IF Björklöven

IF Björklöven (often simply referred to as Björklöven or Löven) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club in Umeå, Västerbotten, in northern Sweden. The club is currently playing in the second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan, but has played 15 seasons in the top Swedish league Elitserien (1976–77, 1978–79 to 1988–89, 1993–94, 1998–99 and 2000–01).
From 2001 to 2010, Björklöven played in HockeyAllsvenskan, the second highest ice hockey league for men in Sweden. Although the team finished 12th in the 2009–10 HockeyAllsvenskan season (which meant that the team was set to play in HockeyAllsvenskan the following season), the club was in big economical problems in March–May 2010. The club went bankrupt in April 2010, but managed to get the bankruptcy alleged a month later. Despite big further efforts by the club in order to be given elite license to play in HockeyAllsvenskan the following season, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association (SIHA) decided not to give Björklöven elite license and thus the team was relegated to the third-tier league Division 1 for the 2010–11 season. Björklöven was eventually promoted back to HockeyAllsvenskan in the 2012–13 season.
==History==
IF Björklöven was formed in 1970 when the ice hockey sections of IFK Umeå and Sandåkerns SK were merged. The IFK Umeå team had already at times been referred to as 'björklöven' (the birch leaves) as a tongue in cheek reference to Canadian hockey and Umeå being known as the 'city of birch trees', and after the merger the nickname became the official team name.
The team was quite successful at the Elitserien (SEL) level, the highest league in Sweden, during the 1980s and won the Swedish championship in 1987. They were, however, relegated only two years later, and has since then not been able to establish themselves permanently in the Elitserien again, but have mostly played in the second-tier league Allsvenskan, except for a few short stints in the 90s.
===Season-by-season record===
Season 	Level 	Division 	Record 	Record 	 	Notes 	
Season 	Level 	Division 	Position 	W-OTW-OTL-L	 	Notes 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
1999–00	Tier 2 	Allsvenskan North 	1st of 12 	17–6–4–5 	2,050	 	Swedish Ice Hockey Association: Official statistics: historical database
1999–00	Tier 2 	SuperAllsvenskan 	3rd of 8 	8–2–1–3 	2,962	 	Swedish Ice Hockey Association: Official statistics: historical database
1999–00	Tier 2 	Playoff to Elitserien qual. 	— 	2–0–0–1 	3,181	 	Swedish Ice Hockey Association: Official statistics: historical database
1999–00	Elitserien qualifiers 	Elitserien qualifiers 	2nd of 6 	6–1–1–2 	3,948	Promoted to Elitserien 	Swedish Ice Hockey Association: Official statistics: historical database
2000–01	Tier 1 	Elitserien 	12th of 12	12–4–5–29 	3,519	 	
2000–01	Elitserien qualifiers 	Elitserien qualifiers 	3rd of 6 	5–2–1–2 	4,070	Relegated to Allsvenskan 	
2001–02	Tier 2 	Allsvenskan North 	1st of 12 	26–1–1–4 	2,639	 	
2001–02	Tier 2 	SuperAllsvenskan 	5th of 8 	5–1–1–7 	3,262	 	
2001–02	Tier 2 	Playoff to Elitserien qual. 	— 	2–2–0–1 	4,471	Round 1: Won 2–0 in games vs Hammarby IFRound 2: Won 2–1 in games vs Skellefteå AIK 	
2001–02	Elitserien qualifiers 	Elitserien qualifiers 	4th of 6 	3–0–1–6 	3,827	 	
2002–03	Tier 2 	Allsvenskan North 	3rd of 12 	19–3–1–5 	2,772	 	
2002–03	Tier 2 	SuperAllsvenskan 	5th of 8 	6–1–1–6 	3,917	 	
2002–03	Tier 2 	Playoff to Elitserien qual. 	— 	2–0–0–2 	3,302	Round 1: Won 2–0 in games vs Mörrums GoIS IKRound 2: Lost 2–0 in games vs AIK IF 	
2003–04	Tier 2 	Allsvenskan North 	8th of 12 	9–5–3–15 	2,384	 	
2003–04	Tier 2 	Allsvenskan North (spring) 	4th of 8 	7–0–3–4 	2,187	 	
2004–05	Tier 2 	Allsvenskan North 	3rd of 12 	19–6–7 	2,947	 	
2004–05	Tier 2 	SuperAllsvenskan 	8th of 8 	2–1–11 	3,304	 	
2005–06	Tier 2 	HockeyAllsvenskan 	5th of 15 	21–5–16 	3,423	 	
2006–07	Tier 2 	HockeyAllsvenskan 	5th of 16 	23–7–15 	3,248	 	
2006–07	Tier 2 	Playoff to Elitserien qual. 	— 	2–2–1–1 	3,290	Round 1: Won 2–1 in games vs Växjö Lakers HCRound 2: Won 2–1 in games vs Nyköpings HK 	
2006–07	Elitserien qualifier 	Elitserien qualifier 	4th of 6 	3–4–3 	3,731	 	
2007–08	Tier 2 	HockeyAllsvenskan 	4th of 16 	26–6–13 	3,447	 	
2007–08	Tier 2 	Playoff to Elitserien qual. 	— 	0–0–1–1 	3,066	1st round: Lost 2–0 in games vs Borås HC 	
2008–09	Tier 2 	HockeyAllsvenskan 	9th of 16 	16–6–6–17 	3,447	 	
2009–10	Tier 2 	HockeyAllsvenskan 	12th of 14	12–7–5–28 	2,461	Relegated to Division 1 (due to financial troubles) 	
2010–11	Tier 3 	Division 1A 	1st of 9 	20–1–2–1 	2,034	 	
2010–11	Tier 3 	AllEttan North 	2nd of 8 	11–0–0–3 	2,115	Bye to Playoff 2 	
2010–11	Tier 3 	Playoff to HA qualifiers 	— 	1–0–1–3 	2,870	Round 2: Won 2–1 in games vs Nybro Vikings IFRound 3: Lost 2–0 in games vs Asplöven HC 	
2011–12	Tier 3 	Division 1A 	1st of 8 	19–0–1–1 	2,842	 	
2011–12	Tier 3 	AllEttan North 	3rd of 8 	8–1–2–3 	2,698	 	
2011–12	Tier 3 	Playoff to HA qualifier 	— 	3–0–0–2 	2,983	Round 1: Won 2–0 in games vs Bodens HFRound 2: Lost 2–1 in games vs Olofströms IK 	
2012–13	Tier 3 	Division 1A 	1st of 7 	22–0–1–1 	2,503	 	Swedish Ice Hockey Association: 2012–13 Division 1 A
2012–13	Tier 3 	AllEttan North 	1st of 8 	13–0–0–1 	3,085	Bye to Playoff 3 	Swedish Ice Hockey Association: 2012–13 AllEttan North
2012–13	Tier 3 	Playoff to HA qualifier 	— 	2–0–0–0 	4,369	Round 3: Won 2–0 in games vs Olofströms IK 	Swedish Ice Hockey Association: 2012–13 Playoff till Allsv. Kval
2012–13	HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers	HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers	1st of 6 	7–0–0–3 	4,747	Promoted to HockeyAllsvenskan 	Swedish Ice Hockey Association: 2013 Kvalserien till HockeyAllsvenskan
2013–14	Tier 2 	HockeyAllsvenskan 	14th of 14	13–4–3–32 	3,641	 	
2013–14	HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers	HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers	2nd of 6 	6–0–3–1 	3,632	 	
2014–15	Tier 2 	HockeyAllsvenskan 	6th of 14 	19–10–4–19 	3,552	 	
2014–15	Tier 2 	Playoff to SHL qualifiers 	4th of 6 	1–2–0–2 	5,118	 	
2015–16	Tier 2 	HockeyAllsvenskan 	12th of 14	20–2–9–22 	3,472	 	
2016–17	Tier 2 	HockeyAllsvenskan 	11th of 14	20–1–5–26 	3,802	 	
2017–18	Tier 2 	HockeyAllsvenskan 	5th of 14 	20–6–8–18 	3,902	 	
2017–18	Tier 2 	Playoff to SHL qualifiers 	3rd of 6 	2–2–0–1 	4,028	 	
2018–19	Tier 2 	HockeyAllsvenskan 	10th of 14	16–6–8–22 	3,879	 	
2019–20	Tier 2 	HockeyAllsvenskan 	1st of 14 	36–5–3–8 	4,754	 	
2019–20	Tier 2 	HockeyAllsvenskan Finals 	– 	1–0–1–0 	5,400	Playoffs cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 	
2020–21	Tier 2 	HockeyAllsvenskan 	3rd of 14 	26–6–3–17 	23 	 	
2020–21	Tier 2 	HockeyAllsvenskan Playoffs 	– 	6–2–3–5 	56 	Won in quarterfinals 3–1 in games vs Mora IKWon in semifinals 4–3 in games vs BIK KarlskogaLost in finals 1–4 in games vs Timrå IK	
2021–22	Tier 2 	HockeyAllsvenskan 	4th of 14 	26–7–6–13 	3,855	 	
2021–22	Tier 2 	HockeyAllsvenskan Playoffs 	– 	8–2–2–6 	5,176	Won in quarterfinals 4–1 in games vs Västerås IKWon in semifinals 4–3 in games vs Modo HockeyLost in finals 2–4 in games vs HV71 	
==References==
==External links==
*IF Björklöven official website
Category:Ice hockey teams in Sweden