# 2008–09 Frölunda HC season

The 2008–09 Frölunda HC season was the club's 29th season in the Swedish elite league Elitserien. The regular season began on 15 September 2008 against rival team HV71, and concluded on 28 February 2009 against Djurgårdens IF. Frölunda looked to improve upon their progress in the 2007–08 season after being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Färjestad BK.
Niklas Andersson was named captain of the team after Jonas Johnson retired. Ronnie Sundin continued serving as alternate captain; Tomi Kallio and Riku Hahl were named alternate captains after Jonas Esbjörs had retired.

## Pre-season
### Nordic Trophy
#### Standings

| Nordic Trophy | GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | PSW | PSL | GF | GA | PTS |
| y- Linköpings HC | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 19 | 14 |
| y- Frölunda HC | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 18 | 14 |
| y- Djurgårdens IF | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 23 | 12 |
| y- HIFK | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 26 | 12 |
| x- Kärpät | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 17 | 10 |
| x- TPS | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 29 | 8 |
| x- Färjestads BK | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 27 | 7 |
| x- HV71 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 25 | 6 |
| z- Jokerit | 9 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 29 | 5 |
| z- Tappara | 9 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 30 | 5 |
y - clinched semi-final spot for championship, x - clinched semi-final spot for 5th place, z - play for 9th place

#### Game log

2008 Nordic trophy game log :

### Exhibition game against Ottawa

On 2 October 2008, Frölunda play an exhibition game against the Ottawa Senators. The game was played two days prior to the 2008–09 NHL season premier between Ottawa and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stockholm Globe Arena. Ottawa's captain Daniel Alfredsson is a native of Gothenburg and Frölunda is the only other professional team he has represented. Prior to the game Alfredsson was honoured with a decorated pillar in Scandinavium. Frölunda lost the game by a score of 1–4, with Oscar Hedman scoring their only goal. Alfredsson scored the second goal for the Senators, Chris Kelly, Alexandre Picard and Jason Spezza scored the Senators' other three goals in the game.

## Regular season
### Standings

| Elitserien | GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| y – Färjestads BK | 55 | 30 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 158 | 122 | 99 |
| x – Linköpings HC | 55 | 26 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 166 | 152 | 92 |
| x – Frölunda HC | 55 | 25 | 20 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 144 | 130 | 91 |
| x – HV71 | 55 | 22 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 160 | 144 | 90 |
| x – Luleå HF | 55 | 26 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 149 | 136 | 87 |
| x – Skellefteå AIK | 55 | 21 | 22 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 149 | 141 | 80 |
| x – Brynäs IF | 55 | 21 | 22 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 128 | 140 | 79 |
| x – Timrå IK | 55 | 19 | 24 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 152 | 142 | 76 |
| e – Modo Hockey | 55 | 20 | 27 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 153 | 177 | 72 |
| e – Djurgårdens IF | 55 | 17 | 23 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 149 | 155 | 71 |
| r – Rögle BK | 55 | 18 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 152 | 178 | 67 |
| r – Södertälje SK | 55 | 12 | 28 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 122 | 165 | 56 |
x – clinched playoff spot; y – clinched regular season league title; e – eliminated from playoff contention; r – play in relegation series

### Game log

2008–09 Game log :

## Playoffs

Playoffs :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| | Regular season | Playoffs |
| Player GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM Niklas Andersson52162137221134710 Tomi Kallio5519153495114596 Riku Hahl527243122101564 Lars Eller48121729281031412 Fredrik Pettersson5381826671051618 Magnus Kahnberg559162516110224 Tuukka Mäntylä533172052110002 Janne Niskala359101920113368 Philip Larsen532151718112134 Ronnie Sundin543121534110448 Jonas Nordquist3886146  Mikael Johansson5531114221101112 Joakim Andersson49661222110004 John Pohl1257126112798 Oscar Hedman555611261100014 Erik Karlsson455510101112324 Toni Söderholm37371053  Karl Fabricius4853830110118 Andreas Karlsson123586  Patric Blomdahl485271161100031 Joe DiPenta47156711101112 Johan Andersson521453730000 Jonas Johnson1405501123510 Nicklas Lasu143144110118 Carl Klingberg102130  Andreas Holmqvist712310  Oscar Ackeström70112  Johan Holmqvist550112110000 Casper Carning20000  Martin Røymark40000  Tim Bränholm50000  Henrik Tömmernes110000  Ari Ahonen550000110000 ||||

## Transactions

Acquired :
| Player | Former team | Date |
| Lars Eller | Frölunda J20 | 5 March |
| Joakim Andersson | Frölunda J20 | 5 March |
| Oscar Hedman | Modo Hockey | 27 March |
| Patric Blomdahl | Linköpings HC | 25 April |
| Andreas Karlsson | Tampa Bay Lightning | 11 May |
| Joe DiPenta | Anaheim Ducks | 15 July |
| Riku Hahl | Timrå IK | 16 July |
| Johan Holmqvist | Dallas Stars | 23 July |
| Erik Karlsson | Frölunda J20 | 25 August |
| Oscar Ackeström | HC Slovan Bratislava | 9 September |
| Henrik Tömmernes | Frölunda J20 | 29 October |
| Janne Niskala | Tampa Bay Lightning | 13 November |
| Martin Røymark (loan) | Sparta Warriors | 17 December |
| Jonas Johnson | comeback | 19 January |
| John Pohl | HC Lugano | 22 January |
Leaving :
| Player | New team | Date |
| Ossi-Petteri Grönholm | Kärpät | — |
| Jonas Esbjörs | retire | — |
| Steve Kariya | HPK | — |
| Oscar Ackeström | HC Slovan Bratislava | 27 March |
| Jonas Ahnelöv | Phoenix Coyotes | 27 March |
| Jonas Johnson | retire | 9 April |
| Joel Gistedt | Phoenix Coyotes | 25 April |
| Michael Holmqvist | Djurgårdens IF | 8 May |
| Martin Plüss | SC Bern | 22 May |
| Antti-Jussi Niemi | HC Lada Togliatti | 13 June |
| Andreas Holmqvist | Djurgårdens IF | 30 September |
| Oscar Ackeström | Hannover Scorpions | 5 October |
| Toni Söderholm | HIFK | 20 January |

## Drafted players

Frölunda HC players picked at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | NHL team |
| 2nd | 34th | Carl Klingberg | Sweden | Atlanta Thrashers |
| 2nd | 46th | Robin Lehner | Sweden | Ottawa Senators |
| 5th | 143rd | Peter Andersson | Sweden | Vancouver Canucks |