The 2008–09 HV71 season saw HV71's attempt to defend their Swedish Championship title and win the regular season for a second consecutive season. It was the 25th season in the Swedish elite league Elitserien for the club. The club ended fourth after the regular season and managed to go to the finals but was beaten by Färjestads BK who won the Swedish Championship.
HV71 started the season in the beginning of August playing in the Nordic Trophy, finishing in fifth place, and continued to play in an exhibition game against Malmö Redhawks. HV71 opened the Elitserien regular season against Frölunda HC on September 15, winning the game 6–2. During the first 16 regular season games HV71 never scored the first goal in any of the matches. After the end of the regular season, HV71 ended as the fourth ranked team in the Elitserien regular season standings.
During the season, HV71 played in the inaugural season of the Champions Hockey League. The first group stage match was played in Jönköping on October 8 against the Swiss team SC Bern. HV71 won the game with a score of 6–2. The group stage matches were played in October to beginning of December 2008. HV71 finished second in group B and did not qualify for the semi-finals.
Off-season April 28: Defenceman Per Gustafsson and winger Johan Lindström re-signed with HV71. Both agreed to a one-year extension. Defenceman Lance Ward and centre Jari Kauppila left for play in Germany and Finland respectively.
May 5: Centre Yared Hagos signed a one-year contract with HV71 as their first new signing for the season 2008–09.
May 8: Defenceman Johan Åkerman left and signed with the Russian team Lokomotiv Yaroslav.
May 9: HV71 signed defenceman Nicholas Angell to a one-year contract. Due to Swedish tax laws Angell will join the club in October 2008.
May 19: HV71 signed youth players Henrik Eriksson, Simon Önerud, David Ullström and youth goaltender Christoffer Bengtsberg to a one-year contract.
June 19: HV71 signed right winger Kim Staal to a one-year contract.
June 21: Left winger Mattias Tedenby drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the 2008 NHL entry draft.
July 1: Wingers Per Ledin and Andreas Jämtin used their NHL out-clauses and signed with the Colorado Avalanche and New York Rangers, respectively.
July 8: HV71 signed winger Teemu Laine to a one-year contract.
July 22: HV71 re-signed winger David Fredriksson to a one-year contract.
Pre-season HV71 began the pre-season playing in the Swedish-Finnish tournament Nordic Trophy, a total of nine games plus two playoff games, from August 7 to September 6, 2008. HV71 ended the tournament as the fifth placed team after defeating Färjestads BK in the last playoff game. Before the regular Elitserien season started HV71 played against the HockeyAllsvenskan team Malmö Redhawks in Malmö.
Nordic Trophy
Standings
Game log 2008 Nordic Trophy game log 3–6–0 (Home: 1–3–0; Road: 2–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 August 7 HV71 3 – 2 Jokerit Andersson 952 1–0–0 2 2 August 8 HV71 0 – 2 Kärpät Liv 2,741 1–1–0 2 3 August 10 HV71 4 – 5 Tappara Andersson 490 1–2–0 2 4 August 21 HIFK 5 – 3 HV71 Liv 997 1–3–0 2 5 August 22 TPS 0 – 2 HV71 Bengtsberg 2–3–0 4 6 August 24 Djurgårdens IF 2 – 1 HV71 Liv 4,700 2–4–0 4 7 August 26 Linköpings HC 3 – 2 HV71 Liv 932 2–5–0 4 8 August 29 HV71 0 – 4 Frölunda HC Bengtsberg 1,300 2–6–0 4 9 September 2 HV71 4 – 2 Färjestads BK Liv 2,604 3–6–0 6 Legend:
Playoffs HV71 ended the 2008 Nordic Trophy regular round as the eight seed. The played in the semi-final for the fifth place game against Kärpät. With a win over the Finnish team, HV71 played and won against Färjestads BK and clinched a final Nordic Trophy ranking as the fifth placed team.
2008 Nordic Trophy Playoffs # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Playoff Recap 1 September 5 HV71 2 – 0 Kärpät Liv 118 HV71 advance to the 5th place game 2 September 6 HV71 4 – 3 Färjestads BK OT Bengtsberg 317 HV71 win the 5th place game Legend:
Regular season
Standings
Game log 2008–09 Game log September: 2–4–1 (Home: 1–3–0; Road: 1–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 7 September 15 Frölunda HC 2 – 6 HV71 Liv 7,038 1–0–0 3 1 September 18 HV71 5 – 6 Timrå IK Liv 5,414 1–1–0 3 2 September 21 Brynäs IF 3 – 1 HV71 Liv 6,893 1–2–0 3 3 September 23 HV71 3 – 3 Södertälje SK OT Liv 3,318 1–2–1 4 4 September 25 Skellefteå AIK 3 – 0 HV71 Liv 6,914 1–3–1 4 5 September 27 HV71 3 – 2 Luleå HF Liv 3,857 2–3–1 7 6 September 29 Linköpings HC 3 – 1 HV71 Liv 6,965 2–4–1 7 October: 2–4–4 (Home: 1–1–3; Road: 1–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 20 October 4 Djurgårdens IF 2 – 3 HV71 Liv 6,908 3–4–1 10 9 October 9 HV71 5 – 1 Modo Hockey Andersson 6,024 4–4–1 13 10 October 11 Rögle BK 2 – 3 HV71 OT Andersson 7,038 4–4–2 15 11 October 14 HV71 2 – 4 Färjestads BK Liv 6,023 4–5–2 15 12 October 16 Timrå IK 1 – 2 HV71 OT Liv 6,849 4–5–3 17 13 October 18 HV71 3 – 5 Frölunda HC Liv 12,044 4–6–3 17 8 October 21 Djurgårdens IF 2 – 2 HV71 OT Liv 6,987 4–6–4 18 14 October 23 Södertälje SK 3 – 6 HV71 Liv 6,851 5–6–4 21 15 October 25 Modo Hockey 5 – 2 HV71 Liv 7,020 5–7–4 21 16 October 27 HV71 2 – 1 Linköpings HC OT Andersson 8,500 5–7–5 23 17 October 30 HV71 1 – 5 Skellefteå AIK Andersson 5,665 5–8–5 23 November: 3–0–6 (Home: 1–0–3; Road: 2–0–3) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 18 November 1 Färjestads BK 3 – 4 HV71 Liv 7,038 6–8–5 26 19 November 3 HV71 3 – 4 Brynäs IF OT Liv 4,408 6–8–6 27 21 November 15 HV71 2 – 1 Rögle BK Liv 5,043 7–8–6 30 22 November 18 Luleå HF 1 – 1 HV71 OT Andersson 7,012 7–8–7 31 23 November 20 HV71 3 – 2 Södertälje SK OT Andersson 3,526 7–8–8 33 24 November 22 Skellefteå AIK 4 – 3 HV71 OT Andersson 6,951 7–8–9 34 25 November 24 HV71 1 – 1 Luleå HF OT Andersson 4,378 7–8–10 35 26 November 27 Frölunda HC 3 – 2 HV71 OT Andersson 7,038 7–8–11 36 27 November 29 HV71 5 – 1 Djurgårdens IF Andersson 6,092 8–8–11 39 December: 6–1–2 (Home: 3–1–1; Road: 3–0–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 28 December 1 Rögle BK 2 – 3 HV71 Andersson 6,865 9–8–11 42 29 December 4 HV71 2 – 3 Timrå IK OT Andersson 5,409 9–8–12 43 30 December 6 Brynäs IF 2 – 2 HV71 OT Andersson 6,982 9–8–13 44 31 December 8 Linköpings HC 6 – 5 HV71 Andersson 7,038 9–9–13 44 32 December 11 HV71 3 – 2 Färjestads BK Andersson 5,631 10–9–13 47 33 December 14 HV71 4 – 1 Modo Hockey Andersson 5,562 11–9–13 50 34 December 26 Södertälje SK 2 – 3 HV71 Bengtsberg 7,038 12–9–13 53 35 December 28 HV71 6 – 4 Brynäs IF Liv 6,202 13–9–13 56 36 December 30 Modo Hockey 2 – 3 HV71 Liv 7,038 14–9–13 59 January: 5–1–4 (Home: 2–0–1; Road: 3–1–3) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 37 January 3 HV71 2 – 1 Djurgårdens IF Liv 8,092 15–9–13 62 38 January 5 HV71 5 – 6 Rögle BK Andersson 4,940 15–10–13 62 39 January 8 Timrå IK 1 – 1 HV71 OT Liv 6,904 15–10–14 63 40 January 10 Färjestads BK 0 – 2 HV71 Liv 7,038 16–10–14 66 41 January 15 HV71 3 – 3 Linköpings HC OT Liv 8,500 16–10–15 67 42 January 17 HV71 4 – 2 Skellefteå AIK Liv 5,400 17–10–15 70 43 January 19 Luleå HF 1 – 2 HV71 Liv 7,038 18–10–15 73 44 January 24 HV71 4 – 5 Frölunda HC OT Liv 12,044 18–10–16 74 45 January 26 HV71 3 – 2 Södertälje SK OT Liv 2,749 18–10–17 75 46 January 29 Linköpings HC 2 – 2 HV71 OT Liv 7,038 18–10–18 76 47 January 31 HV71 5 – 3 Djurgårdens IF Liv 8,094 19–10–18 79 February: 3–3–2 (Home: 2–2–1; Road: 1–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 48 February 12 HV71 3 – 3 Timrå IK OT Liv 5,414 19–10–19 80 49 February 14 Skellefteå AIK 3 – 2 HV71 Liv 7,038 19–11–19 80 50 February 17 HV71 6 – 4 Modo Hockey Andersson 6,485 20–11–19 83 51 February 19 Frölunda HC 3 – 2 HV71 OT Liv 7,038 20–11–20 84 52 February 21 HV71 1 – 2 Luleå HF Liv 5,497 20–12–20 84 53 February 24 Brynäs IF 1 – 3 HV71 Liv 7,038 21–12–20 87 54 February 26 HV71 1 – 2 Färjestads BK Andersson 7,626 21–13–20 87 55 February 28 Rögle BK 2 – 5 HV71 Liv 6,996 22–13–20 90 Legend:
Playoffs HV71 ended the 2008–09 regular season as the fourth placed team and was paired with the last playoff team, the eighth seed, Timrå IK, after the 1st through 3rd seeded teams picked their opponents for the quarterfinals.
2009 Elitserien playoffs Quarterfinals: vs. (8) Timrå IK - HV71 win series 4–3 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 March 5 HV71 1 – 2 Timrå IK Liv 5,616 Timrå IK lead 1–0 2 March 7 Timrå IK 0 – 7 HV71 Liv 7,038 Tied 1–1 3 March 9 HV71 4 – 5 Timrå IK OT Liv 5,892 Timrå IK lead 2–1 4 March 11 Timrå IK 2 – 3 HV71 OT Liv 7,038 Timrå IK lead 3–1 5 March 12 Timrå IK 1 – 3 HV71 Liv 7,038 Timrå IK lead 3–2 6 March 14 HV71 3 – 2 Timrå IK OT Liv 6,000 Tied 3–3 7 March 16 Timrå IK 2 – 4 HV71 Liv 7,038 HV71 win series, 4–3 Semifinals: vs. (3) Frölunda HC - HV71 win series 4–2 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 March 19 Frölunda HC 1 – 3 HV71 Liv 7,038 HV71 lead 1–0 2 March 21 HV71 1 – 2 Frölunda HC Liv 11,902 Tied 1–1 3 March 23 Frölunda HC 3 – 1 HV71 Liv 7,038 Frölunda HC lead 2–1 4 March 25 HV71 6 – 1 Frölunda HC Liv 12,044 Tied 2–2 5 March 26 HV71 4 – 1 Frölunda HC Liv 12,044 HV71 lead 3–2 6 March 28 Frölunda HC 2 – 4 HV71 Liv 7,038 HV71 win series, 4–2 Finals: vs. (1) Färjestads BK - Färjestads BK win series, 4–1 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 April 1 Färjestads BK 1 – 4 HV71 Liv 7,038 HV71 lead 1–0 2 April 3 HV71 1 – 4 Färjestads BK Liv 8,250 Tied 1–1 3 April 5 Färjestads BK 3 – 1 HV71 Liv 7,038 Färjestads BK lead 2–1 4 April 7 HV71 2 – 3 Färjestads BK OT Liv 8,250 Färjestads BK lead 3–1 5 April 8 HV71 2 – 3 Färjestads BK Liv 8,250 Färjestads BK win series, 4–1
Legend:
Player stats
Skaters Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus–minus; PIM = Penalties in Minutes
Regular season Player GP G A Pts +/- PIM Johan Davidsson55133750224 Jukka Voutilainen52173047963 Björn Melin53831391542 Martin Thörnberg51271138788 Kris Beech4517173410106 Pasi Puistola5462531152 Teemu Laine551415291390 David Petrasek5262228291 Per Gustafsson4991827-742 Mikko Luoma5451621258 Updated after the end of the regular season
Playoffs Player GP G A Pts +/- PIM Martin Thörnberg1810313429 Björn Melin18581332 Jukka Voutilainen18481278 Andreas Falk184711816 Mikko Luoma183811614 Johan Davidsson14371062 David Petrasek1201010630 Mattias Tedenby1863986 Pasi Puistola18178620 Nicholas Angell18257616 Updated after the end of the playoffs
Goaltenders Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTW = Overtime Wins; OTL = Overtime Losses GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Regular season Player GP TOI W L T OTW OTL GA SO Sv% GAA Christoffer Bengtsberg 1 60 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 .931 2.00 Andreas Andersson 19 1214 6 3 4 3 3 51 0 .910 2.52 Stefan Liv 34 2001 15 9 6 1 4 86 1 .911 2.58 Updated after the end of the regular season
Playoffs Player GP TOI W L T OTW OTL GA SO Sv% GAA Stefan Liv 18 1111 8 5 0 1 3 35 1 .936 1.89 Updated after the end of the playoffs
Champions Hockey League HV71 played in group B in the 2008–09 Champions Hockey League. The group's matches were played between October 8 and December 3, 2008. HV71 finished on second place and did not qualify for the semi-finals.
Group B standings TeamGPWOTWOTLLGFGAPTS x- Espoo Blues4400013412 e- HV714100313183 e- SC Bern4100311153x - clinched playoff spot, e - eliminated from playoff contention
Game log 2008 CHL game log 1–3–0 (Home: 1–1–0; Road: 0–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 8 SC Bern 2 – 6 HV71 Liv 6,903 1–0–0 3 2 October 29 HV71 2 – 3 Espoo Blues Liv 6,083 1–1–0 3 3 November 12 HV71 5 – 7 SC Bern Liv 7,057 1–2–0 3 4 December 3 Espoo Blues 6 – 0 HV71 Bengtsberg 5,028 1–3–0 3 Legend:
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