Harry Gustaf Lindblad (30 July 1912 – 2 February 1984) was a Finnish

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

administrator, coach and player. He served as the

Finnish Ice Hockey Association The Finnish Ice Hockey Association (, ) is the sport governing body, governing body of ice hockey in Finland. Since the late 1980s, Finland has enjoyed a period of success on the international stage and, , the Finland men's national ice hockey t ...

president for 18 years, after five years as its vice-president. During this time, Finland participated in its first ice hockey tournament at the Winter Olympics, won its first medal in international hockey, began to build indoor ice rinks, hosted two

Ice Hockey 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. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the I ...

, and founded the Finnish Elite League. He was posthumously recognized for his contributions by induction into both the

Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame The Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame is housed in and administered by the ('Finnish Ice Hockey Museum'), a part of the Vapriikki Museum Centre, in Tampere, Finland. The mission of the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame is to record, document, and exhibit ...

and the

IIHF Hall of Fame The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the Interna ...

Early life

Lindblad was born on 30 July 1912 in

Vyborg Vyborg (; , ; , ; , ) is a town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, northwest of St. Petersburg, east of the Finnish capital H ...

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed from 1809 to 1917 as an Autonomous region, autonomous state within the Russian Empire. Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the Monarc ...

. He was baptised Harry Gustaf Lindblad on 25 October 1912, to parents Gustaf Edvard Lindblad, and Margaretha Elisabeth Henriksson. The young Lindblad played ice hockey with Tammerfors Bollklubb (TBK) in the 1940s and later coached the team. He became president of TBK in 1945, and remained with the club when it transitioned into

Tappara Tappara (; Finnish language, Finnish for "Battle axe") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the SM-liiga. They play at ''Nokia Arena (Tampere), Nokia Arena'' in Tampere, Finland. The team has won 20 Finnish league championships, wh ...

in 1955.

Finnish national hockey

Lindblad served as vice-president of the

from 1952 to 1957. During this time, the

Finland men's national ice hockey team The Finnish men's national ice hockey team, nicknamed ''Leijonat / Lejonen'' ("The Lions" in Finnish and Swedish), is governed by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Finland is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world an ...

participated in its first

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, 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 held in ...

and placed seventh in

ice hockey at the 1952 Winter Olympics The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway, was the seventh Olympic Championship, also serving as the 19th World Championships and the 30th European Championships. The tournament was mainly played at the Jordal A ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. In 1956, Finland opened its first artificial

ice hockey rink An ice hockey rink is an ice rink that is specifically designed for ice hockey, a competitive team sport. Alternatively it is used for other sports such as broomball, ringette, rinkball, and rink bandy. It is a rectangle with rounded corners and ...

, located in

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

. He was elected president of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 1957, and served in that role for 18 years until 1975. During this time, the national team placed fourth in the

1962 Ice Hockey World Championships The 1962 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 29th edition of the Ice Hockey World Championships. The tournament was held in Colorado Springs and Denver, United States from 8 to 18 March 1962. This was the first World Championship hosted in No ...

which also determined the 1962 European Ice Hockey Championship. Finland completed the event as the second-best European team overall, earning the European silver medal. He was successful in having the

1965 World Ice Hockey Championships The 1965 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in Hakametsä, Tampere, Finland, 3–15 March. Eight teams took part, each playing each other once. The Soviets became world champions for the fifth time, winning all of their games. This also ...

awarded by the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; ; ) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 84 member countries. The IIHF maintains the IIHF World Ranking based on international ice hockey to ...

(IIHF) to Tampere, and served as chairman of its planning committee. The 1965 event was the first time Finland hosted the

. This led to an era of growth, with more indoor rinks being built in Finland. Finland later hosted the

1974 Ice Hockey World Championships The 1974 Ice Hockey World Championships were the 41st Ice Hockey World Championships and the 52nd European Championships in ice hockey. The tournament took place in Finland from 5 to 20 April and the games were played in the capital, Helsinki. Si ...

, with Lindblad helping coordinate the event as well. Also in 1974, Finland won a silver medal at the 1974 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. In his last year as president, the Finnish Elite League was founded, which later became known as

Liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mesti ...

. Lindblad was a member of the

Finnish Olympic Committee The Finnish Olympic Committee (; ) is the national Olympic committee in Finland for the Olympic Games movement. It is a non-profit organisation that selects teams, and raises funds to send Finnish competitors to Olympic events organised by the I ...

from 1961 to 1976. He later served as a council member of the IIHF from 1967 to 1976, and was one of the first three people to be made an honorary member of the IIHF in 1975. When the

was established June 14, 1979, Lindblad was one of its founding members, and served as chairperson from 1979 to 1983.

Later life and honors

Lindblad died on 2 February 1984, in Tampere. As a result of his contributions to the sport of hockey, he posthumously joined the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985, and into the builder category of the

in 1999. He was later inducted into the Tappara Hall of Fame, and became the namesake of the Harry Lindblad memorial trophy, awarded to the regular season champion of Liiga.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindblad, Harry 1912 births 1984 deaths Finnish ice hockey administrators Finnish ice hockey coaches Finnish ice hockey players International Ice Hockey Federation executives IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Viipuri Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Sportspeople from Vyborg Tappara players