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History of Frölunda HC

Frölunda Hockey Club originates from Västra Frölunda IF, the ice hockey section in Västra Frölunda IF was founded in 1958 but it would take six years before a team was registred for competition in 1944. Mild winters canceled the two following season and their first game was played on January 25, 1946, against local rival IF Fellows at Krokslätts ice rink. Using players from Västra Frölunda IF's bandy section with only one player having hockey experience the game ended in a 1–8 loss.

1940s

Frölunda Hockey Club originates from Älvsborg's gymnastics- and sports association, an association, which shortly after its foundation on January 2, 1930, changed name to Västra Frölunda Idrottsförening (IF). The ice hockey section in Västra Frölunda IF was founded on February 3, 1938, during a board meeting at Café Lorry. Chairman Nils "Johan" Johansson was the advocate of an ice hockey section in the association. The board agreed to pay 75 kronor to the Swedish Ice Hockey Association to gain membership and acquire an equipment set. The equipment was however borrowed to the military pilots at Säve airbase, by the main impugner Bengt ”Bittan” Johansson. Bittan was the association's treasurer and knew that yet another section would detriment the already limited finances.

In 1944 Frölunda registered a team for league competition. Due to the mild weather it would take two years before their first premier game, which occurred on January 25, 1946, against local rival IF Fellows at Krokslätt's ice rink. A small notice in Göteborgs-Posten attracted 160 people to watch the game that ended in a 1–8 loss. The team fielded for the game included one goalie, two defenceman and six forwards. Only one of the nine players, Gunnar Gerdne, had played ice hockey earlier, the other players came from the associations bandy section. Despite the big loss, the newspapers proclaim it as a good debut. Another two games were played in their first season, a 2–1 win over Chalmers and a 1–10 loss against Udden. Frölunda finnished third in the Group B of the Gothenburg series.

On January 22, 1947, in the season premier against Hisingen Frölunda had three players ill, and were only able to dress six players for the game, including the goaltender. At the end of the first period Frölunda player Björn Andersson got injured with a broken nose. With one player out Frölunda had to play the rest of the game with a one man disadvantage. They were able to keep the game tied to the third period before Hisingen got the lead, the game eventually ended in a 4–7 loss. After a 4–4 tie against Göteborgs SK and a 13–1 win over Chalmers, Frölunda finished second in the standings which was one position higher then the last year.

In their third season they managed to win four out of five games. Their second place finish gave them the chance to play in the division final for the first time. On January 25, 1948, Frölunda faced the powerhouse Dixhov in the division finals. Frölunda had a 2–1 lead after two periods of play, in the third period Dixhov managed to tie the game and later take the lead. No games were played the following season due to the mild weather.

1950s

In 1950 Frölunda won their tier and advanced to the highest top tier of hockey in Gothenburg.

In 1951 Frölunda went undefeated as newcomers in the top tier of hockey in Gothenburg. In their final game of the season they won 5–0 over Gårda and advanced to the Swedish Division III.

In 1952 the team made a solid first season in Division III.

In 1953 Frölunda won the district championships after a 3–1 win over Fellows. Their succes in the championships did not however spread to the league play. Frölunda were dead last during the entire season and were for the first time relegated. The main reason behind this was that Västra Frölunda fielded the same squad in both ice hockey and bandy.

In 1954. Åke Schön, Rolf Ek, and Hasse Erixon were aquired. Frölunda were dominating when they returned to the Gothenburg league. Four wins and a goal differencial of 46–8 secured a spot in Division III for the 1955 season. On February 17, 1954, Frölunda played an exhibition game against Hammarby IF, 1698 people watched the game, a new attendance record in Gothenburg. Frölunda lost the game 1–16, but the revenue generated from the game secured the finances for both the hockey section and the bandy section.

Artificial ice rink, p. 45.

In 1954 local hockey rival Udden merged with GAIS, one of the largest sports association in Gothenburg at the time. The man behind the merging was Bertil Rönnberg, an arch enemy of Frölunda's manager Bittan Johansson. The merge was hostile towards Frölunda and Johansson since GAIS took over Uddens spot in the tier below Frölunda and now had a large financial advantage. GAIS immediately started acquiring new player to the team, among them were Rolf Ek and Thor Englund from Frölunda. Several players from other teams were also acquired.

At this time, Frölunda practised both bandy and hockey with basically the same team and management. With there current resources there was a fear that Frölunda wouldn't be able to keep up with GAIS newly found ice hockey section. Soon after Udden's merge with GAIS, Bittan Johansson started having informal discussions with IFK Göteborg, the largest and richest club in Gothenburh, about transfering Västra Frölunda IF's ice hockey section to IFK. On February 16, 1955, local newspaper GT uncovered the deal which stirred things up in the local area; since IFK Göteborg and Västra Frölunda IF were notorious rivals in football.

The article said that vital issues needed to be solved before anything would be official. The next day however, team leader Bengt ”Bittan” Johansson strongly denied the rumours. ”It's absolutely false that our ice-hockey players will transfer to "the comrades". I have, however, in a rage over our mistreatment by the Gothenburg Ice Hockey Federation, said that you would have too be a part of "the comrades" too get the economy together. But I have never had any negotiation with IFK about the issue."

Frölunda and IFK Göteborg never transferred any players between them, but the rumours were in fact true. "Bittan" had talked to IFK's management about a transfer but changed his mind in the last minute. In an interview on June 25, 1968, Bittan said that the deal was as close to done but when he realized what the consequences for Frölunda would be he rejected the deal.

In 1955 Frölunde were back in division III and ended up losing to Trollhättan in the series final. For the first time ever Frölunda and Djurgården played against eachother in an exhibition game on January 9, 1955. Djurgården who were playing in division 1 won the game 7–3 infront of 2129 people at Ullevi.

1956. Gais had advanced to division III. Frölunda and Gais were the two best teams in the league and would play eachother twice this season. On January 18, 1956, Frölunda and Gais played against eachother for the first time. Gais won the game with 5–1 infront of 1163 spectators. On February 7, 1956, in the second game Frölunda surprised with an upset 3–2 win over the heavily tipped favourites. Despite their win, Frölunda finnished second to Gais in the standings and Gais advanced for the second time in two seasons.

1957. Frölunde were the powerhouse in division III in 1957. The team were undefeated in their five games and advanced to division II, west B.

1958. Despite the managments prioritation of the bandy section, the hockey team were undefeated in their first seven games in the new division. While the bandy team was struggling in their division. Frölunda made an inpact in division II as they finnsihed second in the standings, tied in points with first placed Kil who won on better goal difference. It became clear that it would be impossible to continue using the same players in both bandy and ice hockey.

1959. After a succeful season in division II Frölunda qualified for the qualification series together with Karlberg, Tranås, and GAIS. Frölunda lost their first game 3–6 against Tranås, and tied the second game 1–1 against GAIS before winning their first game 2–0 against Karlberg in Stockholm. The rematch in Gothenburg ended with a 1–1 tie. Frölunda managed to win 7–3 against Tranås who had won the first game between the teams. Prior to the last game of the series against GAIS Frölunda were in first place, tied with Tranås at six points and leading one point ahead of Karlberg. GAIS did not have any chance of qualification to Allsvenskan but they were determined not to let their archrival qualify either. On March 3, 1959, infront of 2944 spectators at Nya Ullevi Frölunda won the game 5–3 and secured the Allsvenskan contract for the 1959/60 season.

1960s

Defenceman Cliff Ryan was aquired from AIK to reinforce Frölunda's defense for their first Allsvenskan season. Frölunda did not stand much of a chance in their first season in Allsvenskan. Frölunda started by losing 0–7 to Djurgården, followed by a 3–6 loss against Grums, before an upset 5–2 win over Västerås. ...

Close, But No Cigar

Frölunda led by brothers Owe and Ulf Sterner, Ronald "Sura-Pelle" Pettersson, Lars-Eric Lundvall and Gert Blomé, almost won the Swedish Championships as rookies in the top division, during the 1961/62 season. Frölunda were leading with 1 goal over Djurgården at Hovet, with 10 minutes to go in the last round of the playoffs. After being down 3-0 after the first period Frölunda turned the game into a 3-4 lead. However, Djurgården's Sven Tumba tied the game and won the gold for Djurgården. With 10 seconds to go, Ulf Sterner had a shot in the post but that was as close to a gold Frölunda came this season. Both Frölunda and Djurgården landed at 13 points in the playoffs but Djurgården won on better goal differential. The Swedish Championships playoffs were played in a series format between the 1956-65 and 1968-74 seasons.

Swedish Champions 1965

Lars-Eric Lundvall receiving the Le Mat Trophy after the final

On the October 25, 1964, a season started that would end in the best possible way for VFIF. Västra Frölunda, Djurgården, Malmö FF, Södertälje, Västerås, Viking, Grums and the defending Swedish Champions Brynäs played in the first division's southern group. The teams would meet each other 2 times, and play 1 home game each.

Västra Frölunda IF won the series with 23 points, after home losses against Brynäs and Västerås, and on tie game against Södertälje. Brynäs and Västerås managed too get 22 points each.

Also the northern group was close. MoDo won with 20 points, Leksand and Skellefteå finished at 19 points each and AIK finished 4th with 18 points.

For the first time, the Swedish Championships were played in a double series, which naturally would be much more equitable then the previously lottery of the single game series.

After the first round, anxiety spread in the Frölunda management. Despite a win over Skellefteå with 5-2, after goals by Sura-Pelle, Göte Boström, Arne Carlsson, Roger Olsson and Lars-Eric Lundvall. But it was an expensive victory, since Kjell-Ronnie Pettersson, Owe Sterner and Kjell Adrian were injured.

Nevertheless, the team didn't appear/seem too be influenced/affected by this for the next few rounds. Frölunda won against Södertälje with 5-9, Västerås with 8-5 and against Brynäs with 1-5. However, in the fifth round, Leksand became too hard despite home ice advantage. 14000 people at Ullevi couldn't believe their eyes when Frölunda were defeated, with 2-3, even though they won the shots with 38-23. The excitement was back in the playoffs, after a great game by Leksand's goaltender Sture Leksell.

Already in the next round, the sixth, had Frölunda found their game and won all their remaining games, except for the last game against Brynäs at Ullevi.

Frölunda got their revenge on Leksand in the 12th round. Frölunda won on the road with 2-6, and the victory was never threatened. Leksand's first goal came in the third period, when the score was 0-4. Goal scorers in Västra Frölunda were Leif ”Blixten” Henriksson (2), Arne Carlsson, Lars-Eric Lundvall, Göte Boström and Ronald ”Sura-Pelle” Pettersson.

Frölunda had 22 points and Brynäs 18 points, prior to the second last round. Frölunda needed just 1 points against Västerås on the road, too secure the Swedish Championship Title.

Frölunda did what was needed too be done; they easily won over Västerås with 7-2, and secured the title. This was the first time that the title was awarded outside of the Stockholm – Södertälje – Gävle region. Some excitement came in the second period when Västerås reduced the score to 2-3, but shortly after, Göte Boström managed too put the puck in the net after a mistake by the goalie. The goal scorers for Frölunda were, Ronald ”Sura-Pelle” Pettersson (2), Göte Boström (2), Berny Karlsson, Arne Carlsson and Lars-Eric Lundvall,

The last round was of no importance, yet 12000 proud fans came too see the final game against Brynäs. And got too see the members of the gold medal winning team, Ingemar Caris, Eine Olsson, Gert Blomé, Arne Carlsson, Jan Olsén, Kjell Adrian, Ronald ”Sura-Pelle” Pettersson, Leif Henriksson, Lars Erc Lundvall, Göte Boström, Roger Olsson, Göte Hansson, Kjell Jönsson, Kjell Ove Gustavsson, Kjell Ronnie Pettersson, Owe Sterner, Berny Karlsson and coach Stig Hylland awarded their trophy.

1970s

1970/1971 Fourth in the regular season, but last in the “SM-serien” (Swedish League Championships). The consolation this year was that they won the District Championship Final against Vasa 11-1.

1971/1972 Frölunda won Division I (South), but were not as successful in the SM-playoffs; the team finishing sixth. Worth noting that the first league match was played at Scandinavium on 17 October against Färjestad, Frölunda winning 5-3. In the District Championship, Frölunda won 15-1 in the semi-finals against Chalmers, and convincingly 10-0 in the final against Vasa HC.

1972/1973 Frölunda finished fourth in the regular season and third in the SM-playoffs behind Leksand and Södertälje.

1973/1974 Second in the regular season behind Leksand. Leksand won the SM-playoffs (Swedish Championship Playoffs), whilst Frölunda came seventh.

1974/1975 The match against Timrå on 26 January should be quickly forgotten. Timrå won 12-1, seven of their goals were scored in the first period. Frölunda had a total of 15 shots on goal. On 13 February, there was the tragic plane crash (some of the Frölunda players had been on their way to a match against Brynäs). The team played its next game on 16 February.

1975/1976 Despite some really good games, Frölunda finished seventh in the Eliteserien. Frölunda won 9-1 at home against Färjestad, 8-0 away to AIK and 7-0 at home to Skellefteå.

1976/1977 AIK got their revenge the following year, when they thrashed Frölunda 9-0 in Gothenburg. Frölunda finished eighth in the Eliteserien.

1977/1978 On 13 November, Frölunda were trailing Skellefteå 4-0, but won 6-5. On 9 March, they trounced Leksand 10-1 at home. Frölunda finished sixth in the Eliteserien.

1978/1979 Huge home win (12-1) against Brynäs on 22 February. Fifth in the Eliteserien.

1979/1980 After a third-place finish in the Eliteserien, Frölunda went to the playoffs. Worth noting, however, is during the match against Djurgården on 25 November they fell asleep - between 18:48 and 19:42 in the third period, DIF turned a 5-7 deficit into an 8-7 victory. Huge win (10-4) against Björklöven on 13 March: in the playoffs, Frölunda successfully saw off Björklöven in the semi-finals, but succumbed 2-1 to Brynäs in a fifth, and deciding, final at Johanneshov.

1980s

1980/1981 Fifth in the regular season and a heavy 10-1 defeat against Färjestad on 22 February: in the playoffs, it was just two games in the semi-finals against AIK, who were too strong for Frölunda.

1981/1982 Even though Frölunda came only seventh, and, with that, missed the playoffs, they still got their revenge on Djurgården (from 1979/80). In the road match on 10 December, Frölunda, between 18:43 and 19:49 of the third period, turned a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 victory.

1982/1983 Not a good season, including eight straight defeats and a heavy 9-2 defeat on the road against Björklöven. Frölunda finished seventh in the Eliteserien.

1983/1984 The year when Frölunda came last, including a heavy 10-2 road loss to Leksand, and dropped out of the Eliteserien.

Independent

After the 1982/83 season the hockey section presented a budget deficit of 675 000 SEK. At this point, the tension between the hockey section and the clubs management was high. Everyone with insight in the organisation knew that it was just a matter of time before the two parties would separate.

The only thing preventing an immediate separation between the two blocks, was the sentimental issue of Bittan Johansson. Bittan, a legend within the organisation, was at the time of the conflict deadly ill and only had months left to live. On September 9, 1983, only two months after his 65th birthday, Bittan Johansson died. Now when there were no more ties to VFIF, club president Rune Kristiansson didn't see any reasons why the hockey section should be a part of VFIF.

On March 11, 1984, VFIF played their last ice hockey game, 38 years, 1 month and 15 days after the premier against Fellows on Krokslätts ice rink.

On March 29, 1984, VFIF held their annual meeting, where the hockey section would participate for the last time. With a strike of a gavel, Rune Kristiansson ended the hockey section in VFIF. Kristiansson handed over the podium to Rolf Kling, who had been the last president of the hockey section. Kling cheerfully and ironically asked "So, is there anyone who wants to start a hockey club?"

1984/1985 Västra Frölunda Hockey Club is formed. Frölunda and Troja were in a class of their own in Division I (South). Troja and Frölunda won one match each in their head-to-heads, but Frölunda won the regular season. In the Allsvenskan, Frölunda came third behind Modo and Troja. In the playoffs, Västerås were too strong.

1985/1986 Frölunda won Division I (South), finished fourth in the Allsvenskan and lost to Västerås in the second-round of the playoffs.

1986/1987 Again winners of Division I (South). This time, they came third in the Allsvenskan and crashed out to Väsby in the first-round of the playoffs.

1987/1988 Winners of Division I (South), winners of the Allsvenskan, but lost 10-1 in the fifth, and deciding, game of the Allsvenskan Playoff Finals against Skellefteå. Frölunda finished third in the qualification group.

1988/1989 Winners of Division I again, second in the Allsvenskan, but defeat against Västerås in the deciding match of the finals. Frölunda won the qualification group and the Eliteserien awaited.

1989/1990 The Eliteserien was too tough for Frölunda, who finished last. The home match against AIK on 25 February finished 7-13. Frölunda let in 202 goals in 40 games.

1990s

1990/1991 Another difficult season in the Eliteserien, Frölunda played 12 games between 7 October and 22 November without a single win. The home game against Luleå on 6 December was another setback (1-8). It was better in the Allsvenskan, losing 3-1 to Leksand in the Allsvenskan Play-off Finals (best of five), but winning the qualification group. IF Mölndal Hockey came seventh in the Allsvenskan.

1991/1992 At last, on 20 October, came the first road win in 28 matches in the Eliteserien. Frölunda finished fifth in the league, but lost to Brynäs in the quarter-finals.

1992/1993 Second to last in the Eliteserien and relegated to the Allsvenskan, where they were victorious. Frölunda beat Huddinge 3-0 in the Allsvenskan Play-Off Finals.

1993/1994 Back in the Elitserien, and Frölunda finished fourth. After a low scoring 1-0 road win against Modo, Djurgården proved to be too strong in the quarter-finals.

1994/1995 Frölunda finished eleventh in the Eliteserien, and again had to play in the “Allsvenskan” (First Division), where they came second behind Rögle. In the play-offs, Frölunda beat Rögle.

1995/1996 Second in the Eliteserien behind Luleå, however with the same number of points. Frölunda beat Leksand in the quarter-finals and MoDo in the semi-finals, but Frölunda lost to Luleå in the finals.

1996/1997 Seventh in the “Eliteserien” (Elite Ice Hockey League); Frölunda lost to Luleå in the quarter-finals.

1997/1998 Frölunda finished fourth in the regular season; won against Brynäs in the quarter-finals, but lost 3-1 to Färjestad in the semi-finals.

1998/1999 Seventh in the regular season, which Modo won. Modo then beat Frölunda in the quarter-finals.

2000s

2000/2001 Frölunda finished eighth in the regular season, which Djurgården won. In the quarter-finals, Frölunda lost to Färjestad.

2001/2002 Frölunda finished fifth in the regular season, which Färjestad won with a record 118 points. After five matches MoDo were too strong in the play-off semi-finals.

2002/2003 Frölunda won the regular season in impressive style. They defeated Modo in the quarter-finals. Then, they beat Timrå, the surprise team of the season, 4-2 in the semi-finals. The finals against Färjestad were an evenly- matched affair, but Frölunda won all four matches, and, after 38 years of waiting, Frölunda won the Swedish Championships for the second time.

2003/2004 Frölunda finished third in the regular season, behind HV 71 and Färjestad. They crushed Djurgården 4-0 in matches in the quarter-finals. Frölunda won impressively both the first and second game with 8-1 respectively. HV 71 from Jönköping awaited in the semi-finals, where Frölunda was defeated by 4-2 in games.

2004/2005 Frölunda won the regular season, 15 points ahead of the runner-up-Färjestad. This season a record 11 676 people/game (regular season) attended Frölunda´s games in Scandinavium. In the first round Luleå awaited, and Frölunda won 4-0 in games. A total of 23-5 in goals. During the semi-finals three games was played in Frölundaborg. Frölunda won 4-1 versus Djurgården. Frölunda won the championship by defeating Färjestad. Niklas Andersson made sure the gold-medal would return to Gothenburg by scoring the 1-0 goal 12.51 in overtime.

In the 2004-05 season, the club's 60th anniversary and 20th as independent club, the team won the league title, by having the best record during the regular season, and the Swedish Championship. That particular year was notable because the National Hockey League had a labour stoppage due to labour negotiations between the league and the players. Many professional hockey players who could not play in the NHL chose to play in European or North American leagues. The largest number of professional NHL players were in Sweden for the season. This increased the quality of play dramatically and many observers said that the Elitserien was the best league in the world during 2004-05.

2005/2006 Frölunda was not only the most dangerous team offensively with 169 goals on 50 games, but also the strongest team on home ice. All together, Frölunda finished second in Elitserien (regular season).

In the quarterfinals Brynäs was defeated by 4-0 games, and in the semifinals Frölunda turned around from a 1-3 deficit in games to win against Linköping.

After several years of losing in the championship finals Färjestad finally won the championship versus Frölunda. Most notably during the season was another attendance record – 386 000 people visited Frölunda Indians’ home games.

Frölunda set a new Elitserien record on April 6, 2006, by winning the Elitserien playoff semi finals against Linköpings HC 4-3 after trailing the series 1-3. The season ended with a 2-4 defeat against Färjestads BK in the finals. The second game in the finals Ronnie Sundin played his 685th game for Frölunda becoming the player with most career games for the club.