Linköping HC

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.<ref name="marathon">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>Torell, p. 20.</ref> The board of Kenty had first been hesitant to establish a hockey department, but in 1945, the two clubs merged following lengthy discussions.<ref>Hagesund, p. 7-9.</ref> Being heavily dependent on weather conditions, Kenty only played 30 games in five seasons during the second half of the 1940s.<ref>Torell, p. 20.</ref> 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.<ref>Hagesund, p. 9-17.</ref> In 1969, Kenty merged with another local club, IK Terra.<ref>Hagesund, p. 20.</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.

Season	Level	Division	Record		Template:Abbr	Notes
			Position	W-OT-L
2020–21	Tier 1	SHL	12th	17–7–28	0
2021–22	Tier 1	SHL	11th	16–13–23	4,987
2022–23	Tier 1	SHL	12th	20–11–21	6,045
2023–24	Tier 1	SHL	6th	23–12–17	6,724
	Swedish Championship playoffs		—	0–4	8,190	Lost in quarterfinals, 0–4 vs Skellefteå
2024–25	Tier 1	SHL	12th	15–16–21	7,103

Players and personnel

Current roster

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Updated 11 August 2025.<ref>Template:Citeweb</ref>

Honored members

File:Linkoping HC retired jerseys.jpg

Linköpings Jerseys hanging from the rafters of the Saab Arena.

Linköpings HC retired numbers

No.	Player	Nat.	Position	Career
7	Magnus Johansson	Template:Flagicon	D	1990–1997, 2004–2007, 2009–2015
10	Mats Andersson	Template:Flagicon	C	1976–1989
15	Stefan Jakobsson	Template:Flagicon	F	1988–1999
16	Mike Helber	Template:Flagicon	RW	1992–2002
33	Fredrik Emvall	Template:Flagicon	LW	1999–2010

Club records and leaders

Scoring leaders

File:Magnus Johansson AIK-LHC 2013-12-03.jpg

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.<ref name="stats">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; Template:Color box = current Linköpings HC player

Points

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	P/G
Broc Little	F	430	170	172	342	0.79
Magnus Johansson	D	463	63	223	286	0.62
Tony Mårtensson	C	312	85	192	277	0.88
Mikael Håkanson	RW	416	84	134	218	0.52
Jonas Junland	D	401	39	135	174	0.43
Niklas Persson	C	316	64	103	167	0.53
Jaroslav Hlinka	C	180	41	126	167	0.93
Markus Ljungh	C	239	59	107	166	0.69
Pär Arlbrandt	RW	162	61	100	161	0.99
Jan Hlaváč	LW	172	81	78	159	0.92

Appearance leaders

File:Sebastian Karlsson 2012.jpg

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.<ref name="stats"/>

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; Template:Color box = current Linköpings HC player

Points

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	P/G
Sebastian Karlsson	C	514	56	52	108	0.21
Fredrik Emvall	LW	497	66	68	134	0.27
Magnus Johansson	D	463	63	223	286	0.62
Broc Little	F	430	170	172	342	0.79
Mikael Håkanson	RW	416	84	134	218	0.52
Henrik Törnqvist	RW	408	59	68	127	0.31
Jonas Junland	D	401	39	135	174	0.43
Andreas Pihl	D	377	21	36	57	0.15
Niklas Persson	C	316	64	103	167	0.53
Tony Mårtensson	C	312	85	192	277	0.88

Other departments

Linköping's women's football team, Linköpings FC, is affiliated with and financially backed by Linköping HC. On 3 October 2008, the club announced that the elite men's and women's teams of local volleyball club Team Valla would also become affiliated with Linköping HC, under the name Linköpings Volleyboll Club.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Works cited

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External links

• Official site (in Swedish)