Norwegian Ice Hockey Association

Norway
Association name	Norges Ishockeyforbund
IIHF Code	NOR
Founded	18 September 1934
IIHF membership	20 January 1935
President	Tage Pettersen
IIHF men's ranking	12 (27 May 2024)
IIHF women's ranking	15 2 (28 August 2023)
	http://www.hockey.no

The Norwegian Ice Hockey Association (in Norwegian, Norges Ishockeyforbund (NIHF) is the governing body of all ice hockey, sledge hockey and in-line hockey in Norway.

NIHF has its office at Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo.

The current president is Tage Pettersen, who replaced Gerhard Nilsen in 2018. The current head coach of Team Norway is Petter Thoresen who has coached the team since 2016.

The logo of the NIHF has a polar bear in its centre spot. The national team is also nicknamed Isbjørnene ("The Polar Bears").

History

NIHF was founded September 18, 1934 and has been a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation since January 20, 1935.^[3]

The first President of the NIHF was Rolf Gjertsen^[4] from the club Trygg. The first vice president was Ludvig Christiansen, also from Trygg. The ten teams that founded the NIHF were: Forward, Furuset, Gjøa, Hasle, Holmen, Strong, Trygg, NTHI, Trond and Trondheim.^[5]

The inaugural game was played at Furuset Stadion on January 4, 1935, between Gjøa and Furuset. Gjøa won 5–0.^[6] The referee was Johan Narvestad.

Norway has yet to win a medal during its twelve appearances at the Olympic games. Their best result was in 1972 when they finished in 8th place.

In the 1980 Winter Olympics, the team competed in the top division for the first time since 1952. They lost their first four games of the tournament to Czechoslovakia (11–0), West Germany (10–4), USA (5–1) and Sweden (7–1), and then came from behind to tie Romania (3-3) for a point in the standings.

Today, Norway competes in the top tier for the World Championships.

NIHF Awards

The NIHF annually awards the Golden Puck award^[7] to the best male Norwegian born hockey player. The similar award for women is the Valemon trophy, which has been awarded twice.

Each year the NIHF hands out the His Rojal Majesty's Cup to the winner of the playoffs of the Eliteserien, and the winning team becomes Norwegian Champions.^[8]

Polar Bear Trophy

The Polar Bear Trophy is an award given out by the federation to Norwegian ice hockey players who have played a minimum of 50 official games for the Norwegian national ice hockey team. Counting as official games are games played at the IIHF World Championships, the Winter Olympics and qualification games to the two aforementioned tournaments. Friendly games are not counted.

Referees who have officiated a minimum of 30 games at the Winter Olympics or IIHF World Championship (Elite and Division 1) at either the senior or the junior level are also eligible for reception.

The NIHF board may also award the trophy to builders who have shown an extra ordinary dedication to Norwegian ice hockey.^[9]

Presidents

Tore Johannessen, 1956–1964^[10]

References

^ "IIHF Men's World Ranking". IIHF. May 27, 2024. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
^ "IIHF Women's World Ranking". IIHF. August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
^ "Norway". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved March 10, 2008.
^ The first elected board of NIHF
^ The first Norwegian ice hockey clubs Archived February 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
^ "The first Norwegian ice hockey game". Archived from the original on February 12, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2008.
^ Golden Puck winners Archived October 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
^ Norwegian Champions Archived October 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
^ "Rules and criteria of the NIHF trophies (in Norwegian)".^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ "2.73 Tore Johannessen". Legends of Hockey. Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 22, 2019.

External links

Official website
Official sledge hockey website Archived April 17, 2021, at the Wayback Machine

[IIHF_Men's_World_Ranking-1] "IIHF Men's World Ranking". IIHF. May 27, 2024. Retrieved May 27, 2024.

[IIHF_Women's_World_Ranking-2] "IIHF Women's World Ranking". IIHF. August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.

[3] "Norway". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved March 10, 2008.

[4] The first elected board of NIHF

[5] The first Norwegian ice hockey clubs Archived February 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine

[6] "The first Norwegian ice hockey game". Archived from the original on February 12, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2008.

[7] Golden Puck winners Archived October 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

[8] Norwegian Champions Archived October 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

[9] "Rules and criteria of the NIHF trophies (in Norwegian)".^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[Legends-10] "2.73 Tore Johannessen". Legends of Hockey. Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 22, 2019.

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v t e Sports governing bodies in Norway (NOR)
Summer Olympic sports	Aquatics Diving Swimming Synchronized swimming Water polo Archery Athletics Badminton Basketball Boxing Canoeing Cycling Equestrian Fencing Field hockey Football Golf Gymnastics Handball Judo Modern pentathlon Rugby 7s Rowing Sailing Shooting Table tennis Taekwondo Tennis Triathlon Volleyball inc. veach volleyball Weightlifting Wrestling
Winter Olympic sports	Biathlon Bobsleigh Curling Skating Figure Speed Short Track Ice hockey Luge Skeleton Skiing Alpine Cross country Nordic combined Freestyle Jumping Snowboarding
Other IOC-recognised sports	Air sports Auto racing Bandy Baseball Billiard sports Boules Bowling Bridge Chess Cricket Dance sport Floorball Karate Korfball Lifesaving Motorcycle racing Mountaineering and climbing Netball Orienteering Pelota vasca Polo Powerboating Racquetball Roller sports Inline Roller derby Rugby Softball Sport climbing Squash Sumo Surfing Tug of war Underwater sports Water ski Wushu
Paralympics and disabled sports
Other sports	American football Lacrosse Rugby league Rugby union
Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports

v t e EliteHockey Ligaen
Teams	Comet Halden Frisk Asker Lørenskog Lillehammer Narvik Sparta Sarpsborg Stavanger Oilers Stjernen Storhamar Vålerenga
Arenas	CC Amfi DNB Arena Eidsiva Arena Lørenskog Ishall Jordal Amfi Manglerudhallen [[Nordkraft Arena]] Sparta Amfi Stjernehallen Varner Arena
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 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
Awards	Gullpucken Playoff MVP Polar Bear Trophy
Related topics	Norwegian Ice Hockey Association 1. divisjon 2. 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

v t e National members of the International Ice Hockey Federation
Full members	Australia Austria Azerbaijan ~~Belarus~~† Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Canada China Chinese Taipei Croatia Czechia Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Great Britain Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Iran Ireland Israel Italy Japan Kazakhstan Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malaysia Mexico Mongolia Netherlands New Zealand North Korea Norway Philippines Poland Romania ~~Russia~~† Serbia Singapore Slovakia Slovenia South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland Thailand Turkey Turkmenistan Ukraine United Arab Emirates United States
Associate members	Algeria Andorra Argentina Armenia Bahrain Brazil Colombia Greece Indonesia Jamaica Kenya Lebanon Liechtenstein Macau Morocco Nepal North Macedonia Oman Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Tunisia Uzbekistan
Affiliate members	Chile
Former members	Bohemia Czechoslovakia East Germany Moldova Namibia Oxford Canadians Russian Empire Soviet Union West Germany Yugoslavia
† Russia and Belarus were suspended by the IIHF due to their invasion of Ukraine.