The Nybro Vikings are an

ice-hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) 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. Two opposing teams use ice h ...

club from

Nybro Nybro (, outdatedly ) is a city status in Sweden, city and the seat of Nybro Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 13,583 inhabitants in 2020. Overview Nybro was founded as a rest area for travellers on the road between Växjö in the west and ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. The team played in the highest league in Sweden for two seasons 1968–69 and 1969–70 and the second highest league during the 70s and 80s and again for seven years from 2002 to 2009 in

HockeyAllsvenskan HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league, and the second-highest league in the Swedish ice hockey system, after the Swedish Hockey League, SHL. Since the 2009–10 season, t ...

. The team was relegated to the third division,

Division 1 Division 1 or Division One may refer to: Association football * Azadegan League, the second-tier professional football league in Iran * Brisbane Premier League Division 1, the second-tier professional football league in Brisbane, Queensland, Austr ...

, during the 2008-2009 season after finishing 15th in the regular season and third in the following qualification series. On 22 April 2023, the Nybro Vikings qualified for

again after defeating

Piteå HC Piteå Hockey Club, usually abbreviated Piteå HC, is a Swedish ice hockey club based in Piteå in Norrbotten, Sweden's northernmost county. The club played six seasons, from 1999 to 2005, in Sweden's second-tier league, Allsvenskan Allsv ...

, 6–1, in a home game during the final round of the

qualification series.

Arena

The team plays in Liljas Arena, which has a capacity of spectators. The arena was originally built in 1963 under the name Victoriahallen, making it the fourth oldest indoor ice hockey arena in Sweden. It was renovated in both 1984 and 2014. The attendance record is 4,027 spectators, set in a game against

Tingsryds AIF Tingsryds Allmänna Idrottsförening, commonly known as Tingsryds AIF, (sometimes abbreviated TAIF) is an ice hockey club based in Tingsryd, Sweden. The club is playing in HockeyAllsvenskan HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAlls ...

in 1970.

History

Nybro IF was founded in 1906 as a general sports club. In 1939, the bandy club IK Ymer was established in Nybro and later transitioned to ice hockey. Ymer played its first official ice hockey season in 1946, which is considered the founding year of the current club by Nybro Vikings. In 1955, IK Ymer became the ice hockey section of Nybro IF, following the appointment of Ymer’s chairman Evald Carlsson as chairman of Nybro IF. The ice hockey section operated under the name Nybro IF until 1998, when it became independent as Nybro IF Hockey. In 2002, the club adopted its current name, Nybro Vikings IF. Evald Carlsson, who chaired both IK Ymer and later Nybro IF, played a central role in the club's development and was instrumental in the construction of Victoriahallen in 1963. Among many seasons in Sweden’s second division, the club also played two seasons in the top-tier league during 1968–69 and 1969–70.

Notable players

Fredrik Olausson Karl-Gustav Fredrik Olausson (born October 5, 1966) is a Swedish former ice hockey player from Nybro who is currently assistant coach for HV71 in Elitserien. He had previously played 17 seasons in the NHL and another 6 in Sweden. He was a mem ...

, a member of the 2002 Stanley Cup champion

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

, started his career with Nybro. Björn "Böna" Johansson, who played for Nybro IF from 1968 to 1971, played 112 games for the Swedish national team between 1972 and 1976. During his national career he played in 5

IIHF World Championship 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 tour ...

s and 1

Canada Cup The Canada Cup () was an invitational international ice hockey tournament held on five occasions between 1976 and 1991. The brainchild of Toronto lawyer Alan Eagleson, the tournament was created to meet demand for a true world championship that a ...

. He then played 6 seasons for

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 ...

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 ...

, and in 1977 returned to Nybro, where he ended his career in 1983.

Supporters

The official supporter club of Nybro Vikings is known as

Viking Support Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

References

External links

Nybro Vikings IF
– official website
Viking Support
– official supporter club {{HockeyAllsvenskan Ice hockey teams in Kalmar County HockeyAllsvenskan teams Nybro Municipality 1946 establishments in Sweden 20th-century establishments in Kalmar County