Linköping Hockey Club, often known by its initials LHC, or colloquially among its fans as Cluben, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Linköping, founded in 1976. The home arena of the team is Saab Arena (formerly Cloetta Center) which accommodates 8,190 spectators.
Competing in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserien), the club is placed twelfth in the marathon standings for the top Swedish ice hockey league.
History
1942–1975: The club's roots
In 1942, a group of football players of BK Kenty founded the ice hockey club BK Robbi, who mostly played friendlies against other local clubs on Stångån during the winter. The board of Kenty had first been hesitant to establish a hockey department, but in 1945, the two clubs merged following lengthy discussions. Being heavily dependent on weather conditions, Kenty only played 30 games in five seasons during the second half of the 1940s. By the end of the 1950s, Kenty had established itself in Division 2, the domestic second tier. Meanwhile, the club was also granted a permanent home ground at Folkungavallen, close to the city centre. In 1969, Kenty merged with another local club, IK Terra. In the 1970s, Kenty suffered from internal differences, since part of the club's board wanted to financially prioritize football in favor of ice hockey.
1976–1998: Foundation of LHC and rise to Elitserien
Linköping HC was founded on 4 August 1976, as a spin-off from BK Kenty, and moved in to the newly-built indoor arena Stångebro Ishall.
1999–: Establishment in the top division
Linköping HC first played in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserien) in the 1999–2000 season, and has been in the top division since the 2001–02 season. They have reached the playoffs eight times. LHC reached the final for the first time in 2006–07, where they lost to Modo Hockey. In the 2007–08 season, Linköping HC advanced to the final again, this time against HV71; they lost and won the silver medal.
Season-by-season results
This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by Linköpings. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Linköping HC seasons.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan="2" | Season
! rowspan="2" | Level
! rowspan="2" | Division
! colspan="2" | Record
! rowspan=2 |
! rowspan="2" | Notes
|-
! Position
! W-OT-L
|-
| rowspan=1 | 2020–21
| style="background:#FFFF00;" | Tier 1
| SHL
| 12th
| 17–7–28
| 0
|
|-
| rowspan=1 | 2021–22
| style="background:#FFFF00;" | Tier 1
| SHL
| 11th
| 16–13–23
| 4,987
|
|-
| rowspan=1 | 2022–23
| style="background:#FFFF00;" | Tier 1
| SHL
| 12th
| 20–11–21
| 6,045
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | 2023–24
| style="background:#FFFF00;" | Tier 1
| SHL
| 6th
| 23–12–17
| 6,724
|
|-
| colspan=2 | Swedish Championship playoffs
| —
| 0–4
| 8,190
| Lost in quarterfinals, 0–4 vs Skellefteå
|-
| rowspan=1 | 2024–25
| style="background:#FFFF00;" | Tier 1
| SHL
| 12th
| 15–16–21
| 7,103
|
|}
Players and personnel
Current roster
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<small>Updated 11 August 2025.</small>
Honored members
thumb|right|240px|Linköpings Jerseys hanging from the rafters of the [[Saab Arena.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="background:#003690;border-top:#FF151F 3px solid;border-bottom:#FF151F 3px solid; color:white;" | Linköpings HC retired numbers
|-
! width=40px | No.
! width=130px |Player
! width=40px |Nat.
! width=40px |Position
! width=150px |Career
|-
| 7 || Magnus Johansson || || D || 1990–1997, 2004–2007, 2009–2015
|-
| 10 || Mats Andersson || || C || 1976–1989
|-
| 15|| Stefan Jakobsson || || F || 1988–1999
|-
| 16|| Mike Helber || || RW || 1992–2002
|-
| 33|| Fredrik Emvall || || LW || 1999–2010
|}
Club records and leaders
Scoring leaders
thumb|right|240px|[[Magnus Johansson (ice hockey)|Magnus Johansson.]]
These are the top-ten point-scorers of Linköping HC since the 1975–76 season, in the top tier (Elitserien and SHL). Figures are updated after each completed regular season.
<!-- PLEASE DO NOT UPDATE STATISTICS MID-SEASON, AS IT CREATES MORE PROBLEMS THAN IT SOLVES, AND WIKIPEDIA'S PURPOSE IS NOT TO PROVIDE UP-TO-THE-MINUTE STATISTICS. PLEASE SAVE THE UPDATING OF STATISTICS UNTIL THE END OF THE REGULAR SEASON AND/OR PLAYOFFS. -->
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; = current Linköpings HC player
{| class="wikitable"
|+ style="background:#003690; border-top:#FF151F 3px solid; border-bottom:#FF151F 3px solid; color:white;" | Points
|-
! style="text-align:left;"| Player || Pos || GP || G || A || Pts || P/G
|- style="text-align:left;"
| style="text-align:left;" | Broc Little||F||430||170||172||342||0.79
|- style="background:#eeeeee;"
| style="text-align:left;" | Magnus Johansson||D||463||63||223||286||0.62
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Tony Mårtensson||C||312||85||192||277||0.88
|- style="background:#eeeeee;"
| style="text-align:left;" | Mikael Håkanson||RW||416||84||134||218||0.52
|- style="text-align:left;"
| style="text-align:left;" | Jonas Junland||D||401||39||135||174||0.43
|- style="background:#eeeeee;"
| style="text-align:left;" | Niklas Persson||C||316||64||103||167||0.53
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Jaroslav Hlinka||C||180||41||126||167||0.93
|- style="text-align:left;" bgcolor ="#cfc"
| style="text-align:left;" | Markus Ljungh||C||239||59||107||166||0.69
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Pär Arlbrandt||RW||162||61||100||161||0.99
|- style="background:#eeeeee;"
| style="text-align:left;" | Jan Hlaváč||LW||172||81||78||159||0.92
|}
Appearance leaders
thumb|right|240px|[[Sebastian Karlsson (ice hockey)|Sebastian Karlsson holds the club record for most games in the SHL.]]
These are the top-ten players of Linköping HC with the most appearances since the 1975–76 season, in the top tier (Elitserien and SHL). Figures are updated after each completed regular season.
References
Works cited
External links
- Official site (in Swedish)