IF Björklöven

IF Björklöven
CityUmeå, Sweden
LeagueHockeyAllsvenskan
FoundedMay 15, 1970 (1970-05-15)
Home arenaWinpos Arena
Colours   
General managerPer Kenttä
Head coachMagnus Bogren
CaptainAxel Ottosson
Websitebjorkloven.com
Franchise history
26Seasons in Sweden's highest division
3Swedish Championship Finals appearances
Championships
Le Mat Trophy1987
Current season

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 has played 15 seasons in the top Swedish league Elitserien (1976–77, 1978–79 to 1988–89, 1993–94, 1998–99 and 2000–01, becoming national champions in 1987).

History

IF Björklöven was formed in 1970 when the ice hockey sections of IFK Umeå and Sandåkerns SK were merged. The IFK Umeå team had already at times been referred to as 'björklöven' (the birch leaves) as a tongue in cheek reference to Canadian ice hockey and Umeå being known as the 'city of birch trees', and after the merger the nickname became the official team name.

The team was quite successful at the Elitserien (SEL) level, the highest league in Sweden, during the 1980s and won the Swedish championship in 1987. They were, however, relegated only two years later, and since then have not been able to establish themselves permanently in the Elitserien again. Instead, they have mostly played in the second-tier league Allsvenskan, save for a few short stints in the 90s. Some notable players from Björklöven are Calle Johansson, Ulf Dahlén, Tore Öqvist and twins Patrik Sundström and Peter Sundström.

From 2001 to 2010, Björklöven played in HockeyAllsvenskan, the second highest ice hockey league for men in Sweden. Although the team finished 12th in the 2009–10 HockeyAllsvenskan season (which meant that the team was set to play in HockeyAllsvenskan the following season), the club was in big economical problems in March–May 2010. The club went bankrupt in April 2010, but got the bankruptcy allayed a month later. Despite huge further efforts by the club to obtain an elite license to play in HockeyAllsvenskan the following season, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association (SIHA) decided not to give Björklöven an elite license and thus the team was relegated to the third-tier league Division 1 for the 2010–11 season. Björklöven was eventually promoted back to HockeyAllsvenskan in the 2012–13 season.

The team has recently had many promising young players, including Alexander Hellström, Alexander Sundström, Patrik Nevalainen, Daniel Rahimi and Kristofer Berglund. Due to lack of funds however, Björklöven lost all of these young players to other teams, although Hellström, Sundström and Nevalainen later rejoined the team.

Björklöven Dam

Björklöven's women's side currently plays in Damettan, in the north division of the second tier of Swedish women's hockey. Ahead of the 2018–19 SDHL season, the club hosted the Damcup Umeå exhibition tournament between Björklöven, Luleå HF/MSSK, Modo Hockey, and the Japanese national team. Luleå were crowned winners of the tournament after winning all three of their games.[1]

Season-by-season records

List of Björklöven seasons
Season Level Division Record Avg.
home
atnd. 		Notes Ref
Position W-OT-L
This is a partial list, featuring the five most recent seasons. For a more complete list, see List of IF Björklöven seasons
2020–21 Tier 2 HockeyAllsvenskan 3rd of 14 26–6–3–17 23 [2]
HockeyAllsvenskan Playoffs – 6–2–3–5 56 Won in quarterfinals, 3–1 vs Mora IK
Won in semifinals, 4–3 vs BIK Karlskoga
Lost in finals, 1–4 vs Timrå IK 		[3]
2021–22 Tier 2 HockeyAllsvenskan 4th of 14 26–7–6–13 3,855 [4]
HockeyAllsvenskan Playoffs – 8–2–2–6 5,176 Won in quarterfinals, 4–1 vs Västerås IK
Won in semifinals, 4–3 vs Modo Hockey
Lost in finals, 2–4 vs HV71 		[5]
2022–23 Tier 2 HockeyAllsvenskan 2nd of 14 29–7–5–11 4,605 [6]
HockeyAllsvenskan Playoffs – 5–1–1–4 4,976 Won in quarterfinals, 4–1 vs Västerås IK
Lost in semifinals, 2–4 vs Djurgårdens IF 		[7]
2023–24 Tier 2 HockeyAllsvenskan 6th of 14 21–8–6–17 4,639 [8]
HockeyAllsvenskan Playoffs – 1–0–2–2 5,001 Lost in quarterfinals, 1–4 vs Djurgårdens IF [9]
2024–25 Tier 2 HockeyAllsvenskan 4th of 14 28–4–6–14 4,659 [10]
HockeyAllsvenskan Playoffs – 3–0–2–2 5,038 Lost in quarterfinals, 3–4 vs AIK [11]

Players and personnel

Current roster

Updated 31 July, 2025.[12]

No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
57 Canada Matt Cairns D L 27 2025 Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
24 Sweden Linus Cronholm D L 25 2022 Malmö, Sweden
19 Sweden Liam Dower Nilsson C L 22 2023 Göteborg, Sweden
31 Sweden Olle Eriksson Ek G L 26 2025 Karlstad, Sweden
56 Sweden Fredrik Forsberg RW R 28 2024 Uppsala, Sweden
16 Sweden Gustaf Kangas C L 20 2024 Stockholm, Sweden
37 Finland Lenni Killinen RW L 25 2024 Espoo, Finland
33 Sweden Albin Lundin C L 29 2025 Stockholm, Sweden
28 Canada Mathew Maione D L 34 2024 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
39 Finland Joel Mustonen C L 32 2022 Oulu, Finland
10 Sweden Marcus Nilsson LW L 34 2024 Charlottenberg, Sweden
8 Sweden Lucas Nordsäter D L 26 2025 Sunne, Sweden
32 Sweden Jacob Olofsson C L 25 2021 Piteå, Sweden
26 Latvia Bruno Osmanis RW R 18 2023 Ogre, Latvia
18 Sweden Axel Ottosson (C) C L 29 2024 Umeå, Sweden
71 Sweden Gustav Possler LW L 30 2020 Södertälje, Sweden
26 Sweden Oliwer Sjöström D L 18 2025 Umeå, Sweden
91 Sweden Oscar Tellström RW L 23 2024 Luleå, Sweden
59 Canada Tim Theocharidis D L 27 2024 Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
50 Finland Frans Tuohimaa G L 33 2025 Helsinki, Finland
6 Finland Olli Vainio D R 31 2025 Tampere, Finland


Team captains

  • John Slettvoll, 1976–77
  • Ulf Lundström, 1977–80
  • Torbjörn Andersson, 1981–83
  • Rolf Berglund, 1983–86
  • Peter Andersson, 1986–89
  • Ulf Andersson, 1989–90
  • Peter Andersson, 1990–93
  • Patrik Sundström, 1993–94
  • Peter Andersson, 1994–95
  • Jens Öhman, 1995–96
  • Robert Ljunggren, 1996–97
  • Peder Bejegård, 1997–98
  • Jens Öhman, 1998–99
  • Christian Lechtaler, 1999–01
  • Göran Hermansson, 2001–02
  • Jörgen Hermansson, 2002–05
  • Mats Lavander, 2005–07
  • Magnus Gästrin, 2007–09
  • Fredrik Öberg, 2009–10
  • Martin Johansson, 2010–11
  • Johan Jarl, 2011–13
  • Mats Lavander, 2013–14
  • Stefan Öhman, 2014–17
  • Fredric Andersson, 2017–24
  • Axel Ottosson, 2024–present

Honored members

IF Björklöven retired numbers
No. Player Position Career No. retirement
9 Aleksandrs Beļavskis RW 1991–2003 –
17 Patrik Sundström RW 1978–1982, 1992–1994 –
23 Roger Hägglund D 1977–1983, 1985–1992 –
27 Tore Ökvist[13] F 1974–1988 –

Notable players

References

  1. ^ Payne, Shelley (September 11, 2018). "IF Bjorkloven: Damcup Umea Pre-Season Tournament".
  2. ^ "Allsvenskan: 2020–21: Allsvenskan". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 26 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  3. ^ "Allsvenskan: 2020–21: Allsvenskan Playoffs". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 26 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Allsvenskan: 2021–22: Allsvenskan". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 26 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  5. ^ "Allsvenskan: 2021–22: Allsvenskan Playoffs". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 26 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  6. ^ "Allsvenskan: 2022–23: Allsvenskan". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 26 June 2025. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
  7. ^ "Allsvenskan: 2022–23: Allsvenskan Playoffs". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 26 June 2025. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
  8. ^ "Allsvenskan: 2023–24: Allsvenskan". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 26 June 2025. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
  9. ^ "Allsvenskan: 2023–24: Allsvenskan Playoffs". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 26 June 2025. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
  10. ^ "Allsvenskan: 2024–25: Allsvenskan". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 26 June 2025. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
  11. ^ "Allsvenskan: 2024–25: Allsvenskan Playoffs". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. 26 June 2025. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
  12. ^ "Björklöven roster". IF Björklöven (in Swedish). 31 July 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  13. ^ "Retired Numbers". European Hockey.net. Retrieved January 23, 2007.
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