Frisk Asker Ishockey

(Redirected from Frisk Tigers)

Frisk Asker Ishockey, commonly known as Frisk Asker, is a Norwegian ice hockey club based in Asker, Norway. The team is currently a member of the highest Norwegian ice hockey league, EliteHockey Ligaen. They are based in the municipality of Asker, around 20 km from Oslo, and play their home games in Varner Arena. The team colours are orange, black and white.

Frisk Asker
CityAsker, Norway
LeagueEliteHockey Ligaen
Founded1935; 89 years ago (1935)
Home arenaVarner Arena
ColorsOrange, black and white
     
General managerOle G. Haug
Head coachRoy Johansen
CaptainAlexander Bonsaksen
AffiliatesAsker og Bærum Ishockey
(2. div)
Websitefriskaskerhockey.no
Franchise history
1935-1992Frisk
1992-1994Asker Hockey
1994-2010Frisk Tigers
2010-presentFrisk Asker
Championships
Regular season titles6
Playoff championships1975, 1979, 2002, 2019

Frisk Asker is the ice hockey division of the Norwegian sports club IF Frisk Asker, founded in 1922. The ice hockey division was started in 1935. Having merged with IK Tigrene in 1969, Frisk became one of the strongest teams in Norwegian ice hockey, winning two national championships and four regular season titles during the 1970s. In the 2000s, the club won another two titles, one regular season title and one national championship, while competing as the Frisk Tigers.

History

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Frisk Tigers logo 1990s–2010

Frisk is one of the oldest ice hockey clubs in Norway, dating back to 1935. For most of the early years the club did alright, playing mostly in the lower regional leagues. In 1968 the club was set for a great new era. Farmer Bjørn Mortensen wished to give something back to the community by building an indoor ice rink in Asker. It was the first of its kind in the Oslo area, and gave the club a tremendous lift.

Askerhallen was opened on 31 August 1969, and led to a series of events that would bring Frisk to the pinnacle of Norwegian Ice Hockey in only a few years. In Asker the facilities was first class, but playing material scarce. In Oslo, a club called Tigrene, had the exact opposite problems, so the two clubs decided to merge. Frisk immediately rose to become one of the top teams in the league.

In May 1972 disaster struck, as the Askerhallen was badly damaged in a fire. Mortensen however wished to continue his commitment, and have the arena rebuilt. The new Askerhallen was opened in 1973.

The seventies proved to be the most successful years for Frisk. Winning the Norwegian championships in 1975 and 1979.

Through the eighties Frisk stayed in the top flight, and excelled at producing talented hockey-players. Led by inspirational coach Barry Smith they made a new appearance in the play off finals in 1986. On the most however they failed to make any real impact and economical problems led the club into recession and finally relegation in the mid nineties. A merger with local club Holmen, under the name of Asker Hockey proved unsuccessful and in 1995 Frisk was back in the top league on their own feet.

The turn of the millennium saw Frisk Asker stabilized as a strong team in the top flight. In 2002, Frisk could finally celebrate their third Norwegian championship, after beating the Storhamar Dragons in a dramatic final.

Frisk won their fourth Norwegian championship in 2019.

Season-by-season results

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

Norwegian Champions Regular season champions Promoted Relegated
Season League Regular season[a] Postseason
GP W L OTW OTL GF GA Pts Finish
2013–14 Eliteserien 45 13 24 5 3 122 158 52 7th Lost in quarter-finals, 1–4 (Vålerenga)
2014–15 Eliteserien 45 24 15 5 1 158 110 71 6th Lost in quarter-finals, 2–4 (Vålerenga)
2015–16 Eliteserien 45 24 12 5 4 139 105 86 3rd Lost in quarter-finals, 2–4 (Vålerenga)
2016–17 Eliteserien 45 21 15 3 6 137 118 75 4th Lost in Finals, 2–4 (Stavanger)
2017–18 Eliteserien 45 24 13 4 4 159 120 84 4th Lost in semi-finals, 1–4 (Storhamar)
2018–19 Eliteserien 48 22 18 4 4 162 151 78 5th Won Norwegian Championship, 4–2 (Storhamar)
2019–20 Eliteserien 45 24 18 1 2 135 125 76 4th Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 Eliteserien 23 17 5 0 1 92 52 52 1st
2021–22 Eliteserien 45 22 15 5 3 171 138 79 5th Lost in quarter-finals, 2–4 (Sparta)
2022–23 Eliteserien 45 21 16 4 4 146 144 75 6th Lost in quarter-finals, 0–4 (Vålerenga)
2023–24 Eliteserien 45 23 15 2 5 167 129 78 5th Lost in semi-finals, 1–4 (Storhamar)

Source:[1]

Retired numbers

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Retired numbers
No. Player Position Career Number retirement
4 Thor Martinsen D 1969–1981 January 30, 2011
9 Morten Johansen C 1972–1988 February 25, 2016
10 Morten Sethereng RW 1972–1986 September 13, 2012
56 Johnny Nilsen D 1991–2009 December 30, 2017

Records and statistics

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Statistics for regular season and playoffs.

  •   – current active player

Leaders

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Head coaches

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Notes

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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

References

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  1. ^ "Frisk Asker". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
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