Björn-Olaf Christen (born April 5, 1980) is a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

who played in Switzerland's

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and is the top tier of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league ha ...

(NLA).

Playing career

Christen began his career as a hockey player in the youth team of

SC Bern Schlittschuh Club Bern (''Ice-skating Club Bern'' in English) is an ice hockey team based in Bern, Switzerland. They play in the National League (NL), the top tier of the Swiss hockey league system. For the 18th year in a row, the club is the most ...

. In the 1996–97 season he made his senior debut in the National League A, and finished his rookie year as the Swiss champions with Bern. After five years, Christen left Bern in 2001 and moved on to their league rivals

HC Davos Hockey Club Davos is a professional Swiss ice hockey club based in Davos, Switzerland. Davos plays in the National League (NL). The team is usually a strong force in the league and often bolster their roster with Swiss national team players a ...

. With Davos, he won the

Spengler Cup The Spengler Cup is an annual invitational ice hockey tournament held in Davos, Switzerland. First held in 1923, the Spengler Cup is often cited as the oldest invitational ice hockey tournament in the world. The event is hosted by the Swiss t ...

in 2001 and 2004, and in 2002 and 2005, the Swiss Championship. In the summer of 2006, Christen moved to

EV Zug EV Zug is a professional men's ice hockey team from Zug, Switzerland. It is a member of the National League and plays its home games at the Bossard Arena. History EV Zug won its first championship in the 1997–98 season, and the second one in ...

. He played for them until his retirement at the end of the 2014–15 season to work in the insurance industry.

International play

Christen represented Swiss national team at the Under-18 European Junior Championships in 1997 and 1998, as well as the Under-20 Junior World Championships in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 in part. Furthermore, he was in the squad of Switzerland at the World Championships in 2002, 2003 and 2010, and the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soó ...

in Salt Lake City .

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1980 births Living people Ice hockey people from Bern HC Davos players Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players of Switzerland SC Bern players Swiss ice hockey right wingers EV Zug players {{Switzerland-icehockey-bio-stub