Stjernen Hockey

Stjernen
CityFredrikstad, Norway
LeagueEliteHockey Ligaen
Founded1960; 64 years ago (1960)
Home arenaStjernehallen
ColorsRed and white
   
General managerAnders Åsle
Head coachFredrik Johansson
CaptainBrendan Ellis
Websitestjernen.no
Championships
Regular season titles(1) 1986/1987
Playoff championships(2) 1981, 1986

Stjernen Hockey is a Norwegian ice hockey team based in Fredrikstad, Norway. They currently play in the EliteHockey Ligaen. They play their home games in Stjernehallen. Their team colours are red and white.

History

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Stjernen was founded in 1960 when the boys club "the Star" simply translated their name to Norwegian to comply with the rules of the association to begin play in the league system. After ten years of playing on an outdoor rink, or hiring ice time from local rivals Sparta Sarpsborg, Stjernen got their own arena in 1970 when Stjernehallen was officially opened.

With a good youth organisation to go with the new facilities, Stjernen soon started to climb in the leagues and in 1974 they reached the first division for the first time in club history.

In 1981, the club saw its finest day beating Vålerenga Ishockey 2–1 in the best of three play-off final becoming the first team outside Oslo to hoist the cup. Upon returning to Fredrikstad they were met by a crowd of several thousand people carrying torches, cheering the newly crowned champions.

With star players in the shape of Ørjan Løvdal, Rune Gulliksen, Hans Edlund, Pål Gjermundsen and later even Morten Finstad and colourful Canadian forward Chris St.Cyr Stjernen was the team to beat throughout the 1980s. Championship success however was repeated only once. In 1986 outsiders Frisk were well beaten in the final.

Although Stjernen remained a force well into the 1990s they never managed to add to their two titles. Playing two more finals in 1992 and 1995 they failed both times to add to the silverware.

During the late 1990s, the club fell into recession due to economic difficulties and failings in the youth department. Having nearly been bankrupted on a couple of occasions the club has started rebuilding and came back into the top during the 05-06-season when they finished second in the league and was extremely close to making the play-off final. The team largely built around foreign talent however disintegrated after the season, and the new crop of players did not hold the same standard, leaving the club to fight for a place in this year's play-off.

Season-by-season results

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This is a partial list of the last ten seasons completed by Stjernen. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Stjernen Hockey seasons.

Norwegian Champions Regular Season Champions Promoted Relegated
Season League Regular season[1] Playoffs
GP W L OTW OTL GF GA Pts Finish
2013–14 Eliteserien 45 11 29 3 2 104 186 41 9th 1st in Qualifying for Eliteserien
2014–15 Eliteserien 45 16 25 3 1 127 170 47 8th Lost in Quarter-finals, 0–4 (Stavanger)
2015–16 Eliteserien 45 15 21 4 5 145 164 58 7th Lost in Quarter-finals, 2–4 (Lørenskog)
2016–17 Eliteserien 45 20 17 3 5 142 136 71 7th Lost in Quarter-finals, 0–4 (Stavanger)
2017–18 Eliteserien 45 9 25 6 5 96 144 44 9th 1st in Qualifying for Eliteserien
2018–19 Eliteserien 48 9 31 3 5 115 214 38 8th Lost in Quarter-finals, 0–4 (Storhamar)
2019–20 Eliteserien 45 19 22 3 1 150 148 61 7th Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 Eliteserien 24 11 10 3 0 97 79 39 6th
2021–22 Eliteserien 43 23 11 6 3 157 112 84 2nd Lost in Semi-finals, 1–4 (Storhamar)
2022–23 Eliteserien 45 27 11 2 5 186 122 90 5th Lost in Quarter-finals, 0–4 (Sparta)

Source:[2]

Players and personnel

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Retired numbers

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Retired numbers
No. Player Position Career Number retirement
12 Ørjan Løvdal C 1985–1997 1 March 2015
18 Morten Finstad C 1986–2001 1 March 2015

Notable players

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References

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  1. ^ Code explanation; GP—Games Played, W—Wins, L—Losses, OTW—Overtime/Shootout wins, OTL—Overtime/Shootout losses, GF—Goals For, GA—Goals Against, Pts—Points
  2. ^ "Stjernen Hockey". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
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