Vålerenga Ishockey (; abbreviated as VIF) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

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 ...

team based in

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 of ...

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 ...

. Vålerenga has been the dominant force in Norwegian hockey since the 1960s, claiming 26 national championships and 29 regular season titles. Their old home arena, located in central-eastern

, was

Jordal Amfi Jordal Amfi was an indoor ice hockey rink in Oslo, Norway, the first bearing that name. The venue opened in 1951 to host the 1952 Winter Olympics. Jordal was also the site of the 1958 and the 1999 IIHF World Championship. It would in the followi ...

, built for the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 6. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 6. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, was a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 195 ...

. In 2020, Vålerenga moved in to their new arena at Jordal. The team's interim head coach is former NHL player and club legend, Espen "Shampo" Knutsen, with

Joachim Svendsen Joachim Svendsen (born October 16, 1994) is a Norwegian ice hockey goaltender who is currently playing with Vålerenga in the Norwegian GET-ligaen Eliteserien, known as Fjordkraftligaen due to sponsorship, is the premier Norwegian ice hockey l ...

his assistant.

History

Early days

Although the parent club Vålerengens Idrettsforening was founded in 1913, the history of Vålerenga Ishockey starts in 1947, when the junior team participated in the national junior championships for the first time. In the 50s, the junior team won the national junior championships five years in a row.

First dynasty (1960–1973)

Vålerenga won their first national championship in 1960, taking over the throne from local rivals

Gamlebyen The Old Town of Oslo ( no, Gamlebyen, ) is a neighbourhood in the inner city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo and is the oldest urban area within the current capital. This part of the capital of Norway was simply called ...

. More championships were won in 1962 and 1963. From 1965 to 1971, Vålerenga won the championship an incredible seven times in a row, a feat not repeated in Norwegian hockey since. Notable players from this era include Arne "Mikkel" Mikkelsen, Steinar "Bjølle" Bjølbak, Tor "Jern-Gustav" Gundersen, and notably, Roy "Sleipern" Jansen. Another title was added in 1973, but this also marked the end of the first dynasty as the club faced a generational change.

A new generation (1982–1994)

Ten years went by before Vålerenga could celebrate another championship, in 1983. A new generation had emerged, and players such as Jim Marthinsen, Roy Johansen, Geir Myhre, Tor Helge "Totto" Eikeland, Bjørn Kolsrud, Arne Billkvam and Jon Magne Karlstad would go on to become club legends. In 1988, Vålerenga won their 15th title. The next season saw the debut of

Espen Knutsen Espen Knutsen (born January 12, 1972) is a Norwegian former professional ice hockey player and currently the general manager of Vålerenga in the Norwegian GET-ligaen. He played five seasons in the North American-based National Hockey League (NHL), ...

, who would later become the first Vålerenga product to play in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Recent era

This marked the start of another dynasty for Vålerenga and the club added several more titles in the 1990s.

Kent Forsberg Kent Forsberg (born 12 September 1947) is a Swedish ice hockey coach. He has coached Modo Hockey of the Swedish Hockey League, Elitserien and, between 1995–1998, the Sweden men's national ice hockey team, Swedish national team. He is the father ...

became head coach in 1994 and invited his son

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

and

Markus Näslund Markus Sten Näslund (born 30 July 1973) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player and former general manager for Modo Hockey of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL, formerly named Elitserien). He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) f ...

to play a friendly match for the club during the lockout season in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. The 20th national championship was won in 1999. Notable players from this era include

Morten Ask Morten Ask (born May 14, 1980) is a Norwegian professional ice hockey player who last played for Vålerenga Ishockey of the Norwegian GET-ligaen. Playing career Beginning his career in Norway for Vålerenga Ishockey of the GET-ligaen, Ask moved ...

, Kenneth Larsen, and Kjell Richard "Ricky" Nygaard, along with Swedish imports such as Johan Brummer, Patric Englund and Niklas Gällstedt. Six more championships were added after 2000, the last being won in 2009. Vålerenga were in talks to join the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

in 2014, but the plans didn't go through. Vålerenga's home arena through six decades, Jordal Amfi, was demolished in January 2017 and to be replaced by a new arena, projected to be completed in 2019.

Season-by-season results

''This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by Vålerenga. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Vålerenga Ishockey seasons.''

Head coaches

* Jan Molberg, ?-1953 * Georg Hebæk, 1953-? * Tor Gundersen, 195?-197? *

Lennart Johansson Nils Lennart Johansson (5 November 1929 – 4 June 2019) was a Swedish sports official who served as the fifth and, to date, longest-serving president of UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations. He served in the position from his elec ...

, 1983-1984 * Lennart Åhlberg, 1984-1987 * Erik Ask, 1987-1990 * Geir Myhre, 1990-1993 *

, 1994-1995 * Staffan Tholson, 1995-1997 * Roy Johansen, 1997-2001 * Petter Thoresen, 2001-2004 * Knut Jørgen Stubdal, 2004-2006 *

, 2006-2016 * Roy Johansen, 2016-

Honours

* Norwegian Champions (26): 1960, 1962–3, 1965–71, 1973, 1982, 1985, 1987–8, 1991–3, 1998–9, 2001, 2003, 2005–7, 2009 * Regular Seasons (30): 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1997–98, 1998–1999, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2018–19

Individual all-time records

Statistics for regular season only. * – current active player

Scoring leaders

Most league matches

Last updated: 25 May 2018

Notable players

* Alexander Bonsaksen * Anders Fredriksen * Anders Myrvold * Arne Billkvam * Atle Olsen * Björn Bjurling * Blake Evans * Brede Frettem Csiszar * Brendan Brooks * Brian Ihnacak * Bård Sørlie * Chris Mason * Christian Chartier * Daniel Sørvik * Einar Bruno Larsen *

Erik Follestad Johansen Erik Follestad Johansen (born June 22, 1989) is a former Norwegian professional ice hockey defenceman who has played for Vålerenga in Norway's GET-ligaen. He is participating at the 2011 IIHF World Championship Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 ...

* Espen "Shampo" Knutsen *

Evan Cheverie Evan Cheverie (born May 6, 1980) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey forward. Playing career Cheverie was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Undrafted, Cheverie spent four seasons at Miami University before turning professi ...

* Frank Vestreng * Gavin Morgan * Geir Hoff * Geir Myhre *

Greg Day Greg Day (born February 25, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who most recently played for the Graz 99ers of the Austrian Hockey League (EBEL). Playing career Day was born in St Clair Beach, Ontario. He spent four seas ...

Ilkka Kaarna Ilkka may refer to: * Ilkka (given name) Ilkka is a masculine Finnish given name. Notable people with the name include: * Ilkka Alanko (born 1969), Finnish musician * Ilkka Auer (1930–2013), Finnish middle-distance runner * Ilkka Hakalehto (193 ...

* Jan-Roar Fagerli * Jim Marthinsen * Jiri Latal *

Johan Åkerman Johan Åkerman (born November 20, 1972) is a retired professional Swedish ice hockey player. He is currently a part of the coaching staff in the Linköpings HC Linköpings may refer to: *Linköpings ASS, Linköpings Allmänna Simsällskap is ...

* Johan Brummer * Jon-Magne Karlstad * Justin Donati * Jørgen Karterud * Ken Andre Olimb *

Kent Nilsson Kent Åke "Kenta" Nilsson (born 31 August 1956) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey centre. He played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) for the Winnipeg Jets, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Atlanta and Calgary Flames, ...

* Lars Erik Lund *

Lars Haugen Lars Haugen (born 19 March 1987) is a Norwegian professional ice hockey goaltender who most recently played with Manglerud Star in the Eliteserien. Playing career He started out as a youth product of Vålerenga, before moving to play junior h ...

* Marius Rath * Mark McCutcheon * Martin Laumann Ylven * Mathis Olimb *

Mathias Trygg Mathias Trygg (born 15 March 1986 in Oslo) is a Norwegian professional ice hockey winger, who currently plays for Vålerenga of the Norwegian GET-ligaen. Club career He started his senior career with Manglerud Star in 2002, and played two seaso ...

* Mats Rosseli Olsen *

Mats Trygg Mats Trygg (born June 1, 1976) is a Norwegian ice hockey defenceman. He currently plays with the Vålerenga Ishockey of the Norwegian GET-ligaen. Playing career He started his senior career with Spektrum Flyers in 1994 and played two seasons bef ...

Mats Zuccarello Mats André Zuccarello Aasen (born 1 September 1987) is a Norwegian professional ice hockey winger for the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has also played for the New York Rangers and Dallas Stars. Prior to joining the NHL ...

* Sigurd Thinn * Tommy Marthinsen *

Travis Brigley Travis Brigley (born June 16, 1977) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He has formerly played professionally for the Calgary Flames and Colorado Avalanche in the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Brigley w ...

* Per-Ragnar Bergkvist * Petter Thoresen * Patric Englund * Patrick Coulombe *

Patrick DesRochers Patrick Joseph DesRochers (born 27 October 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 11 games in the National Hockey League with the Phoenix Coyotes and Carolina Hurricanes between 2001 and 2003. The rest of his care ...

* Regan Kelly * Roy Jansen * Roy Johansen *

Scott Hartnell Scott Wesley Hartnell (born April 18, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets. Hartnell ...

Serge Boisvert Pierre Serge Boisvert (born June 1, 1959) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens. In Sweden, Boisvert played for Västra Frölunda, and for Frisk Tigers, Spektrum Flyers and Vål ...

* Sergei Pushkov *

Simon Gamache Simon Gamache (born January 3, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career As a youth, Gamache played in the 1995 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a m ...

Sondre Olden Sondre Olden (born August 29, 1992) is a Norwegian professional ice hockey player who is currently playing in the Swiss League. He previously played with Vålerenga of the Norwegian Eliteserien. He was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 3 ...

Stig Johansen Stig Johansen (born 13 June 1972 in Kabelvåg, Lofoten) is a former Norwegian football striker. He made his debut for Bodø/Glimt in 1993 and played 70 games before he was signed by English Premiership side Southampton, in 1997. His spell at the ...

Tommy Kiviaho Tommy Kiviaho (born 27 June 1971) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. He played with numerous clubs during his career, HC Slovan Bratislava in the Slovak Extraliga The Tipos Extraliga (Slovak Extraliga) is the highest-level ...

* Tyler Donati * Vegar Barlie * Vladimir Machulda * Øystein Olsen

References

External links

Official pages

"Klanen", the organized Vålerenga Supporters Club

"101%", an online fanzine

Updated team rosters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valerenga Ishockey Ice hockey teams in Norway Ice hockey clubs established in 1913 1913 establishments in Norway GET-ligaen teams Sport in Oslo Kontinental Hockey League expansion teams