Tønsberg Vikings

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Tønsberg Vikings

Full name	Tønsberg og Omegn Ishockeyklubb
Founded	1963
Based in	Tønsberg, Norway
Arena	Tønsberg Ishall (capacity: 710)
League	GET-ligaen
Team colors	Red, white
Head coach	Andreas Toft
Captain	Henric Nordin

The Tønsberg Vikings, officially Tønsberg og Omegn Ishockeyklubb, are an ice hockey club based in Tønsberg, Norway. Starting in 2012, the Tønsberg Vikings will play in the highest Norwegian league, GET-ligaen, for the first time in club history.^[1] The team's colours are red and white; home games are played at Tønsberg Ishall.

History

Tønsberg og Omegn Ishockeyklubb was founded on 4 April 1963. For most of its history, the club competed in the lower divisions of Norwegian ice hockey, never reaching beyond the third tier.

In 2002, the club set itself the goal of becoming an established team in the 1. divisjon by 2006.^[2] For many years, Tønsberg had focused on developing youth players; with the first team at the time languishing in the 3. divisjon, these players invariably moved elsewhere upon reaching a certain age.^[3]

Canadian Dave Flanders was hired as head coach ahead of the 2002–03 season, and would also be playing for the team.^[4] It took three games for the Vikings to record their first win,^[5] and the campaign was dealt a decisive blow four rounds from the end of the season when they lost 5–6 to Holmen.^[6] Tønsberg eventually finished in sixth place with 14 points from as many games. Flanders stepped down after the season; his successor as player-coach, Lars Oddvard Fjeldvang, later maintained that the Canadian had gotten the most out of a mediocre team.^[7]

Fjeldvang coached the Vikings during the 2003–04 season. He succeeded where Flanders had not, largely due to a better roster. The team recorded a run of 11–2–2 to finish on 24 points; enough to claim first place and a historic promotion to the 2. divisjon.^[8]^[9]

During the off-season, the club formed a limited company to manage commercial activities and improve finances. Morten Sandø, a member of the team since 2002, was appointed player-coach and later also head of marketing.^[10] Three experienced players were brought in to reinforce the team ahead of its first outing in the 2. divisjon. By mid-season, half that team had been lost to injury, transfer or other, forcing the management to rely on junior team members to fill the roster.^[11] At the cost of the junior team's performance, the first team eventually finished fifth.

In the following seasons, the Vikings struggled at the bottom of the standings. Despite having advanced to the third tier of the league system, the club continued to lose its most talented young players. The lack of a regional ice hockey academy meant that national youth team players from Tønsberg were still moving to Bærum or Oslo when they entered high school.^[12] From 2006 to 2008, the club did not have enough eligible players for a separate junior team. In his second and final season as head coach, Sandø also criticized the team's inability to adopt a proper training culture.^[13] For the 2006–07 season, Sandø handed over the reins to Jimmy Svensson, who failed to make an impact.

With the appointment of Andreas Toft as head coach in 2007, a concerted effort began to lift the club up to a higher level, both on and off the ice. As the club's first full time head coach, Toft was inexperienced at only 25 years of age, but had achieved positive results with Jutul's juniors from 2005 to 2007.^[14] By the 2008–09 season, a more robust management was in place to support him, and which succeeded in bringing several former junior team members back to the club, as well as signing the former Czech professional Jiri Jantovsky.^[15] A successful campaign ensued, in which the Vikings won the 2. divisjon—and promotion—with a 16–1–1 record.

Season-by-season record

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

Norwegian Champions	Regular Season Champions	Promoted	Relegated

Season	League	Regular season										Postseason
Season	League	GP	W	L	T	OTW	OTL	GF	GA	Pts	Finish	Postseason
2008–09	2. divisjon	18	16	1	1	—	—	200	64	33	1st	—
2009–10	1. divisjon	34	17	11	6	—	—	184	148	40	6th	Did not qualify
2010–11	1. divisjon	36	31	2	3	—	—	228	77	65	1st	3rd in Qualifying for Eliteserien
2011–12	1. divisjon	34	33	1	0	—	—	228	65	66	1st	1st in Qualifying for Eliteserien
2012–13	Eliteserien	45	5	32	—	4	4	126	256	27	10th	2nd in Qualifying for Eliteserien

Current roster

As of October 27th, 2013.

Goaltenders
Number	Player	Catches	Born	Place of Birth
30	Kenneth Helgesson	L	08.01.1993	Vänersborg, Sweden
60	Karol Krizan	L	05.06.1980	Zilina, Slovakia

Defensemen
Number	Player	Shoots	Born	Place of Birth
2	Eriks Sevcenko	L	28.04.1991	Daugavpils, Latvia
6	Tor Sønju Bårnes	R	09.11.1989	Tønsberg, Norway
13	Andreas Liljedal	R	21.09.1990	Kongsberg, Norway
33	Sebastian Kjos Sæves	L	11.12.1993	Oslo, Norway
38	John Nicolay Næsgård	L	22.06.1993	Oslo, Norway
43	Ricards Birzins	R	24.04.1989	Riga, Latvia
48	Sebastian Skaar	L	10.08.1985	Oslo, Norway
81	Lorentz Danielsen Skjønsfjell	L	18.10.1993	Tønsberg, Norway

Forwards
Number	Player	Shoots	Born	Place of Birth
7	Jānis Straupe	R	03.06.1989	Riga, Latvia
9	Christian Linge	R	07.10.1993	Porsgrunn, Norway
11	Marius Günther	L	08.03.1993	Asker, Norway
15	David Hallström	L	15.01.1988	Gothenburg, Sweden
19	Simen Thoresen Rønold	L	25.04.1991	Asker, Norway
23	Derek Lee	R	23.03.1990	North Vancouver, Canada
24	Carl Henrik Andersson	L	14.06.1994	Bergen, Norway
50	Jo Magnus Hegg	R	01.07.1988	Fredrikstad, Norway
67	Chris Knowlton	R	11.03.1989	Berlin, West Germany
71	Christopher Paulsen	L	14.04.1989	Sarpsborg, Norway
86	Patrick Knowlton	L	12.05.1986	Colorado Springs, United States
88	Henrik Medby	L	26.02.1992	Gjøvik, Norway
90	Peter Even Killingstad	L	26.07.1990	Tønsberg, Norway

References

↑ "Nå er de klare for eliteserien". NRK (in Norwegian). 2012-03-23. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
↑ "Tønsberg Vikings satser stort". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2002-07-29. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
↑ "Slår et slag for A-laget i ishockey". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2002-05-16. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
↑ "Kanadier skal redde Tønsberg Vikings". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2002-10-18. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
↑ "Viking-seier over Drammen". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2002-11-04. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
↑ "Mistet seieren og opprykket". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2002-02-17. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
↑ "Kneskade stopper Flanders". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2003-09-26. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
↑ "Historisk ishockeyopprykk". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2004-03-09. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
↑ "Triumferende vikinger". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2004-03-22. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
↑ "Skal jobbe for hockey på heltid". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2004-06-03. Retrieved 2012-05-19.
↑ "Tønsberg Vikings halvert". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2005-02-08. Retrieved 2012-05-19.
↑ "Tappet for talenter". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2006-10-20. Retrieved 2012-05-19.
↑ "–Mangler treningskultur". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2006-02-17. Retrieved 2012-05-19.
↑ "Andreas Toft ny trener for TOIKs A-lag sesongen 2007-08". Tønsberg Vikings (in Norwegian). 2007-07-16. Retrieved 2012-05-19.
↑ "Veteranen ser noe stort". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 2008-09-18. Retrieved 2012-05-19.

External links

Official website

v t e GET-ligaen

Teams	Frisk Asker Lillehammer Lørenskog Rosenborg Sparta Warriors Stavanger Oilers Stjernen Storhamar Dragons Tønsberg Vikings Vålerenga

Arenas	Askerhallen DNB Arena Hamar Olympic Amphitheatre Jordal Amfi Kristins Hall Leangen Ishall Lørenskog Ishall Sparta Amfi Stjernehallen Tønsberg Ishall

Seasons	1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14

Awards	Gullpucken Playoff MVP Polar Bear Trophy

Related topics	Norwegian Ice Hockey Association 1. divisjon National men's team National women's team National men's junior team National women's U-18 team Norwegian NHL draftees

See also: IIHF IIHF Continental Cup IIHF European Champions Cup

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