HV71 (abbreviated from Husqvarna Vätterstad 1971) are a semi-professional ice hockey team in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL). They play in Jönköping, in the southern Swedish province of Småland, at Husqvarna Garden.
Contents
History
The club was originally formed independently in March 2002 as Jönköpings IF Queens, after neither local professional men's teams – HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League nor HC Dalen of Hockeyettan – were willing to start women's divisions. The club's logo was designed by 18-year old Swedish-Iranian refugee Behnaz Bahabozorgi, who served as the club's chairperson, and the team practiced on an outdoor rink on Saturdays. They began play in the 2003–04 Damettan season, finishing last in the southern division. In April 2008, as the club had grown to the point of adding a B-team and a youth department, Jönköpings IF Queens decided to merge with the HV71 organisation, becoming the HV71 Queens from 1 August the same year.
In 2012, the club earned promotion to the SDHL for the first time. For their first top-division season, the club dropped the "Queens" from their name, playing only as HV71. They finished last place in the 2012–13 season, and were relegated back to Damettan. The club made it to the promotion playoffs in 2013–14, but lost. The following season, after the HV71 board decided to substantially increase investment into the women's side, more than doubling the club's budget and making big signings such as Jenni Asserholt and Fanny Rask, the team earned promotion back to the SDHL. In 2016–17, the club was able to reach the SDHL playoff finals, but lost against Djurgårdens IF.
In the 2019–20 SDHL season, HV71 finished on top of the league table for the first time in club history, setting a SDHL record for most regular season points with 99. Halfway through the season, head coach Lucas Frey was fired due to engaging in inappropriate relationship with one player of the team and was replaced by assistant coach Joakim Engström. The team reached the SDHL playoff finals for the second time in club history, but the finals versus Luleå were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden. HV71 had a 1-0 lead and needed only win one more game to win the championship. Hours before the second game Luleå team staff claimed to have two cases of COVID-19, players being defender Johanna Fällman and goalie Sara Grahn. No proof of symptoms or test results was ever provided by Luleå and, shortly after, the finals were canceled Luleå management stated to local media NSD that no players in fact ever had symptoms of COVID-19.
Season-by-season results
This is a partial list of the most recent seasons completed by HV71. Code explanation: GP—Games played, W—Wins, OTW—Overtime wins, T—Overtime losses, L—Losses, GF—Goals for, GA—Goals against, Pts—Points. Top Scorer: Points (Goals+Assists)
Players and personnel
2024–25 roster
As of 12 January 2025
Coaching staff and team personnel
Head coach: Thomas Pettersen
Assistant coach: Alexander Hanning
Goaltending coach: Emil Karnatz
Development coach: Kris Beech
Equipment manager: Dan Eriksson
Team captains
Jenni Asserholt, 2015–2017
Riikka Sallinen, 2017–2019
Jessica Healey, 2019–20
Sidney Morin, 2020–21
Hanna Olsson, 2021–22
Sanni Hakala, 2022–November 2023
Elin Svensson, December 2023–
Head coaches
Tony Almsgård, 2002–2010
Ulf Johansson, 2013–2018
Lucas Frey, 2018–19
Joakim Engström, 2019–2022
Peter Hammarström & Axel Nyberg, 2022–23
Ulf Hall, 2023–24
Thomas Pettersen, 2024–
Franchise records and leaders
All-time scoring leaders
The top regular season point scorers (goals + assists) in HV71 history through the conclusion of the 2023–24 SDHL season.
Note: Nat = Nationality; Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game