BIK Karlskoga

  • Promotion to the top flight in 1962

The BIK Karlskoga (also Bofors IK ) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Karlskoga, playing in the second highest Swedish professional league, the HockeyAllsvenskan since 1999. The team has played 16 seasons in the top division in Sweden. Play their home games from the club in the Nobel halls.

History

The Hockey department of IFK Bofors was founded in 1943 and a year later the first match against FK Degerfor was held that Bofors lost with 1:4. However, the first home game in Karlskoga won the IFK 6-2 against Degerfor. A year later, in 1945, the regular operation started in the lowest division, Division III. Bofors won the regional group in this division and could therefore pass on to the 1945 Division II.

At the end of the season 1946/47, the IFK Bofors took part in qualifying matches for the Division I, where a new record crowd of 1,500 spectators was erected. In the following years the club played mostly in the Division II and abolished at the end of the season 1951/52, the rise in the Allsvenskan, the then highest league in Sweden. In November 1955, the Borforsrinken was inaugurated, one of the first artificial ice surfaces in Sweden. In 1963 the merger with Karlskoga IF and the club officially changed his name to IF Karlskoga / Bofors, but was also often abbreviated as KB 63. At the end of the season 1963/64, the relegation followed in the Division II and until the early 1970s, managed to rise again. 1978, split the Hockey department from the rest of the club and changed his name to Bofors IK. In the 1980s, the now pure hockey club played mainly in the second division before the early 1990s was followed by the descent into the now third-rate Division I.

In 1999 it re- promotion to the second division, where the club has since held. As of 2001, the Bobcats epithet was chosen for marketing reasons, so that the first team since then competes as Bofors Bobcats.

Well-known former players

  • Christian Berglund
  • Bengt -Åke Gustafsson
  • Niklas Sjökvist
  • Emil Kåberg
  • Marius Holtet
  • Johan Larsson
  • Rory Rawlyk

Home ground

In 1955 the club wore their home games at one of the first artificial ice surfaces in Sweden, the Boforsrinken. The opening of the ice rink was performed by Helge Berglund (then president of the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation ) on November 5, 1955 the opening match against Leksand IF ended 6:1.

In 1972, the Nobel halls was opened, a building complex of ice rink, sports hall, swimming pool, bowling alley and gym. The ice rink, which offered 6,500 spectators, served since then as the home ground of Bofors IK. The construction costs for the entire complex amounted to 13 million Swedish crowns. In addition to the leagues game mode found in the ice rink regularly matches the Swedish national team place, as well as some of the Elitserien finals and the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship in 1979.

In addition to the Bofors IK and the Karlskoga HC plays its home games out in the hall, so that a total of two men's teams and over 275 junior players use the building.

Swedish Hockey League Swedish Ice Hockey Association Leksands IF Almtuna IS Karlskrona HK IK Oskarshamn IF Troja-Ljungby
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