| Skellefteå AIK | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Skellefteå, Sweden |
| League | Swedish Hockey League |
| Founded | 1 July 1921 |
| Home arena | Skellefteå Kraft Arena (capacity: 5,801) |
| Colors | |
| General manager | Erik Forssell |
| Head coach | Daniel Hermansson |
| Captain | Jonathan Pudas |
| Website | skellefteaaik.se |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | 5 (1981,2013,2014,2015,2016) |
| Le Mat Trophy | 4 (1978,2013,2014,2024) |
 Current season | |
Skellefteå AIK is aSwedish professionalice hockey club fromSkellefteå. They currently play In theSwedish Hockey League. They play their home games inSkellefteå Kraft Arena, which seats 6,001 spectators. The team has won theSwedish Championship four times – in1978,2013,2014 and2024. They reached the SHL championship finals for six consecutive years between2011–2016, tyingFärjestad BK's streak between 2001 and 2006, winning two times.
Skellefteå AIK was founded on 1 July 1921 aCafé Norden in Skellefteå,[1] although ice hockey was not played until 1943, with only training matches being played the first season. In the 1943–44 season, the club played in the local leagueSkellefteserien, which could not be finished due to unsuitable hockey weather as the games were played outdoors.
In 1955 Skellefteå qualified for the highest league in Sweden. Around this time the team was led by the so-called "Mosquito Line", which consisted ofAnders "Akka" Andersson,"Garvis" Määttä andKalle Hedlund. In the 1957–58 season they won theAllsvenskan's northern group and later finished second inSM-serien, only one point behind the winnerDjurgårdens IF. Skellefteå AIK then played in Division 1 North until 1967. The club had difficulties qualifying for continued play in the Division 1 series but in 1975 the series was won and Skellefteå later finished in fourth place in SM-serien.
When the Swedish Elite League under the nameElitserien was formed in 1975, Skellefteå AIK was one of the teams participating.
In the 1977–78 regular seasonMartin Karlsson led the league in goals and points whileHardy Nilsson was the league's most penalized player. Skellefteå went on to win the playoffs led by a strong performance byGöran Lindblom (five goals and four assists in five games), becoming Swedish champions in 1978, and in 1981 Skellefteå won the regular season series.
In 1985, the club's hockey organization split from the mother club, and competed as Skellefteå HC until 1991, when the club would retake the Skellefteå AIK name.[2]
In 1990 Skellefteå was relegated but after 16 seasons of play in the Swedish second league (Allsvenskan). Skellefteå again qualified for the highest series and has played in Elitserien since 2006–07.
In their first year after promoting from the Swedish second league to Elitserien (now named the SHL), Skellefteå AIK became the best newcomer in Elitserien at that time with 73 points in 55 games. At one point during the 2007–08 season, Skellefteå led the league for the first time in 30 years. They also qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1981 as the 8th seed. In the quarterfinals, Skellefteå were beaten by the eventual championsHV71 by 4–1 in games. At the end of the 2008–09 season, Skellefteå qualified for the playoffs again; in the quarterfinals, Skellefteå defeatedLinköpings HC in 7 games, and in the series Skellefteå came back from a 1–3 deficit to win 4–3 in games. In game seven, Skellefteå won an overtime game that had gone to the 6th period (and thus had become the third longest playoff game in Elitserien history) with a goal byKimmo Koskenkorva. In the semifinals, Skellefteå fell in four games toFärjestad BK who went on to win theSwedish Championship.
The following season, Skellefteå faced Färjestad in the playoffs once again, this time in the quarterfinals. Skellefteå won the series in seven games and went on to play HV71. HV won in five games on their way to become the 2010 champions.
Skellefteå had the three highest scoring players in the league in the2010–11 season –Joakim Lindström,Mikko Lehtonen andDavid Rundblad. In the playoffs Skellefteå made it to the finals for the first time in 33 years, but were defeated in five games by Färjestad.
In the2011–12 season, Skellefteå would return to the Swedish Championship Finals, where they lost toBrynäs IF in six games.
In the2012–13 season, the team won the regular season. In the playoffs, Skellefteå once again reached the Finals, where they met their northernmost rival,Luleå HF. Skellefteå swept Luleå in four straight games 4–0 and clinched theSwedish Championship for the first time since1978, and only the second time in club history. Skellefteå finished the playoffs with an impressive 12–1 record, and became the first team since2003 to sweep their opponents in the Finals.
In the2013–14 SHL season, Skellefteå once again won the regular season. In the playoffs, Skellefteå reached the Finals for the fourth consecutive year, where they metFärjestad BK. Like in 2013, Skellefteå swept their opponents in the Finals in four straight games 4–0. Skellefteå clinched theSwedish Championship title for the third time in club history, and became the first team to defend the Swedish Championship title sinceDjurgårdens IF did so with their consecutive Swedish Championship titles in2000 and2001. Skellefteå AIK also became the first team sinceBrynäs IF in1976–77 to win consecutive Swedish Championships by not losing a single game in both Finals series. Their 8–1 crush in game three marked the biggest goal margin (7 goals) in a single Finals game in SHL history.
In the2014–15 SHL season, Skellefteå won their third consecutive regular season trophy.[3] Doing so after having lost 14 players of top European class however, experts were impressed by the consistency of their managing, training and playing style. Going into the playoffs after their impressive regular season win, Skellefteå once again were huge favorites to win the le mat trophy. Although experts generally agreed that they were going to face a tougher challenge this year.[4]
In the round of quarter finals Skellefteå once again had to face their opponent from the finals of 2012, Brynäs IF. Even though Skellefteå did sweep Brynäs in four consecutive quarterfinal games, some people started wondering if the dynasty of Skellefteå was over. Those wonderings mostly appeared due to the tightness and even scorelines of the quarter final games.[5]
In the 2015 semifinals, Skellefteå for the third consecutive year had to face Linköpings HC. Once again Skellefteå was going to prove the experts, who predicted a tight and tough series of games, wrong. With the round of semifinals ending 4–1 in favor to Skellefteå, they went into the finals as huge favorites.[6]
The first game in the round of finals 2015 was played on 12 April between Skellefteå AIK and Växjö Lakers. The Lakers surprised most people when they "stole" Skellefteå's home game and won with two goals to one.[7] The second game of the finals was by most media described as a "do or die game" for Skellefteå, arguing that a 2-0 lead for Växjö would be too difficult for Skellefteå to turn into a victory. Skellefteå AIK themselves however did not agree at all, but did emphasize the needs of improvement in the play around the nets.[8] This was something they did manage to improve and it resulted in a clean sheet victory with three goals to nil. With the impressive 0–3 victory behind them, Skellefteå AIK was once again seen as the major favorites to win the le mat trophy.[9][10]
| Season | Level | Division | Record | Avg. home atnd. | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | W-OT-L | |||||
| This is a partial list featuring the past seasons. For prior seasons, seeList of Skellefteå AIK seasons. | ||||||
| 2020–21 | Tier 1 | SHL | 4th | 24–8–5–15 | 18 | |
| Swedish Championship playoffs | — | 6–5 | 0 | Won in quarterfinals, 4–3 vsLuleå Lost in semifinals, 2–3 vsRögle | ||
| 2021–22 | Tier 1 | SHL | 3rd | 27–5–3–17 | 3,709 | |
| Swedish Championship playoffs | — | 2–4 | 5,431 | Lost in quarterfinals, 2–4 vsFärjestad BK | ||
| 2022–23 | Tier 1 | SHL | 2nd | 27–6–6–13 | 4,936 | |
| Swedish Championship playoffs | — | 9–8 | 5,630 | Won in quarterfinals, 4–2 vsRögle Won in semifinals, 4–2 vsÖrebro  Lost in finals, 1–4 vsVäxjö | ||
| 2023–24 | Tier 1 | SHL | 3rd | 27–6–4–15 | 4,943 | |
| Swedish Championship playoffs | — | 12–4 | 5,759 | Won in quarterfinals, 4–0 vsLinköping Won in semifinals, 4–3 vsFrölunda Winner in finals, 4–1 vsRögle  2024 Swedish Champions (4th title) | ||
| 2024–25 | Tier 1 | SHL | 5th | 25–3–3–21 | 5,269 | |
| Swedish Championship playoffs | — | 5–6 | 5,801 | Won in quarterfinals, 4–2 vsFärjestad Lost in semifinals, 1–4 vsBrynäs | ||
These are the top-ten point-scorers of Skellefteå AIK in the SHL/Elitserien. Figures are updated after each completed season.[12]
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; = current Skellefteå AIK player
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | P/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joakim Lindström | W | 526 | 179 | 313 | 492 | .93 |
| Oscar Möller | RW | 445 | 182 | 163 | 345 | .77 |
| Jimmie Ericsson | W | 518 | 105 | 173 | 278 | .54 |
| Roland Stoltz | F | 374 | 133 | 132 | 265 | .71 |
| Göran Lindblom | D | 403 | 71 | 186 | 257 | .64 |
| Jonathan Pudas | D | 340 | 68 | 183 | 251 | .73 |
| Bud Holloway | W | 280 | 81 | 142 | 223 | .80 |
| Erik Forssell | C | 443 | 94 | 127 | 221 | .50 |
| Pär Lindholm | C | 354 | 82 | 120 | 202 | .57 |
| Anders Söderberg | LW | 314 | 78 | 123 | 201 | .64 |
Hans Svedberg: 1957–58Anders Andersson: 1960–61, 1961–62Jimmie Ericsson: 2012–13
Bud Holloway: 2012–13Joakim Lindström: 2013–14Peter Forsberg Trophy
Jimmie Ericsson: 2012–13Joakim Lindström: 2013–14Martin Karlsson: 1977–78
Mikko Lehtonen: 2010–11David Rundblad: 2010–11Tim Heed: 2014–15[13]Niclas Burström: 2015–16Axel Sandin Pellikka: 2023–24Oscar Lindberg: 2013Joakim Lindström: 2014Linus Söderström: 2024Rinkens Riddare
Anders Söderberg: 2006–07Oscar Möller: 2013–14
