Modo Hockey

Modo Hockey
League	Elitserien
Founded	1921
History	Alfredshems IK 1921–1963 Modo AIK 1964–86 Modo Hockey 1987–present
Arena	Swedbank Arena
City	Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
Team Colors	Red, black, white, green
General Manager	Markus Näslund
Head Coach	Ulf Samuelsson
Captain	Ole-Kristian Tollefsen
Swedish Champions	1979, 2007

Modo Hockey is an ice hockey club in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The home arena was earlier Kempehallen, built in 1964, but from the 2006–07 season the men's team plays at the Swedbank Arena.

History

The club was founded in 1921 as Alfredshems IK, but was later renamed after the main sponsor, industrial corporation Mo och Domsjö AB (commonly abbreviated Modo). Modo Hockey became Swedish champions in 1979. The team had a hard time coming back to this level however, until in 1994 when the club reached the finals with a young team with stars like Peter Forsberg, who just had reached tremendous international fame for his play in the Lillehammer Olympics, and Niklas Sundström. However, they lost the finals to Malmö IF.

Former Logo

Since then, Modo has been one of the teams to count on in Elitserien, reaching the finals again in 1999, 2000 and 2002, but never winning it, until 14 April 2007, when they again became Swedish champions.

Örnsköldsvik is quite a small town, but Modo has managed to raise several promising talents went on to play in the NHL. Peter Forsberg and Niklas Sundström belong to these, as do Markus Näslund and twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin. Anders Hedberg was one of the first Swedes to succeed in the NHL, back in the 1970s. During the NHL conflict in 2004–05 there were a few foreign NHL players representing the team, including Canadian Adrian Aucoin, American Dan Hinote and Czech František Kaberle (who also played for the team before he joined the NHL).

External links

• MODO Hockey - Official site
• MODO Hockey - Unofficial site in English
• Modoenfrance.fr - Forum Francophone du MODO Hockey Örnsköldsvik
• Meltzer, Bill. "Modo Mines Championship Gold" at NHL.com. Retrieved 04-18-07.
• Meltzer, Bill. An emotional night in Sweden’s 'Heart of Hockey' at NHL.com. Retrieved 01-03-07.
• Meltzer, Bill. *Small Town, Big Draft Legacy at NHL.com Retrieved 06-23-06.
• New York Times. A Puck-Crazed Town in Sweden Churns Out N.H.L. Stars Retrieved 05-04-07
• Information in English from fan site www.modohjerta.com

Preceded by Skellefteå AIK	Swedish ice hockey champions 1979	Succeeded by Brynäs IF
Preceded by Färjestads BK	Swedish ice hockey champions 2007	Succeeded by HV71