For decades, ice hockey fans have wondered why the game has never taken off in Norway to the same degree that it has in Sweden or fellow Northern European nation Finland. Although Norway is a winter sports powerhouse in other sports – especially skiing and speed skating – the country ranks behind even Denmark as a hockey power.

The answers are complicated. It’s a chicken-and-egg proposition to declare whether a sport develops in proportion to its municipal funding, sponsorship and leadership, or vice versa.

But this much is fair to say:  Norway is among the most athletically inclined nations in the world – nearly half of its 4.6 million people participate in sport of some kind.  But much of the funding and development has stayed within the
country’s traditional winter sports of skiing and ice skating. Conversely, Sweden has approximately ten times as many indoor hockey rinks as their Scandinavian neighbors.

Last year, the problems within Norwegian hockey came to a head. Although Norway narrowly held onto its top-level spot at the World Championship, the team’s preparations and leadership came under fire from veteran members of the squad. At the U20 level, the Norwegians narrowly avoided relegation
from Division I to Division II.

After the 2007 World Championship, several key players – including longtime captain Tommy Jakobsen and NHL player Patrick Thoresen – publicly called for executive and administrative changes in the Norwegian Ice Hockey Federation (Norges Ishockey Forbund).  Thoresen went so far as to say he would not accept future invitations to play for Team Norway unless changes were made.

Shortly thereafter, the NIF unanimously elected a new president endorsed by the top Norwegian players, Ole-Jacob Libaek, to replace Bjørn Ruud after a 14-year tenure as the federation president. Libaek previously served as NIF head from 1985-1993.  It appointed a new sports manager, Petter Salsten, a veteran of the Norwegian national team and defenseman in Norway and Sweden.

In the months that have followed, the Norwegians have taken several important preliminary steps to get the program back on the right track for the long term. During Libaek’s first stint as president, Norway rose from a C-level hockey nation to a lower-end A-nation at the senior level.

Three main development goals

The new administration has largely been focused on three areas of  long-term development, youth hockey, goaltender development and sponsorships for the top Norwegian league, the Get-Ligaen.

“On the first front, Libæk wants to establish closer ties with kindergartens and prep schools in order to recruit players at a very young age,” says Danish writer Kristian Skjalm. “Also, he will attempt to establish an environment where more resources are devoted to recruiters.”

Additionally, there is fertile ground for the continued development of Norwegian junior hockey. Most Norwegian elite league teams have established ties to high schools and colleges where the sport is practiced up to 20 hours per week. Most of the junior players affiliated with the top clubs attend these schools.

Recently, the overall quality Norwegian hockey colleges earned praise from Swedish veteran Janne Asplund, a former national team player who manages the hockey program in Baerum. Each year, his club plays about two dozen games against international opponents, including a yearly tour of the U.S. to play against college teams. In the long haul, this benefits both the quality of the Get Ligaen and the Norwegian national team program.

At this year’s U20 World Championship Div. I, Group A in Germany, Norway fared much better. Although the team lost, as expected, to tournament winner Germany and runner-up Austria, the Norwegians handled Poland, Ukraine and the relegated Lithuanians with little trouble. Team Norway also hopes to put in a strong showing at the upcoming U18 World Championship Div I, Group A in Latvia. The host nation and Austria will provide the toughest tests in a field that also includes the Netherlands, Italy and Japan.

Of course, the continued development of the Norwegian junior program in general and the upgrading of goaltender development in particular cannot be measured in a single year. It is a multi-phase process that will take time to bear fruit.

Get-Ligaen quality praised by Swedish coaches

The stature of Norway’s Eliteserien still lags behind the other top leagues in Europe. Lack of sponsorship is a significant problem. Many of the top league teams have been in financial trouble recently. Therefore, it’s an immediate goal to promote the sport to help clubs strengthen their sponsorships.

As a short-term goal, Norway hopes to keep more top domestic juniors at home rather than seeing the players leave to play in Sweden. Among others, veteran Swedish coach Sune Bergman supports this goal. Bergman recently told Norwegian newspaper Aftonposten that Get-Ligaen provides better training for young Norwegian players than if players leave to play at the J20 Allsvenskan or J20 SuperElit levels in Sweden.

According to Bergman and others with experience both in Norway and Sweden, the level of play in the Get-Ligaen may not be equal to the top leagues in Sweden and other countries but it is underrated and has growth potential.

Speaking to Aftonposten, Bergman favorably compared the quality of the top Norwegian league to Sweden’s second highest league (Allsvenskan). Currently the head coach of the Frisk-Asker Tigers, Bergman claims there are only two current Allsvenskan clubs (Leksands IF and IF Malmö Redhawks) that are markedly superior to the top teams in Norway. Bergman’s club was the top finisher in the Get-Ligaen’s regular season this year. Bergman’s sentiments were echoed by fellow Swede, Håkan Södergren, who has coached in both countries.

The Norwegian playoffs are set to enter the semifinals. There were no major first-round upsets, as Frisk-Asker easily beat Furuset in five games and defending champion Vålerenga IF Oslo outlasted Lillehammer in seven games, and Storhamar IL beat the Stavanger Oilers. The only higher-ranked team to lose in the quarterfinals was the third-seeded Sparta Warriors of Sarpsborg, which lost to fifth-place Comet IK Halden in six matches.

In the semifinals, Frisk-Asker will play Comet and Vålerenga will take on Storhamar.  Top seeded Frisk-Asker features the Get Ligaen’s four top scorers – Canadian twins Chris and Cameron Abbott, 20 year old Norwegian Mats Zuccarello Aasen and Swedish veteran Marcus Eriksson. Meanwhile, Vålerenga is seeking its fourth straight championship and its 26th overall.

Getting ready for Halifax

As in previous years, the primary goal for Norway heading into the 2008 IIHF World Championship in Halifax is to avoid relegation. Two years ago in Riga, the Norwegians pulled an upset over favored Denmark and avoided the relegation round. Last year, the Norwegians had to rally in the relegation round against Austria and Latvia to keep their spot in the top level.

It wasn’t so much the end result, but the preparation for last year’s tournament that led to the leadership change in NIF. There were logistical and scheduling problems throughout the national team’s preparation matches, and Team Norway was unable to use one of its key forwards – Per-Age Skroder of Swedish team Modo – because his visa was not ready in time for him to travel to Moscow.

This time around, the Norwegian federation has made a priority of channeling available funds and personnel into supporting the logistical challenges of getting the national team ready for the World Championship. As long as the top players are available for the national team, the Norwegians hope to have the likes of Skroder, Morten Ask, and Thoresen in uniform to aid the battle to play in the 2010 World Championship.

Unlike the professional players on the most of other teams at the World Championship, the Norwegian players have not typically received any financial compensation for their service each spring. Libæk and the NIF have sought to change this through increased visibility and funding of the hockey program.

BILL MELTZER