Malmö Redhawks

The Malmö Redhawks, also known simply as Malmö or by their former abbreviation MIF, are a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Malmö. The team is currently playing in Sweden's premier hockey league, the SHL. They play their home games at Malmö Arena. The club has historical roots dating back to 1947 as the ice hockey division of the association football club Malmö FF. In 1972 the team broke loose from Malmö FF and started an independent club known as Malmö IF. The name was changed to MIF Redhawks in 2001, this lasted until 2004 when it was changed to Malmö Redhawks.[1]

HC Malmö Redhawks
2019–20 Malmö Redhawks season
CityMalmö, Sweden
LeagueSwedish Hockey League
Founded28 February 1972 (1972-02-28)
Home arenaMalmö Arena
(capacity: 12,600)
Colors     
Owner(s)Malmö Redhawks Holding AB
General managerPatrik Sylvegård
Head coachPeter Andersson
CaptainFredrik Händemark
Franchise history
1947–1972Malmö FF Ishockey
1972–2001Malmö IF
2001–2004MIF Redhawks
2004–presentIF Malmö Redhawks
Le Mat Trophy1992, 1994

Malmö played 18 consecutive seasons of ice hockey in Sweden's top tier, currently named the SHL from 1987 to 2005. They made a brief comeback to the top tier in the 2006–07 season, and returned once again to the SHL for the 2015–16 season. The most successful era in the history of the club occurred during the 1990s, when the team won two Swedish championships, in 1992 and 1994 and the 1992 European Cup.[2]

History

The team was founded on 28 February 1972 as Malmö Ishockeyförening (Malmö Ice Hockey Club, or MIF) when the ice hockey division of Malmö FF became an independent club.[1] The early history of the club was unremarkable, spent in the lower divisions of Swedish hockey. Relegation to Division 2 in 1984 became the spark to a series of events including the departure of Nils Yngvesson who had been chairman of the club since its creation in 1972. The club only played one season in Division 2 before being promoted back to Division 1, where the club made what it refers to as "the biggest investment in Swedish sports history."[3]

The club's campaign to reach the top league failed that season, but in the 1989–90 season, the club finished first in both their autumn Division 1 group, as well as the Allsvenskan in the spring, and then won the Allsvenskan final 3–0 in games against MoDo to secure promotion to Elitserien (today called the SHL) for the first time. They would remain in the top flight for 15 seasons, a period that would bring two name changes (to MIF Redhawks in 1996 and to IF Malmö Redhawks in 2003), as well as two Swedish Championship titles, in 1992 and 1994, and the 1993 European championship.[4]

Decline by 2005

At the end of the 2004–05 season, the Redhawks played in the qualification series to stay in Elitserien, lost and were relegated. Thus, as of the 2005–06 season, they played in the HockeyAllsvenskan, the second division hockey league in Sweden; at the end of the season, the top four teams played the qualification series with the bottom two teams of Elitserien. Malmö won the qualification round and played in Elitserien during the 2006–07 season with limited success. Finishing the season as 12th (last) meant playing Kvalserien in order to avoid relegation for the second time in three years. On 1 April 2007, the Redhawks finished third in 2008-09 Kvalserien and was relegated to the Allsvenskan league.

Failed qualification efforts in 2007 and 2008

In 2007, the Malmö Redhawks participated in a qualification series (Kvalserien) consisting of the top four teams of HockeyAllsvenskan and the bottom two teams from Elitserien, having finished 12th in the 2007–08 Elitserien season. Malmö were considered favourites alongside the second team from Elitserien, Skellefteå AIK, but failed to re-qualify for Elitserien, falling two points behind Södertälje SK. In 2008 the team once again managed to reach Kvalserien, and had a golden opportunity to advance to Elitserien, leading the series during a majority of rounds. The Redhawks, however, lost in overtime of the final round while their arch rivals, Rögle BK, claimed the Elitserien spot with a margin of two points by scoring twice in the last minute of play. The Redhawks only managed to get 2 points in the 2008 Kvalserien's last four rounds, despite having gotten 15 points after the first six games.

New arena and financial issues in 2009

During the 2008–09 season, the Redhawks moved to the new Malmö Arena, a top-modern sports and entertainment venue. The club originally aimed to be back in Elitserien before the premiere.

On 29 January 2009, while still playing in HockeyAllsvenskan, the team released all its contracted players due to financial debt and to avoid bankruptcy. The players were made free to find and sign with new clubs. By then the Redhawks were ranked 10th in the league with only one month of games remaining to play, instead of the top three or seven required for Kvalserien and possible Elitserien qualification. The team finished 8th and thus missed the playoffs, although the team was just one point short from reaching the playoffs.

Failures to reach Kvalserien and started efforts

Malmö finished fifth in HockeyAllsvenskan in the 2009–10 season and thus reached the playoffs, which was an improvement over last season. The Redhawks started the playoffs by knocking out Bofors IK in two straight games, and the Redhawks were now set to face Almtuna IS for a series that would decide which team would be HockeyAllsvenskan's fourth one in Kvalserien. The Redhawks beat Almtuna 2–1 at home in the first game, but lost the two following games (which the Redhawks played on away ice) and thus were eliminated from the playoffs. In the 2010–11 season, things went worse as the Redhawks failed to reach the playoffs, finishing 8th and four points short from a playoff spot.

On 28 January 2011, during the 2010–11 season, the Redhawks announced that they had agreed to a 3-year 70-million SEK ($10.6 million USD) deal with businessman Hugo Stenbeck. The goal with the deal was to get Malmö Redhawks back to Elitserien.[5]

Malmö's efforts to reach Elitserien started immediately prior to the 2011–12 season. Several players from higher divisions, including Hannu Toivonen, Daniel Josefsson, J. D. Forrest, Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre and Linus Klasen, joined the club. When Linus Klasen joined the team on 17 May 2011, he was immediately appointed the team's captain. Linus Klasen's three-year contract with the club included an annual salary of 4 million SEK ($0.6 million USD), which made Klasen the best paid ice hockey player in Sweden at that time.[6]

The season started well with a top-three spot in the league after a couple of months, but after falling down to sixth place with 47 points, at that time 10 points away from the third Kvalserien spot, Redhawks then-head coach Leif Strömberg was fired on 10 December 2011. He was replaced by the team's then-assistant coach Ulf Taavola. Patrik Sylvegård was acquired as the team's new assistant coach.[7][8] After continued struggling throughout January, the Malmö Redhawks improved sharply in February, and managed to squeeze out a seventh-place finish in the league, which was enough for at least a playoff spot.[9] In the Playoff round, Malmö finished second due to inferior goal difference than Rögle BK, and Malmö therefore missed the 2012 Kvalserien.

Reorganization, and failures to reach the playoffs

In early 2012, the club owner announced that the financial situation needed to be reviewed. As a result, the Redhawks filed for economic reconstruction on 11 April 2012. The filing was granted the following day. The club re-negotiated the most expensive player contracts in order to reduce the total salary cap from 30 million SEK down to 18 million.[10]

On 17 May 2012 it was announced that the club and Hugo Stenbeck had agreed that Stenbeck would help the club buy out Linus Klasen and Hannu Toivonen due to their expensive contracts.[10]

After the 2011–12 season, Patrik Sylvegård was appointed CEO and sports director, and Redhawks profile Mats Lusth was acquired as the new assistant coach. A Sports Committee was also created, which includes people with strong connection to Malmö Redhawks.[11][12] Ulf Taavola continued as head coach like the previous season when he took over Leif Strömberg. Malmö Redhawks had to sign a lot of new players. The players who remained from last season were Pontus Sjögren, Emil Carnestad, Stefan Lassen, Alexander Ribbenstrand, Robin Alvarez, Lukas Eriksson, Magnus Häggström, Tomas Kollar and Roger Olsson.

The Malmö Redhawks started the 2012–13 season bad, and after 17 games played, the team had only taken 21 points,[13] which was far from even a playoff spot towards Kvalserien. Eventually, the team began a massive boost, which went through the month of November without a single loss after regulation time, and took a total of 24 out of 27 points that month. As a result of the great effort in November, the Redhawks were located in fifth place in the league by early December. In January, the team began a losing streak and lost eight games in a row. The team finished in ninth place, which was the worst placing the team had since the large investments during the late 1980s.[14] In Malmö, the season was over on March 2, when the regular season was finished.

2015-16 SHL comeback

This was Malmö's eighth consecutive season in HockeyAllsvenskan, which is the second-highest league in Sweden. In the regular-season from 11 September 2014 to 26 February 2015 Malmö finished in third place which meant they qualified for 2015 Slutsspelsserien against Leksands IF. Coming into game seven it was tied 3-3 and the game was played on Leksand's arena Tegera Arena, after a hard-fought game Malmö Redhawks won 4-2 with one goal being with empty net. Winning against Leksands IF meant that Malmö now played in SHL.

Season-by-season record

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

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Season Regular Season Post–Season Ref.
League GP W L T Pts GF GA Finish Playoffs GP W L T Pts GF GA Finish
2014–15HockeyAllsvenskan52251413951681223rdPlayoffs

SHL qualifiers

 5

7

 1

4

 3

2

 1

1

 8

—

 8

23

 13

18

 3rd
Winners
 [15][16]

[17]

2015–16SHL521526116111615312thDid not qualify————————[18]
2016–17SHL5223209811321168thPlayoffs13454—3538Semi-finals[19]
2017–18SHL52201418861521386thPlayoffs10451—2222Semi-finals[20]
2018–19SHL52212011821361256thPlayoffs5140—922Quarter-finals[21]

Players and personnel

Current roster

Updated on 4 June 2019.[22][23]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
69 Oscar Alsenfelt (A) G L 33 2015 Malmö, Sweden
42 Niklas Arell D L 30 2017 Ekerö, Sweden
22 Adam Brodecki RW R 25 2020 Stockholm, Sweden
22 Lars Bryggman LW L 28 2016 Umeå, Sweden
12 Linus Cronholm D L 20 2017 Malmö, Sweden
50 Tobias Ekberg D L 27 2017 Töreboda, Sweden
23 Christoffer Forsberg C/LW L 26 2015 Östersund, Sweden
17 Max Görtz RW R 28 2017 Höör, Sweden
63 Fredrik Händemark (C) C L 27 2016 Björbo, Sweden
20 Henrik Hetta (A) LW L 31 2018 Strömsund, Sweden
40 Jesper Jensen C L 33 2019 Nybro, Sweden
44 Jesper Jensen Aabo D L 29 2019 Rødovre, Denmark
67 Konstantin Komarek C L 28 2018 Vienna, Austria
16 Matias Lassen D L 24 2018 Rødovre, Denmark
14 Carl-Johan Lerby D L 23 2015 Malmö, Sweden
72 Nicolai Meyer LW L 27 2019 Frederikshavn, Denmark
73 Adam Ollas Mattsson D L 24 2019 Stockholm, Sweden
8 Johan Olofsson RW R 26 2017 Arvika, Sweden
28 Jens Olsson D L 36 2012 Malmö, Sweden
95 Carl Persson LW L 25 2018 Kristianstad, Sweden
3 Malte Setkov D L 22 2017 Rødovre, Denmark
9 Frederik Storm W L 31 2012 Gentofte, Denmark
51 Emil Sylvegård (A) LW L 27 2018 Malmö, Sweden
31 Lars Volden G L 28 2019 Oslo, Norway
15 Axel Wemmenborn C L 28 2017 Kristianstad, Sweden

Honored members
Malmö Redhawks retired numbers
No. Player Position Career No. retirement
25Kaj OlssonLeft wing1975–86—
18Patrik SylvegårdRight wing1987–9921 September 2000
1Peter LindmarkGoaltender1988–978 November 2011
5Roger NordströmGoaltender1983–9816 February 2015

Notable Alumni

See also

References
  1. "Grundandet". malmoredhawks.com (in Swedish). Malmö Redhawks. Archived from the original on 11 December 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  2. "Storhetstiden". malmoredhawks.com (in Swedish). Malmö Redhawks. Archived from the original on 23 January 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  3. "90-TALSSATSNINGEN". Malmö Redhawks. Archived from the original on 2014-03-22.
  4. "Malmö". Eliteprospects.com.
  5. "Hugo Stenbeck köper Redhawks". Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). 2011-01-28. Archived from the original on 2011-01-31. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
  6. "Linus Klasen klar för Malmö". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 2011-05-17. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
  7. Martin, Nathalie (2011-12-10). "Ny huvudtränare" (in Swedish). Malmö Redhawks. Archived from the original on 2012-04-06. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
  8. Martin, Nathalie (2011-12-26). "Patrik Sylvegård ny assisterande tränare" (in Swedish). Malmö Redhawks. Archived from the original on 2012-05-16. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  9. Winnberg, Christian (2012-03-02). "Malmö Redhawks säkrade förkvalserieplatsen" (in Swedish). Malmö Redhawks. Retrieved 2012-03-02.
  10. Martin, Nathalie (2012-05-17). "Hugo Stenbeck och Malmö Redhawks eniga" (in Swedish). Malmö Redhawks. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
  11. "Ny VD och sportchef för Malmö Redhawks Ishockey AB" (in Swedish). Malmö Redhawks. 2012-03-14. Archived from the original on 2012-03-17. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  12. "Mats Lusth ny tränare för Malmö Redhawks" (in Swedish). Malmö Redhawks. 2012-03-19. Archived from the original on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2012-03-25.
  13. http://bloggar.aftonbladet.se/wennerholm/2012/11/malmo-hetast-av-alla/
  14. http://www.sydsvenskan.se/sport/ishockey/redhawks/ny-redhawksforlust-1/
  15. Swedish Ice Hockey Association: 2014–15: HockeyAllsvenskan
  16. Swedish Ice Hockey Association: 2014–15: Slutspelsserien
  17. Swedish Ice Hockey Association: 2014–15: Direktkval till SHL
  18. Swedish Ice Hockey Association: 2015–16: SHL
  19. Swedish Ice Hockey Association: 2016–17: SHL
  20. Swedish Ice Hockey Association: 2017–18: SHL
  21. Swedish Ice Hockey Association: 2018–19: SHL
  22. "Malmö Redhawks roster". Eliteprospects. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  23. "Truppen". Malmö Redhawks. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  24. http://www.businessinsider.co.id/hockey-players-on-wall-street-2014-6/20/#.VBdfYlYQuRU Archived 2014-09-16 at the Wayback Machine
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