The Norwegian Ice Hockey Association (in

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

, ''Norges Ishockeyforbund'' (NIHF) is the governing body of all

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

sledge hockey Sledge hockey, also known as Sled hockey in American English, and Para ice hockey in international competition, is an adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a physical disability. The sport was invented in the early 1960s at a rehabilitat ...

and in-line hockey in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

. NIHF has its office at

Ullevaal Stadium Ullevaal Stadion () is an all-seater stadium, all-seater association football, football stadium located in Oslo, Norway. It is the home ground of the Norway national football team, and the site of the Norwegian Football Cup, Norwegian Cup Fin ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. The current president is

Tage Pettersen Tage Pettersen (born 25 July 1972) is a Norwegian politician. He was elected representative to the Storting from the constituency of Østfold for the period 2017–2021 for the Conservative Party, and re-elected for the period 2021–2025 ...

, who replaced Gerhard Nilsen in 2018. The current head coach of Team Norway is Petter Thoresen who has coached the team since 2016. The logo of the NIHF has a

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear spec ...

in its centre spot. The national team is also nicknamed ''Isbjørnene'' ("The Polar Bears").

History

NIHF was founded September 18, 1934 and has been a member of the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 ...

since January 20, 1935. The first President of the NIHF was Rolf Gjertsen from the club Trygg. The first vice president was Ludvig Christiansen, also from Trygg. The ten teams that founded the NIHF were: Forward,

Furuset Furuset is residential and suburban area, situated in the northeast of Oslo, Norway. It was a separate borough of Oslo up to January 1, 2004, when it became part of the new borough of Alna. Furuset is a suburb in eastern Groruddalen The Gror ...

Gjøa ''Gjøa'' was the first vessel to transit the Northwest Passage. With a crew of six, Roald Amundsen traversed the passage in a three-year journey, finishing in 1906. History Construction The square-sterned sloop of 47 net register tonna ...

, Hasle, Holmen,

Strong Strong may refer to: Education * The Strong, an educational institution in Rochester, New York, United States * Strong Hall (Lawrence, Kansas), an administrative hall of the University of Kansas * Strong School, New Haven, Connecticut, United S ...

, Trygg, NTHI,

Trond Trond is a Norwegian male given name. The base of the name, Tron'r (Þróndr or Þrándr), is Old Norse and means "to grow and thrive" (þroásk)17785 peoplein Norway have Trond as their first name, making it the 23rd most used name (2008). The na ...

and

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, an ...

. The inaugural game was played at Furuset Stadion on January 4, 1935 between Gjøa and Furuset. Gjøa won 5–0. The referee was Johan Narvestad. Norway has yet to win a medal during its twelve appearances at the Olympic games. Their best result was in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

when they finished in 8th place. In the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

, the team competed in the top division for the first time since 1952. They lost their first four games of the tournament to

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

(11-0),

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

(10-4), USA (5-1) and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

(7-1), and then came from behind to tie

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

(3-3) for a point in the standings. Today, Norway competes in the top tier for the World Championships.

NIHF Awards

The NIHF annually awards the

Golden Puck Guldpucken (''The Golden Puck'') is awarded annually to the ice hockey player of the year in Sweden. It is similar to the NHL's Hart Memorial Trophy. Normally it goes to a player in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the top-level ice hockey leagu ...

award to the best male Norwegian born hockey player. The similar award for women is the Valemon trophy, which has been awarded twice. Each year the NIHF hands out the His Rojal Majesty's Cup to the winner of the playoffs of the

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotio ...

, and the winning team becomes Norwegian Champions.

Polar Bear Trophy

The Polar Bear Trophy is an

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

given out by the federation to Norwegian ice hockey players who have played a minimum of 50 official games for the Norwegian national ice hockey team. Counting as official games are games played at the

IIHF World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual ...

, the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

and qualification games to the two aforementioned tournaments. Friendly games are not counted. Referees who have officiated a minimum of 30 games at the Winter Olympics or IIHF World Championship (Elite and Division 1) at either the senior or the junior level are also eligible for reception. The NIHF board may also award the trophy to builders who have shown an extra ordinary dedication to Norwegian ice hockey.

Presidents

* Tore Johannessen, 1956–1964

References

External links

*
Official sledge hockey website
Ice hockey in Norway

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

1934 establishments in Norway International Ice Hockey Federation members Ice hockey governing bodies in Europe Sports organizations established in 1934 {{Norway-stub