Furuset I.F.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Furuset I.F. are an ice hockey club based in Oslo, Norway and playing in the GET-ligaen. They play their home games in Furuset Forum. Their team colours are blue and white.

Through different eras Furuset have made their name as one of the greatest hockey clubs in Norway Being one of the founder members of the Norwegian Ice hockey association, they had a head start on many opponents.

Furuset won their first of seven Norwegian Championships in 1949 to start off the first golden era in club history. Led on by the legendary Leif Solheim they went on to claim a further three championships during the fifties.

The club was unable to replace the great players as the championship team slowly disintegrated. Furuset was soon overtaken by other Oslo clubs, and in the end fell into the lower leagues.

It was not until the early eighties that Furuset re-emerged as a great. Having gained promotion to the top league in the late seventies a fine group of young players blossomed in the limelight of the first division. None of them greater than Bjørn Skaare, the first Norwegian to play in the NHL. He led the team to the Norwegian championship in 1980. The feat was repeated in 1983, with yet another great generation of players under way. Furusets last championship was claimed in 1990 with players such as Petter Salsten, Ole Eskild Dahlstrøm and Steve Allman as the leading lights.

After the successes of the early nineties, culminating with an appearance in the play off finals in 1993 Furuset faced an economical crisis. Most of their top players left for bigger clubs, and relegation once again was on the cards. Spending most of the late nineties and early 2000's as an elevator club between the two top leagues, Furuset are now back in the big league, hoping to settle.