Gunnar Svensson (27 June 1956 – 31 January 2020) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

ice hockey player,

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

and

sports agent A sports agent is a legal representative (hence agent (law), agent) for professional sports figures such as athletes and coaches. They procure and negotiate employment and Testimonial, endorsement contracts for the principal (commercial law), at ...

. During his playing career Svensson played for Örnsköldsvik and

IF Björklöven IF Björklöven (often simply referred to as Löven) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club in Umeå, Västerbotten, in northern Sweden. The club is currently playing in the second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan as of the 2024-25 season, but h ...

. He began his coaching career in Örnsköldsvik before signing on to

IK Vita Hästen IK or Ik may refer to: Businesses and organizations * IK Investment Partners, a European private equity firm * Imair Airlines (IATA code IK) * Iparretarrak, a Basque nationalist organization Languages * Ik language (ISO 639 alpha-3 ikx), spoken ...

. Svensson coached his first and only

Elitserien Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In many sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan. Elitserien leagues at present: * Elitserien (badmint ...

club when he signed on a five-year contract with

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Djurgårdens IF is an s ...

in 1984. Svensson's first season in Djurgården went well, the team won the league and beat Färjestads BK in the semifinals. However,

Södertälje SK Södertälje Sportklubb, also known as Södertälje SK and often referred to as SSK, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club playing in HockeyAllsvenskan, the second highest level of pro hockey in Sweden. Södertälje were charter members of El ...

proved to be too hard in the final and became Swedish champions. The following season was quite the opposite; Djurgården was close to being relegated, and Svensson was subsequently fired on 26 January 1986. After his stay in Djurgården, he became coach for

IF Troja/Ljungby IF Troja-Ljungby is an ice hockey club that plays in Ljungby Ljungby () is the Urban areas in Sweden, central locality of Ljungby Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden, with 15,785 inhabitants in 2015. Ljungby was instituted in 1829 as a ''k� ...

until 1988. This marked the end of Svensson's coaching career and he went on to be a manager in Vita Hästen. He left his post in Vita Hästen for the same post in

Malmö Redhawks The Malmö Redhawks (colloquially referred to simply as Malmö or by past abbreviation MIF) are a Swedish professional ice hockey team based in Malmö which plays in the SHL, with Malmö Arena as the venue for home games. The history of the te ...

in 1995. After internal conflicts in the club Svensson left his position as manager in 1996 and started to work as a

for players like

Henrik Zetterberg Henrik Zetterberg (; born 9 October 1980) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey forward. He played his entire National Hockey League career, from 2002 to 2018, with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. Bursting onto the ...

, Andreas Pihl and

Fredrik Emvall Karl Arne Fredrik Emvall (born June 28, 1976) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player. He played most of his career as a forward in Linköpings HC Linköpings may refer to: *Linköpings ASS, Linköpings Allmänna Simsällskap is a S ...

. Svensson was the father of the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

winger

Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BC. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The name gained wid ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Svensson, Gunnar 2020 deaths 1956 births Swedish ice hockey players Swedish ice hockey coaches Djurgårdens IF (men's hockey) coaches Swedish Hockey League coaches IF Björklöven players