Tønsberg Vikings

Tønsberg Vikings

Full name	Tønsberg og Omegn Ishockeyklubb
Founded	1963
Based in	Tønsberg, Norway
Arena	Tønsberg Ishall (capacity: 710)
League	Norwegian First Division
Team colors	Red, white
Head coach	Brett Stewart

The Tønsberg Vikings, officially Tønsberg og Omegn Ishockeyklubb, are an ice hockey club based in Tønsberg, Norway. Tønsberg Vikings plays in the second highest Norwegian league, the Norwegian First Division. 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.^[1] 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.^[2]

Canadian Dave Flanders was hired as head coach ahead of the 2002–03 season, and would also be playing for the team.^[3] It took three games for the Vikings to record their first win,^[4] and the campaign was dealt a decisive blow four rounds from the end of the season when they lost 5–6 to Holmen.^[5] 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.^[6]

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.^[7][8]

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.^[9] 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.^[10] 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.^[11] 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.^[12] 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.^[13] 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.^[14] A successful campaign ensued, in which the Vikings won the 2. divisjon—and promotion—with a 16–1–1 record.

In 2012, the club qualified for the GET-ligaen for the first time in club history,^[15] and managed to stay there for the two following seasons. But due to struggeling economy, the board of the Tønsberg Vikings asked that the team was to be moved down one division before the 2014-15 season.

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.

¹Due to struggeling economy, the board of the Tønsberg Vikings asked that the team was to be moved down one division.^[16] The vacant spot was given to Kongsvinger Knights.^[17]

Current roster

As of March 9th, 2014.

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
13		Andreas Liljedal	R	21.09.1990	Kongsberg, Norway
17		David Inman	R	08.03.1987	San Diego, United States
33		Sebastian Kjos Sæves	L	11.12.1993	Oslo, Norway
38		John Nicolay Næsgård	L	22.06.1993	Oslo, Norway
43		Christian Fosse	L	21.08.1993	Lillehammer, Norway
48		Sebastian Skaar	L	10.08.1985	Oslo, Norway
51		Jens Ulrik Bacher	L	02.10.1992	Asker, Norway
91		Ryan Kavanagh	R	12.02.1991	Montreal, Canada

Forwards
Number		Player	Shoots	Born	Place of Birth
2		Niclas Wedin	L	29.06.1991	Sundsvall, Sweden
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
24		Carl Henrik Andersson	L	14.06.1994	Bergen, Norway
44		Kristoffer Kleven Solberg	L	06.04.1991	Tønsberg, Norway
46		Yvan Busque	L	06.03.1983	Saint-Georges, Canada
47		Andrew Hamburg	R	17.06.1989	Phoenix, United States
50		Jo Magnus Hegg	R	01.07.1988	Fredrikstad, Norway
71		Christopher Paulsen	L	14.04.1989	Sarpsborg, Norway
78		Francis Verreault-Paul	R	07.05.1987	Roberval, Canada
81		Patrick Eriksson	L	06.02.1990	Malung, Sweden
83		Jacob Lagacé	R	09.01.1990	Saint-Hyacinthe, Canada
88		Henrik Medby	L	26.02.1992	Gjøvik, Norway
90		Peter Even Killingstad	L	26.07.1990	Tønsberg, Norway

References

External links

• Official website