Herning Blue Fox | |
---|---|
City | Herning |
League | Metal Ligaen |
Founded | 1947 |
Home arena | KVIK Hockey Arena (Capacity: 4,105) |
Colors | |
Head coach | Per "Pelle" Hånberg |
Captain | Morten Poulsen |
Website | www.bluefox.dk |
Herning Blue Fox is a Danish professional ice hockey team based in Herning, Denmark, playing in the Metal Ligaen, the top tier of Danish ice hockey. The club was founded in 1947 and play their home games in the KVIK Hockey Arena which has a capacity of 4,105 spectators. [1] [2] [3]
The club has won the Danish championship 16 times with the last title coming in 2012. [4]
2015–2016 season
After the departure of long-time head coach Todd Bjorkstrand, Herning signed Mario Simioni to take the helm of the club. Simioni led the team to the playoffs where they faced the fifth-ranked Odense Bulldogs in the quarterfinals. Herning started the series strong with a 2–1 victory at home, though Odense then evened it up in game two, with a 3–0 shutout victory. Herning came back strong in game three as they dominated Odense in a 6–1 road win. Game four was a 2–1 victory to Odense, again evening up the series. Odense took their first lead of the series as they won game five in overtime 2–1. Herning evened up the series in game six with a 2–1 victory on the road. Herning won the series, with a series-clinching 2–1 overtime win in game seven to move on to the semis.
The semifinals saw the Herning Blue Fox facing the second-ranked Frederikshavn White Hawks. Game one resulted in a 3–1 home win for the White Hawks. In game two Herning came out victorious in a blowout 7–1 win. The White Hawks regained the series lead with a 5–2 win in game three. In game four Herning evened up the series with a 5–2 win. The White Hawks won game five 5–3 as they took back the series lead, though game six saw Herning shutout the White Hawks in a 2–0 win. Herning defeated the White Hawks 3–1 in game seven to clinch a spot in the league final.
In the finals, Herning Blue Fox was set to clash with the Esbjerg Energy. In game one, Esbjerg came out victorious in a 3–2 home win. Though Herning won three straight games to take a 3–1 series lead, Esbjerg won three straight games to win the finals—their first since 2004.
After his first season with Herning, Simioni left the club to join the coaching staff of the Hamburg Freezers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) in Germany as an assistant to Serge Aubin. [5]
2016–2017 season
In May 2016, Herning Blue Fox signed former head coach Todd Bjorkstrand. Bjorkstrand returned to the club after leaving in 2014 to coach the Graz 99ers of the Erste Bank Hockey League. [6]
This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by Herning Blue Fox.
Season | Rank | GP | W | L | OTW | OTL | Pts | Postseason |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011–12 | 3rd | 40 | 23 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 74 | Champion |
2012–13 | 1st | 40 | 24 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 84 | Quarter final loss |
2013–14 | 2nd | 40 | 25 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 87 | Final loss |
2014–15 | 1st | 36 | 24 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 78 | Bronze medal game loss |
2015–16 | 4th | 45 | 21 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 76 | Final loss |
Updated February 20, 2019 [8] [9]
No. | Nat | Player | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
31 | Simon Nielsen | G | L | 37 | Herning, Denmark | ||
16 | Patrik Madsen | D | L | 31 | Herning, Denmark | ||
18 | Daniel Nielsen ( C ) | D | R | 43 | Herning, Denmark | ||
12 | Thomas Andersen | RW | R | 29 | Herning, Denmark | ||
25 | Markus Jensen | LW/C | L | 27 | Herning, Denmark | ||
4 | Lasse Lassen | RW | R | 34 | Herning, Denmark | ||
11 | Daniel Nielsen | LW | L | 25 | Vojens, Denmark | ||
7 | Sebastian Ruders | F | L | 26 | |||
21 | Kristoffer Søgaard Jensen | RW/C | L | 27 | Herning, Denmark |
The Superisligaen, known as the Metal Ligaen for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level ice hockey league in Denmark. The league consists of 9 professional teams.
The Esbjerg Energy is a Danish professional ice hockey team based in Esbjerg, Denmark, playing in the Metal Ligaen, the top tier of Danish ice hockey. The club was founded in 2005 and play their home games in the Granly Hockey Arena which has a capacity of 4,200 spectators.
Aalborg Pirates is a professional ice hockey team playing in the Danish ice hockey league, Metal Ligaen. The ice hockey team first appeared in 1967 as AaB Ice Hockey organized under Aalborg Boldspilklub. They play in the Danish national league and won the Danish league championship in 1981.
The Frederikshavn White Hawks are a Danish professional ice hockey team playing in the top Danish ice hockey league currently called the Metal Ligaen. The team is based in the town of Frederikshavn on the east coast of Northern Jutland, Denmark, and is run by the Frederikshavn Ishockey Klub (F.I.K).
The Odense Bulldogs are a professional ice hockey team based in Odense, Denmark. They currently play in Ret&Råd Fyn Arena in the Bolbro area, as a part of the best Danish league Metal Ligaen, and they are furthermore the only hockey team from Funen. The team was founded in 1978 and was promoted to the top league in 1991. Odense Bulldogs has never won Metal Ligaen, but achieved three silver medals. Their latest trip to the finals was in the 2011–12 season, where they faced Herning Blue Fox. In that final series, they got the leads 2–0 and 3–1, but ended up losing the last three and lost it 3–4 on aggregate. They have also won the annual tournament cup four times, last time in the 2015–16 season.
Troels Bech is a Danish professional football manager and former player, who managed Odense Boldklub (OB) to the 2002 Danish Cup trophy. He was the manager of Danish club Esbjerg fB until November 2008 and took over Danish club Silkeborg IF in January 2009. During his active career, he most prominently won the 1994 Danish Superliga championship with Silkeborg IF.
Elias Granath is a professional Swedish ice hockey defenceman currently an unrestricted free agent. He played two seasons for Schwenninger Wild Wings of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). On December 12, 2015 he signed at new contract with Herning Bluefox of the Danish Metalligaen for the rest of the 2015-2016 season. He has previously captained Timrå IK in the Swedish Elitserien.
Herning is a Danish town in the Central Denmark Region of the Jutland peninsula. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Herning Municipality. Herning has a population of 51,193 including the suburbs of Tjørring, Snejbjerg, Lind, Birk, Hammerum, and Gjellerup, making Herning the 11th most populous urban area in Denmark.
The Danish Cup is the national ice hockey cup in Denmark. It was first played in the 1988-89 season.
Todd Bjorkstrand is an American professional ice hockey coach and a former professional ice hockey player. He is currently serving as head coach for the HK Poprad in Slovakia.
Martin Šagát is a Slovak professional ice hockey player currently playing for Herning Blue Fox in the Danish Metal Ligaen. He was drafted 91st overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.
Patrick Bjorkstrand is a Danish professional ice hockey forward currently playing for Aalborg Pirates of the Metal Ligaen (DEN). He formerly played with the Ontario Reign of the AHL while under contract to the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Oliver Bjorkstrand is a Danish professional ice hockey forward for the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). Bjorkstrand was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the third round, 89th overall, of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. Bjorkstrand is the son of American hockey coach Todd and the brother of Patrick.
The 2016–17 Danish Superliga season was the 27th season of the Danish Superliga, which decides the Danish football championship. The season was the first with a new league structure in which 14 clubs play each other home and away, until the league was split up in championship and relegation play-offs. The new structure was inspired by the one used by the Belgian First Division A and was approved by the Danish FA, Dansk Boldspil-Union, on 28 June 2015.
The 2015–16 Metal Ligaen season was the 59th season of ice hockey in Denmark. Ten teams participated in the league. Esbjerg Energy won championship by defeating Herning Blue Fox four games to two in the finals. The regular season begun on 18 September 2015 and ended on 29 February 2016.
Mario Simioni is a Canadian-Italian professional ice hockey coach and former professional ice hockey player. He has been serving as head coach of the Frederikshavn White Hawks since May 2016.
The 2016–17 Metal Ligaen season was the 60th season of ice hockey in Denmark. Ten teams participated in the league. Esbjerg Energy defended their 2016 Danish championship title by defeating Gentofte Stars four games to one in the finals. The regular season begun on 23 September 2016 and ended on 28 February 2017. The last final was played on 16 April 2017.
The 2017–18 Metal Ligaen season was the 61st season of ice hockey in Denmark. The season got extended from 10 to 11 teams by including Hvidovre Fighters. It is Hvidovre's first season in the league since the 2012–13 season. It is also the first time ever that the league consists of 11 teams.
The 2021–22 Metal Ligaen season was the 65th season of the Metal Ligaen, the top level of ice hockey in Denmark. Nine teams participated in the league.
The 2022–23 Metal Ligaen season is the 66th season of the Metal Ligaen, the top level of ice hockey in Denmark.