About

Brynäs IF is a Swedish ice hockey team from Gävle. The club currently plays in the HockeyAllsvenskan, the second tier of ice hockey in Sweden, as of the 2023-24 season. The club played in the top-tier Swedish league from 1960 to 2023 (1960-75 called Division I, 1975-2023 called the SHL), a total of 63 seasons, longer than any other Swedish team, before suffering relegation for the first time in franchise history at the conclusion of the 2022–23 season. Brynäs IF was formed by Nils Norin, Ferdinand Blomkvist and Thure Ternström in May 1912 and began to play ice hockey in 1939. The club has also competed in association football, athletics, bandy, swimming, and water polo. The team has played in the hockey league's top flight since 1960 and has won the Swedish championship 13 times, most recently in 2012. Brynäs IF became the world's first ice hockey club to collaborate with the United Nations Program UNICEF, after signing a five-year contract with the organisation on 20 November 2013 (expiring in 2018). On 3 June 2014, the club also signed a five-year contract with Gävle Municipality (expiring after the 2018–19 season). The municipality acquired the naming rights for the club's home arena and renamed it Gavlerinken Arena. The latter collaboration also meant the municipality would pay the club to play with ad-free jerseys, starting in the 2014–15 season, as the only SHL team.