Leksands IF (women)

Leksands IF
CityLeksand, Sweden
LeagueSDHL
Founded1998 (1998)
Home arenaTegera Arena
Colours     
General managerAlexander Bröms
Head coachJoakim Engström
CaptainAnna Purschke
Parent club(s)Leksands IF
Websiteleksandsif.se
Current season

Leksands Idrottsförening, abbreviated Leksands IF or LIF, is a semi-professional ice hockey team in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL). They play in Leksand, a town in the western-central Swedish province of Dalarna, at Tegera Arena. Until 2021, the organisation ran a second women's side, called Leksands IF Dam 2, which competed in the Damettan Västra.

History

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The women's section of Leksands IF was founded in 1998.[1] The 2008 season saw a leap in success for the club, as it earned promotion to the Riksserien, and saw Cecilia Östberg and Klara Myrén become the first two Leksands players to represent the Swedish national women's team. In 2012, the club finished in 7th place, and was forced to compete in the relegation playoffs, but managed to keep its place in the SDHL.

In 2016, the club hired former Leksands men's youth player Alexander Bröms as head coach for the women's side, despite him having no previous coaching experience.[2] He would hold the role until his departure in 2018 to coach the women's national under-18 team.

In 2017, multiple Leksands players publicly voiced dissatisfaction at the way the organisation was treating the women's side, including the fact that women's players received no salary and were being forced to clean up the arena's stands after men's games.[3][4] Despite club chairperson Åke Nordström promising to improve conditions, after six months the players had only been provided with some exercise gear and a team-branded training bag.[5]

In April 2018, Leksands goaltender Leon Reuterström publicly came out as transgender, and retired from the SDHL to pursue his medical transition.[6] Later that summer, long-time club forward and third-leading scorer in club history, Iveta Koka, left the club to sign with AIK IF. Despite losing Koka, the club made several big signings ahead of the 2018–19 season, including Swedish international Anna Borgqvist and Canadian Danielle Stone. After beginning the season with a 9–0 victory over SDE Hockey, Leksands finished in 4th place in the SDHL, the second best result in club history.[7][8] The club still failed to make it past the playoff quarterfinals, however, and both Borgqvist and Stone left the club after just one year. Long time defender and second-highest all-time in games played for the club Sofia Engström left the Leksands that summer as well, after the club had gone months without offering any players (nor the head coach) a contract extension following the team's elimination in the playoffs.[9] The club dropped to 8th place in the 2019–20 SDHL season.[10]

Season-by-season results

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This is a partial list of the most recent seasons completed by Leksands. Code explanation; GP—Games played, W—Wins, L—Losses, T—Tied games, GF—Goals for, GA—Goals against, Pts—Points. Top Scorer: Points (Goals+Assists)

Season League Regular season Post season results
Finish GP W OTW OTL L GF GA Pts Top scorer
2015-16 Riksserien 5th 36 18 3 4 11 115 80 64 Latvia I. Koka 40 (10+30) Lost quarterfinals against Djurgårdens
2016-17 SDHL 7th 36 11 8 1 16 92 103 50 Latvia I. Koka 38 (21+17) Lost quarterfinals against Djurgårdens
2017-18 SDHL 6th 36 13 1 4 18 88 100 45 Sweden W. Johansson 28 (12+16) Lost quarterfinals against MODO
2018-19 SDHL 4th 36 21 1 0 14 111 74 65 Sweden A. Borgqvist 32 (7+25) Lost quarterfinals against HV71
2019-20 SDHL 8th 36 10 3 3 20 91 133 39 Sweden K. Armborg 30 (9+21) Lost quarterfinals against HV71
2020-21 SDHL 9th 36 5 2 1 28 52 148 20 Sweden W. Johansson 16 (5+11) Relegation series cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021-22 SDHL 8th 36 12 1 1 22 70 104 39 Czech Republic T. Vanišová 24 (15+9) Lost quarterfinals against Brynäs
2022-23 SDHL 6th 32 9 2 6 15 60 89 37 Czech Republic H. Haasová 14 (12+2) Lost quarterfinals against Djurgårdens
2023-24 SDHL 8th 36 11 0 7 18 76 95 40 United States S. Maloney 20 (9+11) Lost quarterfinals against Luleå

Players and personnel

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2024–25 roster

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As of 2 September 2024[11][12]
No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
16 Sweden Matilda af Bjur C L 25 2022 Linköping, Östergötland, Sweden
25 Sweden Nathalie Carlsson Mattila D R 23 2023 Gothenburg, Västergötland, Sweden
19 Canada Lillian George RW R 23 2024 Nipissing, Ontario, Canada
28 Sweden Linnea Horn F L 19 2024 Stockholm, Uppland, Sweden
21 Norway Emile Kruse Johansen LW L 25 2023 Halden, Østlandet, Norway
87 Sweden Ellen Jonsson G L 26 2023 Söderhamn, Hälsingland, Sweden
13 Sweden Ella Lindmark F R 20 2024 Boden, Norrbotten, Sweden
5 Sweden Hilda Ljungberg C L 19 2024 Västerås, Västmanland, Sweden
8 Sweden Karolin Malmquist C L 24 2024 Kil, Värmland, Sweden
27 United States Shay Maloney F R 25 2023 McHenry, Illinois, United States
26 Sweden Vilma Nilsson C L 22 2024 Umeå, Västerbotten, Sweden
35 United States Emma Polusny G L 25 2022 Mound, Minnesota, United States
15 Sweden Ida Press D L 25 2023 Uppsala, Uppland, Sweden
77 Czech Republic Tereza Radová D L 23 2022 Svitavy, Pardubický kraj, Czechia
22 Czech Republic Agáta Sarnovská LW L 23 2023 Litoměřice, Ústecký kraj, Czechia
12 Sweden Sofia Sohlin RW L 20 2024
24 Sweden Wilma Tagesson D L 16 2024 Örebro, Närke, Sweden
18 Sweden Saga Tynell Nissas C L 25 2023
23 Sweden Alva Ullbors D L 18 2022 Mora, Dalarna, Sweden
29 Canada Courtney Vorster D R 24 2023 Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
10 Finland Kiira Yrjänen F L 22 2024 Riihimäki, Kanta-Häme, Finland
Coaching staff and team personnel
  • Head coach: Joakim Engström
  • Assistant coach: Göran Tärnlund
  • Goaltending coach: Filip Myrskog
  • Conditioning coach: Karin Reichel
  • Equipment managers: Kent Arvidsson & Patric Johansson

Team captaincy history

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Head coaches

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  • Daniel Ljung, 2007–08
  • Ulf Hedberg, 2008–2011
  • Magnus Svensson, 2011–12
  • Christer Siik, 2012–2014
  • Jens Nielsen, 2014–15
  • Christer Sjöberg, 2015–16
  • Alexander Bröms, 2016–2018
  • Ulf Hedberg, 2018–19
  • Lars Stanmark, 2019–2021
  • Mathias Olsson, 2021–22
  • Jordan Colliton, 5 May 2022[13] – 22 November 2023[14]
  • Joakim Engström, 22 November 2023[15] –

Franchise records and leaders

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All-time scoring leaders

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The top-ten regular season point-scorers (goals + assists) of Leksands IF through the 2023–24 season.[16]

Note: Nat = Nationality; Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game;   = 2024–25 Leksands player

All-Time Points
Nat Player Pos GP G A Pts P/G
Sweden Cecilia Östberg LW 152 86 117 203 1.34
Sweden Hanna Lindqvist LW/C 317 80 102 182 0.57
Latvia Iveta Koka LW 176 81 98 179 1.02
Sweden Wilma Johansson C/RW 278 63 83 146 0.53
Sweden Sofia Engström D 330 43 86 129 0.39
Sweden Hanna Sköld F 238 65 59 124 0.52
Sweden Madeleine Hall C 206 51 59 110 0.53
Sweden Lina Wester C 153 57 47 104 0.68
Sweden Anna Borgqvist C/LW 97 38 63 101 1.04
Sweden Kajsa Armborg C 208 33 55 88 0.42

References

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  1. ^ "Historia". Leksands IF (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  2. ^ Rönnkvist, Ronnie (28 April 2016). "Oprövade kortet ska föra Leksands damer framåt: "Ska försöka ge varje spelare bättre förutsättningar"". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Leksands damer om en jämställdhet i föreningen: "Man slutar hoppas"". Dalarnas Tidningar (in Swedish). 2 July 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  4. ^ Durefelt, Filip (3 July 2017). "Leksands damlag städar efter herrarnas matcher". SVT Sport (in Swedish). Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  5. ^ Foster, Meredith (4 July 2017). "SDHL Team or maid service? Leskands IF women expected to clean stands after men's games". The Ice Garden. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  6. ^ Murphy, Mike (25 April 2018). "Leksand's Leon Reuterström publicly comes out as transgender, retires from women's hockey". The Ice Garden. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  7. ^ Gadd, Philip (8 September 2018). "Otroliga krossen – Leksand vann premiären med 9-0 (!)". Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  8. ^ Foster, Meredith (12 November 2018). "The SDHL Season So Far". The Ice Garden. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  9. ^ Kågström, Rasmus (9 November 2019). "Klubbikonen om uppbrottet: "Blev tagen för givet"". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  10. ^ Mälarberg, Apollonia; Ahlgren, Gizela; Rönnkvist, Ronnie (6 September 2019). "SDHL Update – Leksands IF i fokus". HockeySverige (Video panel) (in Swedish). Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  11. ^ "Kontraktsläget SDHL 2024/2025". Leksands IF (in Swedish). 28 August 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  12. ^ "Leksands IF – 2024-2025 Roster". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  13. ^ Olausson, Robin (5 May 2022). "Kanadensisk tränare klar för Leksand". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  14. ^ Magnusson, Oskar (24 November 2023). "Jeremy Collitons fina stöd till Jordan: "Han vet vad jag går igenom"". Dala-Demokraten (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  15. ^ "Förändringar i damlagets ledarstab". Leksands IF (Press release) (in Swedish). 22 November 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  16. ^ "Leksands IF - All Time Regular Season Player Stats to 23/24 Season". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
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Media related to Leksands IF Dam at Wikimedia Commons