Bandy and Ice Hockey in Norway (1888-1940)

This article details the origins and development of bandy and ice hockey in Norway between 1888 and 1940.

History

It is uncertain when bandy was played for the first time in Norway. In 1888, the Christiania Football Club ordered hockey equipment from England and the game was played at Frognerkilen, but the sport soon fizzled. Tireless English bandy propagator Charles Tebbutt visited Norway during the winter of 1891-92, and tried to explain the game to the locals. He also sent some new bandy sticks to Norway. These efforts were mostly unsuccessful.

Some British individuals played bandy games in Norway during the late 1980s, but the game only started to catch on in 1903, when matches were arranged in Christiania (today Oslo). It was during the Winter Sports Week and four Swedish teams participated - Uppsalastudenterna, Stockholms Ishockeyklubb, Göteborgs Idrottsförbund and Sjökadetterna. Among the participants were found later Kung Gustav VI and his brother Prince Wilhelm.

There were many spectators at these games, and sport aroused interest. The Kristiania Hockeyklub was founded in 1903 as a result of the exhibition tournament. Later the Akademisk Fotballklub and Skøiteklubben also created hockey programs.

In the early years, until 1907, the games were-played 11-aside. The equipment used by the various clubs varied. Some clubs used curved bandy sticks, while others had shape much like today's hockey sticks.

In 1907, two Norwegian teams faced the St. Petersburg Eislaufverein. Kristiania Hockeyklub lost 10-2 while Christiania Skøiteklubb went down 12-0. In 1909, Leipziger SC played a three-game series against Norwegian clubs. Christiania Skøiteklub lost 17-1, Kristiania Hockeyklubb was defeated 20-4 and a combined team went down 13-2.

In 1911 the Norges Fotballforbund (the national football federation) decided to take over governance of bandy. The NFF appointed a committee headed by Niels C. Hertzberg, who was joined by Halfdan Ditlev-Simonsen and Kristian Krefting. These three, who were all avid bandy followers, put major efforts into developing the sport. Clubs were created in Trondheim, Arendal and Skien, and the first Norwegian Bandy Championship was staged in 1912. It was played under the Berliner Eishockey-Verband's rules. In the following years some mixture of these and the Nordic rules were used.

The Norges Bandyforbund was founded on October 17, 1920. Nine teams participated in the foundation: Drafn, Drammens IF, Frigg, Hasle, Kjapp-Rjukan, Mercantile, Rapp-Trondheim, Ready, and Trygg. An offer to participate in the European Championships in Canadian hockey was declined. However it was agreed with Svenska Fotbollsförbundet to play a "landskamp" in 7-man bandy. The match was played on Daehlenengen in February 1921. There were many spectators, and the event was a success, both from a sporting and economic perspective. The Swedes were represented by their champions, AIK, while the Norwegian side consisted of players from Ready and Trygg. The Norwegians surprisingly won 7-2, but the match was not counted as official "landskamp". Right before the game refused Swedes to register it as such.

The federation was called the Norges Ishockeyforbund until 1929, when the sport of "Canadian" ice hockey made its first inroads into Norway, and it was renamed the Bandyforbund. Seven-aside bandy was played in Norway until 1929, when the 11-aside game was formally adopted. The sport was also consistently referred to as "bandy" for the first time. Up to this point, it had simply been called "ishockey". A bandy elite league (Elitelagene) was formed in lieu of the knockout championship in 1933. There were also Workers Championships in bandy (Arbeidermesterskapet) organized by the Arbeidernes Idrettsforbund (AIF) from 1935 to 1940.

The first ice hockey games in Norway were played in 1930 and the first official game took place between SFK Trygg and Sportsklubben Rapp (4-1) on February 19, 1933. Many of the early ice hockey players had previously played bandy. The Norwegian Ice Hockey Association was founded on September 16, 1934, and the country joined the IIHF on January 20, 1935. The first ice hockey championship was also staged in 1934-35.

However, bandy still had a strong foothold in Norway, and it wasn't until after World War II that ice hockey reached the same level of popularity, especially in the countryside. Clandestine bandy championships were even staged in secluded forests during the German occupation of Norway.

Along with Russia and fellow Nordic countries Finland and Sweden, Norway is still one of the most avid bandy-playing countries, although the sport now pales in comparison to ice hockey in terms of popularity. The Norwegian Bandy Premier League is contested annually and the national bandy team has competed in the World Bandy Championships since 1957.

National Bandy Championship Results

Below are the results of the national championships staged in bandy prior to 1940.

1912

Qualifying match: Kristiania Hockeyklub – Kristiania Skøiteklub 8-1. Final: Ready – Kristiania Hockeyklub 11–2.

1913

Qualifying match: Ready - Frigg 11-1. Final: Ready - Kristiana Hockeyklub (forfeit win for Ready).

1914

Championship was not held. The mild winter ensured that only three games were played throughout the season.

1915

Semifinals: Ready – Frigg 14-0, Kristiania Hockeyklub – Trygg 7-6. Final: Ready - Trygg 11-3 (Kristiania could not make it so Trygg played in the finals instead).

1916

Qualifying match: Trygg - Frigg 5-3. Final: Ready - Trygg 14-6.

1917

Qualifying match: Ready - Trygg 12-8. Final: Ready - Frigg 21-7.

1918

Qualifying match: Trygg - Frigg 4-0. Final: Ready - Trygg 11-5.

1919

Qualifying match: Trygg - Frigg 10-2. Final: Ready - Trygg 9-5.

1920

First round: Moss – Ørn, Horten 6-5, Drafn – Drammens Idrætsforening 4-2. Quarterfinals: Moss – Frigg 3-14, Ready – Kjapp, Rjukan 11-2, Trygg – Drafn 17-5, Høiskolen – Rapp, Trondheim 8-3. Semifinals: Ready – Frigg 7-1, Trygg – Høiskolen 12-8. Final: Ready - Trygg 7-5 (OT).

1921

First round: Drammens Idrætsforening – Hasle 0-3, Ørn, Horten – Drafn 1-9, Moss Idrætsforening – Mercantile 7-5, Høiskolen – Rapp, Trondheim 23-4. Quarterfinals: Ready – Hasle 19-1, Drafn – Kjapp, Rjukan 18-1, Trygg – Moss 19-1, Frigg – Høiskolen 7-1. Semifinals: Trygg - Frigg 9-1, Drafn - Ready 3-7. Final: Trygg - Ready 1-0.

1922

First round: Moss Idrætsforening – Ørn, Horten 5-3, Frigg – Drammens Ballklubb 11-0. Second round: Trygg – Moss 13-5, Drafn – Kjapp, Rjukan w.o, Frigg – Hasle 7-1, Ready – Høiskolen w.o. Semifinals: Trygg – Drafn 6-2, Ready – Frigg 11-0. Final: Ready – Trygg 5-3.

1923

Qualification round: Drammens BK – Skiold 4-1, Hamar – Trygg 0-14. First round: Hasle – Drafn 4-10, Drammens BK – Trygg 1-19, Moss Idrætsforening – Ready 0-15, Frigg – Ørn, Horten w.o (Ørn had insufficient training). Semifinals: Drafn – Frigg 1-5, Ready – Trygg 6-2. Final: Ready – Frigg 6-1 (4-0).

1924

First round: Hamar – Drafn 1-15, Skiold – Forward 1-7, Drammens BK – Trygg 1-19, Trygg – Ørn, Horten w.o (Ørn withdrew as the railroad in Horten was snowed in). Quarterfinals: Ready – Høiskolen 20-0, Drafn – Moss Idrætsforening 11-0, Forward – Trygg 3-2, Frigg – Drammens BK 10-3. Semifinals: Drafn – Frigg 8-3, Ready – Forward 8-1. Final: Ready – Drafn 7-1 (3-0).

1925

First round: Hasle – Gjøa 6-3, Hamar – Ready 1-14, Drammens BK – Skiold 5-3, Frigg – Trygg 4-4 (rematch: Frigg – Trygg 5-4), Grane – Mercantile 6-1. Second round: Ready – Hasle 10-5, Drafn – Drammens BK 22-1, Grane – Forward 4-1. Semifinals: Drafn – Frigg 5-2, Ready – Grane 11-1. Final: Ready – Drafn 7-3 (5-2).

1926

First round: Høiskolen – Rapp 1-10, Trygg – Mercantile 4-2, Ready – Gjøa 16-0, Mjøndalen – Drammens BK 8-1, Drafn – Skiold 17-2, Hamar – Forward 0-13, Hasle – Frigg 10-3, Grane – B.14 2-3. Second round: Rapp – Trygg 2-23, Mjøndalen – Ready 2-8, Drafn – Forward 5-4 OT, B.14 – Frigg 3-2. Semifinals: Trygg – Ready 5-4, Drafn – B.14 6-0. Final: Drafn – Trygg 6-1 (2-1).

1927

First round: Speed – Hasle 0-3, Hamar – B.14 0-9, Grane – Gjøa 13-2, Mjøndalen – Skiold 10-3, Ready – Frigg 1-1 (rematched moved to second round.), Drafn, Forward and Trygg advanced on walk over. Second round: Ready – Frigg 5-1, Hasle – Grane (result unknown - Hasle won), Mjøndalen – Drafn 1-6, Trygg – B.14 1-0, Trygg – Forward 2-1. Semifinals: Drafn – Trygg 1-2, Ready – Hasle 6-1. Final: Ready – Trygg 3-0 (2-0).

1928

First round: Grane – Drafn 1-0, Strong – B.14 5-3, Ready – Hasle 5-3, Skiold – Forward 1-10, Mjøndalen – Drammens Ballklubb 5-0. Second round: Frigg – Rye 8-2, Trygg – Ready 4-0 ,Grane – Mjøndalen 4-2, Forward – Strong 4-1. Semifinal: Forward – Frigg 4-3, Grane – Trygg 5-3. Final: Forward – Grane 3-2.

1929

First round: Drafn – Grane 4-1, Strong – Ready 3-2, Skiold – Trygg 0-4. Second round: Drafn – Mjøndalen 2-3, Trygg – Frigg 6-1, Strong – Grane 2-1, B.14 – Forward 3-0. Semifinal: Trygg – Strong 7-2, Mjøndalen – B.14 2-3. Final: B.14 – Trygg 3-1.

1930

First round: Mjøndalen – Ready 2-1, Drafn – Trygg 1-3, Grane – B.14 4-1, Forward – Strong 7-0. Semifinal: Mjøndalen – Grane 2-1, Trygg – Forward 4-1. Final: Mjøndalen – Trygg 2-0.

1931

First round: Mjøndalen – Frigg 2-1, Drammens BK – Trygg 1-6, B.14 – Speed 4-1, Forward – Snarøen 11-0, Grane – Skiold 7-3, Strong – Drafn 1-5, Ready – Fagerborg 5-0. Second round: B.14 – Trygg 4-1, Drafn – Odd w.o. (no ice in Skien.), Grane – Ready 2-1 (OT), Mjøndalen – Forward 2-1. Semifinals: Grane – B.14 3-2, Mjøndalen – Drafn 2-1 (OT). Final: Grane – Mjøndalen 5-2.

1932

Qualification round: Gjøa – Stabæk 3-2. First round: Trygg – Gjøa 4-0, Heming – Forward 1-0 , Ready – Hasle 5-1, Snarøen – B.14 0-4, Grane – Frigg 3-1, Skiold – Fagerborg 3-0, Mjøndalen – Drammens BK 7-0, Odd – Drafn 1-6. Second round: B.14 – Skiold 4-2, Grane – Heming 9-0, Drafn – Ready 2-1 (OT), Mjøndalen – Trygg 3-2. Semifinal: Drafn – B.14 2-0, Grane – Mjøndalen 1-0. Final: Drafn – Grane 1-0.

1933

		Western Group
1		Grane	5	4	0	1	12	4	8
2		Mjøndalen	5	4	0	1	13	7	8
3		Ready	5	2	1	2	11	10	5
4		Skiold	5	2	0	3	12	16	4
5		Trygg	5	1	2	2	6	10	4
6		Strong	5	0	1	4	9	16	1
		Eastern Group
1		Drafn	4	3	1	0	22	7	7
2		B.14	4	3	1	0	12	5	7
3		Forward	4	2	0	2	6	10	4
4		Stabæk	4	1	0	3	3	14	2
5		Fagerborg	4	0	0	4	4	11	0

Final: Drafn - Grane 2-0

1934

		Western Group
1		Grane	4	2	1	1	4	2	5
2		Mjøndalen	4	2	0	2	12	9	4
3		Frigg	4	2	0	2	10	9	4
4		Skiold	4	2	0	2	9	11	4
5		Ready	4	1	1	2	5	7	3
		Eastern Group
1		Stabæk	4	3	1	0	9	4	7
2		Drafn	4	2	0	2	9	6	4
3		B.14	4	2	0	2	7	8	4
4		Forward	4	1	1	2	4	5	3
5		Heming	4	1	0	3	2	8	2

Final: Grane – Stabæk 4-2

1935

		Western Group
1		Drafn	5	4	1	0	15	5	9
2		Mjøndalen	5	3	2	0	16	6	8
3		Trygg	5	2	1	2	5	11	5
4		Heming	5	1	2	2	6	10	4
5		Frigg	5	1	1	3	6	8	3
6		Forward	5	0	1	4	2	20	1
		Eastern Group
1		Stabæk	5	4	1	0	11	5	9
2		B.14	5	2	2	1	19	10	6
3		Skiold	5	2	2	1	10	10	6
4		Grane	5	2	1	2	11	9	5
5		Ready	5	1	2	2	5	8	4
6		Lyn	5	0	0	5	6	20	0

Final: Drafn – Stabæk 2-1

1936

		Western Group
1		Mjøndalen	5	5	0	0	30	5	10
2		Drafn	5	4	0	1	13	5	8
3		Frigg	5	2	1	2	12	15	5
4		Trygg	5	2	0	3	14	6	4
5		Heming	5	1	0	4	4	21	2
6		Fagerborg	5	0	1	4	4	25	1
		Eastern Group
1		Grane	5	4	1	0	21	4	9
2		Strømsgodset	5	4	0	1	16	5	8
3		B.14	5	3	1	1	11	6	7
4		Skiold	5	2	0	3	8	19	4
5		Stabæk	5	1	0	4	5	17	2
6		Ready	5	0	0	5	4	14	0

Final: Grane – Mjøndalen 2-1 OT

1937

		Western Group
1		Grane	5	4	1	0	21	7	9
2		Skiold	5	4	0	1	13	6	8
3		Drafn	5	3	0	2	14	7	6
4		Strong	5	2	0	3	9	23	4
5		Frigg	5	1	1	3	8	12	3
6		B.14	5	0	0	5	4	14	0
		Eastern Group
1		Mjøndalen	5	4	1	0	21	4	9
2		Stabæk	5	4	0	1	16	5	8
3		Strømsgodset	5	3	1	1	11	6	7
4		Heming	5	2	0	3	8	19	4
5		Lyn	5	1	0	4	5	17	2
6		Trygg	5	0	0	5	4	14	0

Final: Mjøndalen – Grane 4-0

1938

		Western Group
1		Drafn	5	3	2	0	15	4	8
2		Grane	5	3	1	1	9	5	7
3		Lyn	5	1	3	1	7	6	5
4		Drammens BK	5	2	0	3	16	16	4
5		Strømsgodset	5	0	4	1	9	11	4
6		Frigg	5	0	2	3	7	15	2
		Eastern Group
1		Mjøndalen	5	4	1	0	26	5	9
2		Stabæk	5	1	4	0	7	5	6
3		Strong	5	2	2	1	6	10	6
4		Ready	5	2	1	2	7	9	5
5		Skiold	5	1	1	3	9	8	3
6		Heming	5	0	1	4	4	22	1

Final: Drafn – Mjøndalen 2-2 OT, replay: Drafn – Mjøndalen 4-2.

1939

		Western Group
1		Skiold	5	4	1	0	14	5	9
2		Grane	5	4	0	1	25	4	8
3		Mjøndalen	5	2	0	3	10	16	4
4		Sparta	5	1	1	3	5	12	3
5		Strong	5	1	1	3	5	12	3
6		Lyn	5	1	1	3	6	15	3
		Eastern Group
1		Drafn	5	4	1	0	16	3	9
2		Stabæk	5	3	2	0	14	3	8
3		Bestum	5	2	1	2	8	10	5
4		Drammens BK	5	1	2	2	10	9	4
5		Ready	5	0	1	4	4	16	1
6		Strømsgodset	5	0	1	4	4	16	1

Final: Skiold - Drafn 1-0

1940

		Group 1
1		Mjøndalen	4	4	0	0	15	5	8
2		Drafn	4	3	0	1	13	3	6
3		Sparta	4	1	1	2	12	6	3
4		Pors	4	1	1	2	9	12	3
5		Odd	4	0	0	4	3	26	0
		Group 2
1		Drammens BK	4	3	0	1	10	7	6
2		Skiold	4	2	1	1	9	7	5
3		Ready	4	2	0	2	8	9	4
4		Strømsgodset	4	1	1	2	9	10	3
5		Njård	4	1	0	3	5	8	2
		Group 3
1		Bestum	4	4	0	0	15	3	8
2		Grane	4	2	0	2	11	5	4
3		B.14	4	2	0	2	7	11	4
4		Hamar	4	1	0	3	4	9	2
5		Strong	4	1	0	3	4	9	2
		Group 4
1		Stabæk	4	3	0	1	11	4	6
2		Lyn	4	3	0	1	8	6	6
3		Sarpsborg	4	2	0	2	7	8	4
4		Frigg	4	2	0	2	10	11	4
5		Moss	4	0	0	4	5	12	0

Semifinals: Stabæk – Bestum 3-0, Drammens BK – Mjøndalen 1-5. Final: Mjøndalen – Stabæk 2-0.