| Bengt-Åke Gustafsson | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Gustafsson in 2008 | |||
| Born | (1958-03-23)23 March 1958 (age 67) Karlskoga, Sweden | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb) | ||
| Position | Centre | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for | KB Karlskoga Färjestads BK Edmonton Oilers Washington Capitals VEU Feldkirch | ||
| National team |  Sweden | ||
| NHL draft | 55th overall,1978 Washington Capitals | ||
| Playing career | 1973–1999 | ||
Bengt-Åke Gustafsson (born 23 March 1958) is a Swedish professionalice hockey coach and formerice hockey player. Gustafsson is the former head coach of theSweden senior team, a post he held from February 2005 to May 2010.
During his North American career, including two games in theWorld Hockey Association (WHA) with theEdmonton Oilers, and then nine seasons in theNational Hockey League (NHL) with theWashington Capitals. He was often calledBengt Gustafsson orGus.
The Capitals selected Gustafsson's son,Anton Gustafsson, with the 21st overall pick in the2008 NHL entry draft.
In 2003, Gustafsson was inducted into theIIHF Hall of Fame as a player.
Gustafsson started his professional career in 1973, playing forKB Karlskoga in the Swedish second-tier league. He later transferred toFärjestads BK of theElitserien. Gustafsson was drafted by theWashington Capitals in the fourth round of the1978 NHL amateur draft. He chose to play the 1978–79 season in his homeland Sweden, but he signed with theEdmonton Oilers of theWorld Hockey Association (WHA) in March 1979. Gustafsson made his North American debut in the1979 WHA playoffs, picking up a goal and two assists in two games. When the Oilers merged into theNational Hockey League (NHL) that summer, despite their attempts to select him as one of their two protected skaters for the1979 NHL expansion draft, the Capitals reclaimed Gustafsson's rights from Edmonton as they did not have a valid contract with him before the draft.
In the 1986–87 season, Gustafsson played forBofors IK in the second-highest Swedish division and was selected for theSweden senior team, which caused some controversy, before playing two more NHL seasons. After retiring from the NHL he played with Färjestads BK for the next four seasons, and then spent several years playing withVEU Feldkirch in theAustrian Hockey League andAlpenliga, winning fiveAustrian ice hockey championships and the1997–98 European Hockey League championship.
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing Sweden | ||
| Men'sice hockey | ||
| World Championships | ||
 | 1987 Austria | |
| 1991 Finland | |
 | 1981 Soviet Union | |
 | 1979 Soviet Union | |
Gustafsson played 117 games withSweden senior team,[1] and has played in fiveWorld Championships. In both1987 and1991, he won the gold medal, got silver in1981, and bronze in1979.
He also played in theCanada Cup in1984 and1987.
In 1992, he represented Sweden in theWinter Olympics.
Gustafsson started his coaching career as an assistant coach withSwitzerland senior team, serving under head coachRalph Krueger. He attended five World Championships with the Swiss team between 1998 and 2002.
Additionally, Gustafsson worked as head coach of AustrianVEU Feldkirch in the 1998–99 season, followed by a two-year stint as head coach ofSCL Tigers of the SwissNationalliga A (1999–2001). In 2001, he accepted the head coaching job atFärjestads BK in the SwedishElitserien. He guided the team to the Swedish championship in2002 and to back-to-back finals appearances the following two years.
Gustafsson was named head coach of the Swedish senior team in 2005. Under his guidance, Sweden captured gold at the2006 Winter Olympics and the2006 World Championships, becoming the first coach to achieve this "double". He earned Swedish Coach of the Year honours that year. Gustafsson also led Sweden to a bronze medal at the2009 World Championships. He stepped down from his position in 2010.[2]
In October 2010, he took over as head coach of theZSC Lions of the SwissNational League A (NLA) and remained in the job until the end of the 2010–11 season.
On 6 May 2011, Gustafsson was named the head coach ofAtlant Moscow Oblast of theKontinental Hockey League (KHL), becoming the first Swede to be named the head coach of a KHL team.[3][4] However, after a disappointing start to the2011–12 season for the team, Gustafsson was forced to leave the club on 3 November 2011. The team's then assistant coachJanne Karlsson took over the head coaching job for Atlant Moscow Oblast.[5]
In December 2012, he replacedJeff Tomlinson as head coach of theThomas Sabo Ice Tigers of the GermanDeutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). After the season, Gustafsson did not have his contract renewed.[6]
In October 2013, he returned to Switzerland'sSCL Tigers for a second spell with the club, having previously spent two years with the Tigers. He led SCL to theNational League B (NLB) title and promotion to the NLA in 2015, but parted company with the club despite the success.[7] On 24 January 2017, he took over the head coaching position at NLB sideEHC Olten.[8][9] He was sacked in early February 2018 following a run of five wins in 15 contests and after dropping to the fourth place of the NLB standings.[10][11]
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He has been reported as a "player's coach", listening to and arguing with his players rather than telling them what to do. In aSVT interview he stated: "[Ice] hockey is played on the ice, not behind the bench. As coach I can point things out to them and make them aware of stuff but they are the ones who play the game. As a player I have to confess that I didn't listen that much to what the coach said, and as a coach I don't expect them to do either."
He was criticised for asking various players whom they would like to see on the team and how they wanted to play and for asking players how they would like to see the lines formed. He then went in and adjusted the lines as the tournaments went on. The criticism has been somewhat subdued after his 2006 Winter Olympics and World Championships double.
The Olympic and IIHF teams only had eight players. Most of the stars from the Olympics were missing. OnlyJörgen Jönsson,Kenny Jönsson,Henrik Zetterberg,Niklas Kronwall,Mikael Samuelsson,Stefan Liv,Ronnie Sundin andMika Hannula participated in both tournaments.
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1973–74 | KB Karlskoga | SWE II | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1974–75 | KB Karlskoga | SWE | 18 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1975–76 | KB Karlskoga | SWE II | 11 | 7 | 3 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1976–77 | KB Karlskoga | SWE II | 22 | 32 | 18 | 50 | — | 11 | 7 | 7 | 14 | — | ||
| 1977–78 | Färjestads BK | SEL | 32 | 15 | 10 | 25 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 10 | ||
| 1978–79 | Färjestads BK | SEL | 33 | 13 | 11 | 24 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 1978–79 | Edmonton Oilers | WHA | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 1979–80 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 22 | 38 | 60 | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1980–81 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 72 | 21 | 34 | 55 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1981–82 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 70 | 26 | 34 | 60 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982–83 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 67 | 22 | 42 | 64 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 1983–84 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 69 | 32 | 43 | 75 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 1984–85 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 51 | 13 | 29 | 42 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 1985–86 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 70 | 23 | 52 | 75 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1986–87 | Bofors IK | SWE II | 28 | 16 | 26 | 42 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987–88 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 78 | 18 | 36 | 54 | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1988–89 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 72 | 18 | 51 | 69 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 1989–90 | Färjestads BK | SEL | 37 | 22 | 24 | 46 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 18 | ||
| 1990–91 | Färjestads BK | SEL | 37 | 9 | 21 | 30 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 2 | ||
| 1991–92 | Färjestads BK | SEL | 35 | 12 | 20 | 32 | 30 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | ||
| 1992–93 | Färjestads BK | SEL | 40 | 17 | 14 | 31 | 32 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1993–94 | VEU Feldkirch | Alpenliga | 28 | 9 | 32 | 41 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | VEU Feldkirch | AUT | 26 | 11 | 11 | 22 | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | VEU Feldkirch | Alpenliga | 17 | 12 | 17 | 29 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | VEU Feldkirch | AUT | 24 | 9 | 25 | 34 | 14 | 13 | 9 | 13 | 22 | 2 | ||
| 1995–96 | VEU Feldkirch | Alpenliga | 7 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | VEU Feldkirch | AUT | 36 | 20 | 46 | 66 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | ||
| 1996–97 | VEU Feldkirch | Alpenliga | 40 | 21 | 41 | 62 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | VEU Feldkirch | AUT | 11 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | VEU Feldkirch | Alpenliga | 36 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | VEU Feldkirch | AUT | 18 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | VEU Feldkirch | Alpenliga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| SEL totals | 195 | 84 | 95 | 179 | 100 | 37 | 13 | 28 | 41 | 38 | ||||
| NHL totals | 629 | 195 | 359 | 554 | 196 | 18 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 10 | ||||
| AUT totals | 115 | 47 | 110 | 157 | 65 | 17 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 4 | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Sweden | EJC | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | |
| 1976 | Sweden | WJC | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | |
| 1977 | Sweden | WJC | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | |
| 1978 | Sweden | WJC | 7 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 10 | |
| 1979 | Sweden | WC | 8 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1981 | Sweden | WC | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 | |
| 1983 | Sweden | WC | 10 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 6 | |
| 1984 | Sweden | CC | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | |
| 1987 | Sweden | WC | 10 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 4 | |
| 1987 | Sweden | CC | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1991 | Sweden | WC | 10 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1992 | Sweden | OLY | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Junior totals | 23 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 28 | |||
| Senior totals | 61 | 16 | 27 | 43 | 30 | |||
