Tore Johannessen (2 April 1922 – 5 January 2005) was a Norwegian ice hockey referee and sports administrator. As a referee, he officiated at both the

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 annua ...

and the

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 he ...

, and later served as president of the

Norwegian Ice Hockey Association The Norwegian Ice Hockey Association (in Norwegian, ''Norges Ishockeyforbund'' (NIHF) is the governing body of all ice hockey, sledge hockey and in-line hockey in Norway. NIHF has its office at Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo. The current president is ...

. His career was recognized by induction into the IIHF Hall of Fame as a builder in ice hockey, and he received the Norwegian King's Medal of Merit.

Hockey career

Johannessen was born on 2 April 1922, in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. He played with

IF Ready Idrettsforeningen Ready is a sports club in Vestre Aker, Oslo, Norway. The club was established on June 14, 1907 by Aage Blom Lorentzen. The football club play their home games at Gressbanen in Oslo. Gressbanen was the arena for the Norway n ...

before becoming an ice hockey referee at the international level. He was assigned 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 m ...

(IIHF) to eight international tournaments, which included the Ice Hockey World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games. He refereed three games at the

1951 Ice Hockey World Championships The 1951 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 18th World Championship and the 29th European Championship in ice hockey for international teams. The tournament took place in France from 9 to 17 March and the games were played in the capital ci ...

in Paris. Johannessen served as vice-president of the

(NIHA) from 1950 to 1952, and again from 1955 to 1956. He then served as the NIHA president from 1956 to 1964. As president, he also served as the general secretary of the

1958 Ice Hockey World Championships The 1958 Ice Hockey World Championships were held between February 28 and March 9, 1958, in Oslo, Norway at the Jordal Amfi arena. The Whitby Dunlops represented Canada, winning the World Championship for the 17th time. The Soviets lost the fina ...

hosted in Norway. At the age of 34, he was the youngest person to become president of any Norwegian sports association at the time. Johannessen managed the

Norway men's national ice hockey team The Norway men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team from Norway that participates at the IIHF World Championships. The team is governed by the Norwegian Ice Hockey Association and is coached by Petter Thoresen. History Th ...

at 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 ...

. He led Norway to three wins in seven games played, and a fifth-place finish among eight teams. At the same tournament, Johannessen and Norway won the 1962 European Ice Hockey Championship bronze medal, since the event also acted as the European championship. After retiring as NIHA president, he was the general secretary of Group B of the

1989 Ice Hockey World Championships The 1989 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in Sweden from 15 April – 1 May. The games were played in Södertälje and Stockholm, in the newly built arena Globen. Eight teams took part, and each team played each other once. The four b ...

, hosted in Norway. He was later involved in the planning stages of the

Gjøvik Olympic Cavern Hall Gjøvik Olympic Cavern Hall ( no, Gjøvik Olympiske Fjellhall or ) is an ice hockey rink located within a mountain hall in Gjøvik, Norway. With a capacity for 5,500 spectators, the hall also features a 25-meter swimming pool and telecommunicati ...

used in ice hockey at the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Personal life

Johannessen was the son of a

hardware store Hardware stores (in a number of countries, "shops"), sometimes known as DIY stores, sell household hardware for home improvement including: fasteners, building materials, hand tools, power tools, keys, locks, hinges, chains, plumbing suppli ...

owner, and co-founded the hardware store chain Jernvarekjøp in 1951. The company became Jernia, where Johannessen was hired in 1961 and worked as chief executive officer for fifteen years until his retirement in 1987. He resided in

Drøbak Drøbak is a List of cities in Norway, town and the centre of the municipality of Frogn, in Viken county, Norway. The city is located along the Oslofjord, and has 13,409 inhabitants. History Drøbak and Frogn was established as a parish on its o ...

, where he was also a board member of Drøbak-Frogn IL. He died on 5 January 2005.

Honors

Johannessen was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1999 in the builder category, and was made an honorary member of the NIHA. In 2001, he received the Norwegian King's Medal of Merit.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johannessen, Tore 1922 births 2005 deaths IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Norwegian businesspeople in retailing Norwegian ice hockey officials Norwegian ice hockey players Norwegian sports executives and administrators Olympic officials People from Frogn Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit