The Nybro Vikings is an

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 ho ...

club from

Nybro Nybro (, outdatedly ) is a 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 Kalmar in the east. ...

in Sweden. The team was playing 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 league, and the second-highest league in the Swedish ice hockey system (after the SHL). Since the 2009–10 season, the league consists of fourteen team ...

. The team was relegated to the third division, Division 1, during the 2008-2009 season after finishing only 15th in the regular season and only third in the following qualification series with six teams, two from Hockeyallsvenskan and four from Division 1. The team currently plays in Liljas arena, which takes about spectators. Liljas arena is the fourth oldest ice hockey arena in Sweden, finished 1963. 1984 the arena was rebuilt.

History

The ice hockey club in Nybro was founded 1939 as "IK Ymer", which 1955 joined the same organisation as the general sports club Nybro IF, and therefore also carried that name until 1998 when it became independent as Nybro IF Hockey. The name changed to Nybro Vikings IF in 2002. Among many seasons in the Swedish second division, the club has also played two seasons in the highest league during 1968–69 and 1969–70. Club chairman Evald Carlsson was during the 50s and 60s an important personality in Swedish ice hockey and among other things was the driving force behind Nybro getting the fourth indoor hockey arena in Sweden in 1963. Fredrik Olausson, a member of the 2002 Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings, started his career with Nybro. Björn "Böna" Johansson, who played for Nybro IF from 1968 to 1971, played 113 games for the Swedish national team between 1972 and 1976 and is the player with the 87th most games for the Tre Kronor. During his national career he played 5

IIHF World Championship 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 m ...

's and 1

Canada Cup The Canada Cup (french: Coupe Canada) 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 worl ...

. 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 Eli ...

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

Hockeyettan Hockeyettan is the third tier of ice hockey in Sweden. As of the 2015–16 season, the league consists of 46 teams divided geographically into four groups. Hockeyettan operates a system of promotion and relegation with HockeyAllsvenskan and D ...

in Sweden.

Supporters

The supporter club of Nybro Vikings is called Viking Support.

References

External links

Official homepageOfficial homepage of the supporter club
{{Division 1 (Swedish ice hockey) Ice hockey teams in Sweden Ice hockey teams in Kalmar County