Arne Grunander (28 January 1918 – 13 February 1987) was a Swedish

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) 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. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

executive. He helped lead

Djurgårdens IF Hockey Djurgårdens IF Ishockeyförening – commonly known as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården Hockey, Djurgården () – is a professional ice hockey team based in Stockholm, Sweden, affiliated with the Djurgårdens IF umbrella organization. Djurgården ...

to nine championships and served as president of the

Swedish Ice Hockey Association The Swedish Ice Hockey Association ( sv, Svenska Ishockeyförbundet (SIF)) in Swedish, is an association of Swedish ice hockey clubs. It was established in Stockholm on 17 November 1922 by representatives from seven clubs. Before then, organized ...

from 1978 to 1983. He was inducted into 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 ...

posthumously in 1997.

Career

As a youth, Grunander played football alongside Birger Sandberg, where he helped his school win the Crown Prince's trophy in 1937. In 1948, Grunander took over as chairman of

and in his first year with the team helped them qualify for the then-highest league, Allsvenskan. From the 1948 season onwards, Djurgården won nine Swedish championships between 1950 and 1963. As Grunander saw his team dominating the league, he was one of the first instigators that argued for a new elite series of Swedish hockey. Although the proposal was first shot down, by 1974 the Swedish Hockey Association eventually decided to create the Swedish Elite League. At Djurgården's 75th anniversary, Grunander was awarded a merit award from

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. Name The club is named ...

, the overarching sports club of all departments. Later in his career, Grunander helped recruit players from

IK Göta IK Göta is a Sweden, Swedish sports club, which was very successful in several sports such as track and field, handball, bowling, field hockey, ice hockey, soccer (women only) and bandy during the 20th century. Their most famous and successful sp ...

to play for Djurgården, including Ove Malmberg who described him as a charismatic leader and hockey expert. Grunander also served as a council member of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association from 1968 to 1978 before being elected President in 1978. Although he died on 13 February 1987, Grunander was inducted posthumously into the

as a builder in 1997.

Personal life

Grunander also worked in financial law off the ice and briefly as the IIHF auditor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grunander, Arne 1918 births 1987 deaths IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Swedish ice hockey administrators Swedish men's footballers Men's association football players not categorized by position People from Stockholm Sportspeople from Stockholm County