IF Sundsvall Hockey is 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 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 ...

club based in

Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. Old town i ...

. The club currently competes in

Hockeyettan Hockeyettan is the third tier of ice hockey in Sweden. As of the 2015–16 season, the league consists of 39 teams divided geographically into four groups. Hockeyettan operates a system of promotion and relegation with HockeyAllsvenskan and D ...

, the third tier of

ice hockey in Sweden Ice hockey in Sweden has a history going back to at least 1912 and is one of the country's most popular sports. The sport was first organized in the country by the Swedish Football Association (SvFF), which was a member of the IIHF in 1912. The i ...

. Sundsvall plays their home matches at

Gärdehov Gärdehov is an indoor arena located in Sundsvall, Sweden, and built in 1966. The ice hockey arena has a capacity of 2,500 spectators (previously 3,300) since the renovation of the arena in summer 2009, and is IF Sundsvall Hockey's home arena. Th ...

, with a capacity of 2,500.

History

The club was founded in 1896 as Tunadals Skid och Skridskoförening (''Tundal Ski and Skate Club''), which was active mainly in

ice skating Ice skating is the Human-powered transport, self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. ...

, but also participated in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, and

orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that involve using a map and compass to navigation, navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specia ...

. 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. 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 The 2011–12 HockeyAllsvenskan season was the 7th season of HockeyAllsvenskan. The regular season started on 17 September 2011 and ended on 2 March 2012. The following Playoff round for the final spot in the 2012 Kvalserien started on 4 March and ...

Season-by-season

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 The Swedish Women's Hockey League (), abbreviated SDHL, is the elite league for women's ice hockey in Sweden. It was established in 2007 as the by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association and was renamed prior to the 2016–17 season. The league has ...

(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."

External links

Official homepage

References

Sundsvall Hockey IF Ice hockey teams in Västernorrland County 1976 establishments in Sweden 20th-century establishments in Västernorrland County {{Sweden-sport-team-stub