Norwegian Ice Hockey Association

Norway
Association name Norges Ishockeyforbund
IIHF Code NOR
Founded 18 September 1934 (1934-09-18)
IIHF membership January 20, 1935
President Tage Pettersen
IIHF men's ranking 12
IIHF women's ranking 14
http://www.hockey.no

The Norwegian Ice Hockey Association, or Norges Ishockeyforbund (NIHF) in Norwegian, 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 Tage Pettersen, who replaced Gerhard Nilsen in 2018. The current head coach of Team Norway is Petter Thoresen who has coached the team since 2016.

The logo of the NIHF has a polar bear in its centre spot. The national team is also nicknamed Isbjørnene ("The Polar Bears").

History

NIHF was founded September 18, 1934 and has been a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation since January 20, 1935.[1]

The first President of the NIHF was Rolf Gjertsen[2] from the club Trygg. The first vice president was Ludvig Christiansen, also from Trygg. The ten teams that founded the NIHF were: Forward, Furuset, Gjøa, Hasle, Holmen, Strong, Trygg, NTHI, Trond and Trondheim.[3]

The first game was played at Furuset Stadion on January 4, 1935 between Gjøa and Furuset. Gjøa won 5–0.[4] The referee was Johan Narvestad.

Norway has competed eleven times in the Olympic games, but as of 2014 has yet to win a medal. Their best result was in 1972 when they finished in 8th place.

In the 1980 Winter Olympics, the team competed in the top division for the first time since 1952. They lost their first four games of the tournament against Czechoslovakia (11-0), West Germany (10-4), USA (5-1) and Sweden (7-1), before coming from behind to tie Romania (3-3) for a point in the standings.

Today, Norway competes in the top division for the World Championships.

NIHF Awards

The NIHF annually awards the Golden Puck award[5] to the best male Norwegian born hockey player. The similar award for women is the Valemon trophy, which has been awarded twice.

Players who have played 50 official games (Winter Olympic- and Olympic qualification games, as well as IIHF World Championship games) for Team Norway receive the Polar Bear Trophy from the NIHF.

Each year the NIHF hands out the His Rojal Majesty's Cup to the winner of the playoffs of the GET-ligaen, and the winning team becomes Norwegian Champions.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Norway". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved March 10, 2008.
  2. ↑ The first elected board of NIHF
  3. ↑ The first Norwegian ice hockey clubs Archived February 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ The first Norwegian ice hockey game
  5. ↑ Golden Puck winners Archived October 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ Norwegian Champions Archived October 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
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