IF Sundsvall Hockey

IF Sundsvall Hockey
City	Sundsvall, Sweden
League	Hockeyettan
Founded	1976 (1896)
Home arena	Gärdehov
Colors	Blue, white, yellow
Website	www.sundsvallhockey.se/index.php
Franchise history
1896–1976	Tunadals Skid och Skridskoförening
1976–1985	Sundsvall/Tunadals IF
1985–present	IF Sundsvall Hockey

IF Sundsvall Hockey is a Swedish ice hockey club based in Sundsvall. The club currently competes in Hockeyettan, the third tier of ice hockey in Sweden. Sundsvall plays their home matches at Gärdehov, with a capacity of 2,500.[1]

History

The club was founded in 1896 as Tunadals Skid och Skridskoförening (Tundal Ski and Skate Club), which was active mainly in ice skating, but also participated in athletics, association football, and orienteering. Participation in ice hockey wouldn't begin until 1952. In 1976, the club was reorganized as Sundsvall/Tunadals IF, which was later given its current name of IF Sundsvall Hockey in 1985.[2]

Sundsvall has previously spent many years playing in the second-tier of Swedish hockey, but was relegated to the third tier following the 2011–12 HockeyAllsvenskan season.[1]

Season-by-season

Season	Level	Division	Record		Avg. home atnd.	Notes	Ref.
			Position	W-T-L W-OT-L
2009–10	Tier 2	HockeyAllsvenskan	13th	12–7–5–28	886		[3]
	HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers		3rd	4–1–2–3	910	Failed to secure a spot in HockeyAllsvenskan for 2010–11 season, but avoided relegation by replacing IF Björklöven, who were relegated due to financial trouble.	[3]
2010–11	Tier 2	HockeyAllsvenskan	12th	11–5–7–29	926		[3]
2011–12	Tier 2	HockeyAllsvenskan	14th	11–7–3–31	1,171		[3]
	HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers		5th	4–1–0–5	1,414	Relegated to Division 1	[3]
2012–13	Tier 3	Division 1B	1st	23–4–0–1	670		[4]
		AllEttan North	2nd	10–1–1–2	1,210	Bye to round 3	[5]
		Playoff to HA qualifiers	Round 3	1–0–0–2	1,456	Lost 1–2 in games vs Piteå HC	[6]
2013–14	Tier 3	Division 1 North	2nd	32–3–3–6	546	Bye to round 3	[7]
		Playoff to HA qualifiers	Round 3	0–0–0–2	2,343	Lost 0–2 in games vs KRIF	[8]
2014–15	Tier 3	Hockeyettan North	1st of 11	17–1–2–0	650		[1]
		Allettan North	1st of 8	2–1–0–11	1,500		[2]
	HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers		4th of 6	4–1–1–4	2,047	Promoted to HockeyAllsvenskan in conjunction with the SHL's expansion to 14 teams.	[3]
2015–16	Tier 2	HockeyAllsvenskan	14th of 14	8–7–4–33	1,295		[4]
	HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers		4th of 6	3–1–2–4	1,134	Relegated to Hockeyettan	[5]
2016–17	Tier 3	Hockeyettan North	3rd of 12	16–1–0–5	542		[6]
		Allettan North	3rd of 10	8–5–1–4	693	Bye to round 2	[7]
		Playoff to HA qualifiers	Round 2	1–0–0–2	1,050	Lost 1–2 in games vs Vimmerby HC

Women's side

In May 2017, the club eliminated its women's side, despite them having just managed to save their place in the top-flight Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) during the qualification playoffs. The organisation cited a need to save money for its third-tier men's side. The club was criticised for the decision, with forward Mathilda Gustafsson stating that "If we were a company instead of an association, you would never shut down a department which only employed women because the cost inhibits the male employees."[9]

External links

• Official homepage

References

1. "Sundsvall Hockey". Eliteprospects.com.
2. "Historia/Fakta". IF Sundsvall Hockey. Archived from the original on 2016-01-08.
3. "Historical database". Swedish Ice Hockey Association.
4. "Division 1: 2012–13: Division 1 B". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. Archived from the original on 2013-10-01.
5. "Division 1: 2012–13: AllEttan Norra". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. Archived from the original on 2013-10-01.
6. "Playoff till Allsv. kval". Swedish Ice Hockey Association.
7. "Division 1: 2013–14: Division 1 Norra". Swedish Ice Hockey Association.
8. "Division 1: 2013–14: Playoff till Allsv. kval". Swedish Ice Hockey Association.
9. Foster, Meredith (May 31, 2017). "Sundsvall out of SDHL". The Ice Garden.