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

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 h ...

administrator, coach and player. He served as the

Finnish Ice Hockey Association The Finnish Ice Hockey Association ( fi, Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto, sv, Finlands Ishockeyförbund) is the governing body of ice hockey in Finland. In 1927, the Finnish Skating Association introduced ice hockey as part of its program and, throu ...

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, it is the sport's highest profile annual ...

, 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 was founded in 1979 with the mission to record, document, and exhibit objects, ...

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 (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus n ...

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecess ...

. 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 for "Battle axe") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the Liiga. They play at ''Tampere Deck Arena'' in Tampere, Finland. The team has won 18 Finnish league championships (1959, 1961, 1964, 1975, 1977, 1979, ...

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 participated in its first

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) 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 h ...

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 ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

. In 1956, Finland opened its first artificial ice hockey rink, located in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

. 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 March 8 to March 18, 1962. This was the first World Championship hosted ...

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 als ...

awarded by the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 ...

(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 The 1974 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships were held in Leningrad, Soviet Union between December 27, 1973, and January 6, 1974. The host Soviet team won the tournament with a perfect 5–0 record. This was the first edition of the Ice Hockey ...

. In his last year as president, the Finnish Elite League was founded, which later became known as

Liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding lea ...

. Lindblad was a member of the

Finnish Olympic Committee The Finnish Olympic Committee ( fi, Suomen Olympiakomitea ry; sv, Finlands Olympiska Kommitté rf) is the national Olympic committee in Finland for the Olympic Games movement. It is a non-profit organisation that selects teams, and raises funds ...

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. He was a founding member and the first chairman of the

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 the

, in the builder category, 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 People from Viipuri Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Sportspeople from Vyborg Tappara players