Kurt Kjellström (19 March 1921 – 10 December 1965) 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 h ...

, football and bandy player, best known for representing Hammarby IF in all three sports. In 2012, Kjellström was posthumously inducted into the Swedish Hockey Hall of Fame.

Early life

Kjellström was born in Stockholm and started to play ice hockey and football with local clubs Eriksdals IF and Helgalundsklubben as a youngster.

Athletic career

Ice hockey

In 1938–39, Kjellström was promoted to the senior roster of Hammarby IF, in the domestic top division Svenska Serien. The club went on to win the league in an undefeated season, winning all seven matches, but no Swedish champion was crowned due to cold weather. Kjellström had his major breakthrough scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

when Hammarby won 3–1 against German giants

SC Riessersee SC Riessersee is a professional ice hockey team based in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Oberbayern, Germany. They currently play in The Oberliga, the third level of ice hockey in Germany. Prior to the 2013–14 season, they played in the 2nd Bundesliga ...

in an exhibition game on 29 January 1939. Ahead of the 1939–40 season, Kjellström joined fierce

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

, but decided to leave the club after one year to return to Hammarby IF. Kjellström won three Swedish championships – in 1942, 1943 and 1945 – with Hammarby IF. He formed a feared line together with wingers Stig Emanuel Andersson and Holger Nurmela, getting known as a physical and powerful center. Kjellström was the highest goal scorer in the Swedish first division seven seasons in a row, between 1940 and 1946, and scored a total of 150 goals in 121 games with Hammarby IF. Due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Kjellström only played 15 games with the Swedish national team, scoring a total of 21 goals. He did not compete in any major international tournaments, except for the 1941 International Week of Winter Sports in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, an unofficial European championship, where Sweden lost to the host country

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the final. Kjellström left Hammarby IF in 1946 together with a few other star players, as the club's finances were heavily in the red after arranging a tour to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He went on to represent

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 Eli ...

and Atlas Diesels IF in the Swedish top division, only to return to Hammarby IF in 1950–51 when the club was crowned Swedish champions again. However, Kjellström did not play enough games to be awarded an official medal. He retired at the end of said season, but made a brief comeback for Kungsholms IF in the Swedish third tier in 1960–61 at age 40. In 2012, Kjellström was posthumously inducted into the Swedish Hockey Hall of Fame, awarded by 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, organiz ...

Football

After playing with the youth teams of Hammarby IF, Kjellström started also chose to represent

in football when he switched clubs in ice hockey. Subsequently, Kjellström made his debut in Allsvenskan, the domestic top tier, in a 2–0 home win against

IK Sleipner Idrottsklubben Sleipner is a sports club in Norrköping, Sweden; the main sports are football and ten-pin bowling. It was founded in 1903, and named after the deity Odin's horse Sleipnir from Norse mythology. Currently, the club's senior men's te ...

on 22 October 1939, aged 18. He played 8 league games throughout the season, scoring 3 goals, for AIK as the club finished 6th in the table. In 1940, Kjellström returned to Hammarby IF in Division 2. Playing as a forward, he went on to score 85 goals in 89 league games for the club in seven seasons, as the club unsuccessfully pushed for a promotion from Sweden's second division. Kjellström left Hammarby IF in early 1947 and transferred to

Ljungby IF Ljungby IF is a Swedish football club located in Ljungby. The club was founded on 1 April 1914. Background Since their foundation Ljungby IF has participated mainly in the middle and lower divisions of the Swedish football league system. Their ...

, as the club's management offered him a job outside sports. After only a few months, however, he returned to Stockholm and went on to represent local clubs

Reymersholms IK Reymersholms IK is a sports club located in Stockholm and was founded on 1 September 1899. From the 1920s to the 1940s the club was successful in bandy, football and ice hockey. Today football is the only sport in the club. The club is affiliate ...

and IF Olympia in the lower divisions.

Bandy

Kjellström also played bandy. In 1941, he was called up to the Sweden B team to a game against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. In the 1940s, Kjellström played three seasons in Allsvenskan, the highest division, with both Hammarby IF and Reymersholms IK.

Personal life

He spent the last years of his life in a wheelchair after suffering an

intracranial hemorrhage Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), also known as intracranial bleed, is hemorrhage, bleeding internal bleeding, within the Human skull, skull. Subtypes are intracerebral bleeds (intraventricular bleeds and intraparenchymal bleeds), subarachnoid bleed ...

. Kjellström died on 10 December 1965, aged 44.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kjellström, Kurt 1921 births 1965 deaths Sportspeople from Stockholm Swedish ice hockey players Swedish bandy players Swedish footballers Hammarby Hockey (1921–2008) players Hammarby IF Bandy players Hammarby Fotboll players AIK Fotboll players AIK IF players Allsvenskan players Association football forwards