK. The team won the regular season. In the playoffs, Skellefteå reached the Finals once more. They played against their northern rival, Luleå HF. Skellefteå won all four games, sweeping Luleå 4–0! They won the Swedish Championship for the first time since 1978. Skellefteå finished the playoffs with an amazing 12–1 record. They were the first team since 2003 to sweep their opponents in the Finals.

10,000 fans celebrating Skellefteå AIK's championship win in 2013.

In the 2013–14 SHL season, Skellefteå AIK won the regular season again. They reached the Finals for the fourth year in a row. They played Färjestad BK. Just like in 2013, Skellefteå swept their opponents, winning 4–0. Skellefteå won their third Swedish Championship! They were the first team to win back-to-back championships since Djurgårdens IF in 2000 and 2001. Skellefteå AIK also became the first team since Brynäs IF in 1976–77 to win two championships in a row without losing a single game in either Finals series. Their 8–1 win in game three was the biggest goal difference in an SHL Finals game ever.

In the 2014–15 SHL season, Skellefteå AIK won their third regular season trophy in a row. This was very impressive because they had lost 14 top players. Experts were amazed by how consistent the team was. Skellefteå was a big favorite to win the championship again.

In the quarterfinals, Skellefteå played Brynäs IF again. Skellefteå swept Brynäs in four games. But some people wondered if Skellefteå's winning streak was ending because the games were very close.

In the 2015 semifinals, Skellefteå played Linköpings HC for the third year in a row. Skellefteå won the series 4–1. They went into the finals as big favorites.

The first game of the 2015 finals was on April 12 against Växjö Lakers. The Lakers surprised everyone by winning Skellefteå's home game 2–1. The second game was very important for Skellefteå. They needed to win to avoid being down 0–2. Skellefteå played much better and won 3–0. After this win, Skellefteå AIK was seen as the favorite to win the championship again.

Team Players and Staff

Current Roster

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
4		Bergqvist, RasmusRasmus Bergqvist	D	L	20	2024	Skellefteå, Sweden
28		Brandsegg-Nygård, MichaelMichael Brandsegg-Nygård	RW	R	19	2024	Oslo, Norway
71		Davidsson, JonathanJonathan Davidsson	RW	R	28	2024	Tyresö, Sweden
19		Dzierkals, MārtiņšMārtiņš Dzierkals	LW	L	28	2023	Riga, Latvia
20		Eriksson, MarcusMarcus Eriksson	C	L	39	2024	Norrköping, Sweden
6		Forsfjäll, MånsMåns Forsfjäll	D	L	22	2020	Skellefteå, Sweden
33		Forsfjäll, ZebZeb Forsfjäll	C	L	20	2021	Skellefteå, Sweden
7		Haara, FransFrans Haara	D	R	21	2023	Haparanda, Sweden
96		Hugg, RickardRickard Hugg (A)	C	L	26	2019	Hudiksvall, Sweden
25		Johansson, PontusPontus Johansson	D	L	23	2024	Stockholm, Sweden
22		Johnson, JonathanJonathan Johnson	C	L	32	2020	Gävle, Sweden
14		Johnsson, AndreasAndreas Johnsson	LW	L	30	2023	Gävle, Sweden
24		Lindberg, OscarOscar Lindberg	C	L	33	2023	Skellefteå, Sweden
12		Lindberg, ValterValter Lindberg	C	L	18	2024	Skellefteå, Sweden
11		Lindholm, MaxMax Lindholm	LW	L	27	2022	Österhaninge, Sweden
17		Lindholm, PärPär Lindholm (A)	C	L	33	2022	Kusmark, Sweden
30		Lindvall, GustafGustaf Lindvall	G	L	34	2016	Skellefteå, Sweden
16		Lindström, LinusLinus Lindström	C	L	27	2014	Skellefteå, Sweden
52		Lundberg, ArvidArvid Lundberg	D	L	31	2022	Skellefteå, Sweden
58		Nilsson, OskarOskar Nilsson	D	L	34	2020	Luleå, Sweden
64		Pudas, JonathanJonathan Pudas (C)	D	R	32	2021	Kiruna, Sweden
5		Sandin Pellikka, AxelAxel Sandin Pellikka	D	R	20	2022	Gällivare, Sweden
35		Rautio, DavidDavid Rautio	G	L	39	2023	Luleå, Sweden
2		Sundqvist, LeoLeo Sundqvist	D	L	19	2024	Skellefteå, Sweden
32		Söderström, LinusLinus Söderström	G	L	28	2022	Stockholm, Sweden
27		Vuollet, OskarOskar Vuollet	C	L	19	2023	Skellefteå, Sweden

Updated 3 November 2024

Team Captains Through the Years

Team Records and Top Players

Regular Season Records

• Most goals in a season: Magnus Wernblom, 37 (2005–06)
• Most assists in a season: Bud Holloway, 51 (2012–13)
• Most points in a season: Bud Holloway, 71 (2012–13)
• Most penalty minutes in a season: Joakim Lindström, 134 (2010–11)
• Most points in a season by a defenseman: Johan Åkerman, 61 (2005–06)
• Most shutouts in a season: Johan Backlund, 8 (2002–03)

Top Scorers in SHL/Elitserien History

These players have scored the most points for Skellefteå AIK in the SHL/Elitserien. The numbers are updated after each season.

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game;      = current Skellefteå AIK player

Team Trophies and Player Awards

Team Achievements