HV 71

HV71, often commonly referred to as HV and internationally HV71 Jönköping, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Jönköping, playing in the SHL. The team participates during the off-seasons in Nordic Trophy since 2008 and played in the 2008–09 inaugural season of the Champions Hockey League.

Club history
HV71 was founded on May 24, 1971, as a merger between Husqvarna IF and Vätterstads IK, and took the name Huskvarna/Vätterstads IF but later that year it was shortened to the current name HV71. The club first entered the top Swedish league, Elitserien, in 1979, but were soon relegated. They won promotion again in 1985–86 and have remained in the top division ever since and are as of the 2000s a well-established top club in Sweden. The club has won the national championship four times; 1995, 2004, 2008 and 2010. For a few years in the late 1990s, HV71 was also called the Blue Bulls.

Many Swedes associate HV71 with the club's old arena Rosenlundshallen, which was inaugurated in 1958 as Sweden's first indoor ice hockey arena, but was replaced in 2000 with the new and improved Husqvarna Garden. As the new arena was build around and on top of Rosenlundshallen, HV71 practically played its games during the season 1999–00 in a construction site.

On December 6, 2006, HV71 topped Elitserien after a 5-2-win over Färjestads BK, at the same time as the club's two youth teams (under 20 and 18 years old) topped their leagues, J20 SuperElit and J18 Elit. This was an event that had never happened before in HV71's entire club history.

1994–95 season
HV71 won its first national championship season 1994–95 as the last (8th) team to qualify for the playoffs. The club is the only team in Swedish history to win the finals after ending as the 8th team at the end of the regular season. In the quarter-finals HV beat Djurgårdens IF Hockey, the team that finished first in the regular season, in three straight games, in the semifinal they came back after having lost the first two games to Malmö Redhawks and turned the series around to a 3-2 victory, and in the final they managed a decisive sudden death victory against Brynäs IF in the fifth period of the fifth game to win the championship.

2003–04 season
The second championship was won during the season 2003–04 after beating Modo Hockey with a 4-2 game series, Frölunda HC with 4-2 in games in the semi-finals, and then winning the finals with a 4-3 match series against Färjestads BK. In the quarter-finals HV71 set a new Swedish record of scoring the most goals in one period with their seven against Modo Hockey. The game ended with a 10-1 victory. In the final, goalie Stefan Liv managed to keep his goal empty in all four games that the team won, the two last games ending 1-0 and 5-0 respectively.

2005–06season
HV71 finished the regular season 2005–06 as winner of the league table. For the first time in HV71's history the club faced Mora IK in the quarter-finals, winning the match series with 4-1. In the semi-finals the club was pitted against Färjestads BK. The match series did not have a winner until the last minute of the seventh game. Färjestads BK scored two goals in a matter of seconds during the last minutes of the game and thus ending HV71's season.

2006–07season
HV71 ended the regular season as the second placed team after Färjestads BK. HV chose to meet Brynäs IF in the quarter-finals and managed after seven games (4 wins and 3 losses) to continue to the semifinals. The team faced Modo Hockey and even with home advantage HV did not manage to proceed to the finals having lost four out of seven games. This meant that HV for the second consecutive year lost a seven games series in the semifinal to the eventual Swedish champion.

During the season the newly acquired defenceman Johan Åkerman was a trendsetting player and also made his national debut for Sweden at the age of 34. HV's starting goaltender, Erik Ersberg, had his breakthrough and played for the national team; and was awarded with the Honken Trophy as Sweden's best goaltender. During the off-season he signed with the NHL team Los Angeles Kings.

2007–08 season
The 2007–08 season saw HV71 winning their third Swedish Championship, the second during the 2000s. HV71 finished the regular season as the league champion with 107 points, 15 points ahead of the second placed team Linköpings HC. HV defeated Skellefteå AIK in the quarter-finals, winning the series 4-1. In the semifinals HV met the fifth seeded team, Timrå IK. HV advanced to the finals after winning the series 4-2. In the finals HV managed to defeat Linköpings HC in six games, coming back from 2-0 down after the first two games. The sixth game went into overtime with HV's newly signed player Eric Johansson scoring the game-winning goal and winning the Swedish Championship.

Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; Pts = Points; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against


 * 1 NHL players in Elitserien due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout.

Notable players
Niklas Hjalmarsson, who won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks (NHL) in 2010

Team captains

 * Fredrik Stillman, D, 1993–1995, 1997–1999
 * Stefan Örnskog, LW, 1996–1997
 * Per Gustafsson, D, 1999–2001
 * Johan Davidsson, C, 2002–present

Retired numbers

 * 7 Per Gustafsson, D, 1988–1996, 1999–2010
 * 14 Fredrik Stillman, D, 1982–1995, 1996–2001
 * 15 Stefan Örnskog, LW, 1987–1998, 1999–2001

Club scoring leaders
These are the top-ten point-scorers in club history. Figures are updated after each completed Elitserien regular season.

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; * = current HV71 player

Elitserien awards and trophies
Source: Le Mat Trophy
 * 1994–95, 2003–04, 2007–08

Coach of the Year
 * Sune Bergman: 1994–95
 * Pär Mårts: 2003–04
 * Kent Johansson: 2007–08

Guldhjälmen
 * Kari Eloranta: 1985–86
 * Esa Keskinen: 1995–96
 * Andreas Karlsson: 2005–06
 * Johan Davidsson: 2008–09

Guldpucken Guldskridskon
 * Ulf Dahlén: 1997–98
 * Johan Davidsson: 2003–04
 * Stefan Liv: 2007–08
 * Fredrik Stillman: 1994–95

Honken Trophy
 * Stefan Liv: 2001–02
 * Erik Ersberg: 2006–07

Rinkens riddare
 * Johan Davidsson: 2002–03
 * Johan Davidsson: 2003–04
 * Johan Davidsson: 2004–05

Rookie of the Year
 * Peter Madach: 1979–80

Club individual records
Source:
 * Most Goals in a season: Kai Nurminen, 31 (1995–96)
 * Most Assists in a season: Esa Keskinen, 41 (1995–96)
 * Most Points in a season: Esa Keskinen, 59 (1995–96)
 * Most Penalty Minutes in a season: Lance Ward, 273 (2006–07) (Elitserien record)
 * Most Points in a season, defenseman: Johan Åkerman, 48 (2006–07)
 * Most Points in a season, rookie: Kai Nurminen, 55 (1995–96) (Elitserien record)
 * Most Shutouts in a season: Stefan Liv, 6 (2003–04)