Bandy and Ice Hockey in Sweden (1894-1930)

The sport of bandy was introduced to Sweden by the Englishman, Charles Tebbutt, who had sticks, balls, and rules on hand with him. He demonstrated the sport while a skating competition was taking place in Stockholm on February 10-11, 1894. Members of the Stockholms Gymnastikförening (Stockholm Gymnastic Association) soon began playing the game. They played it for several years, but the small group of enthusiasts eventually split up.

Bandy in Sweden was generally referred to as hockey in the early days. This was common throughout Europe at the time. Both a wooden puck and a ball were used early on. On January 18, 1896, the Hockeyklubben i Stockholm was formed. Both men and women were permitted to join the club. The Swedish royal family, barons, and diplomats were among the first members.

The first official bandy match was staged in Nybroviken on February 12, 1901. Later that season competitions between school teams and clubs were staged, and the following year the leading football teams in Stockholm began to play bandy in the winters. The 1901 Nordic Games featured bandy as part of the program. Bandy was played at the Nordic Games until 1926.

In 1903 eight teams participated in a league organized by the Bollsportförbundet. In 1905 the St. Petersburg Eislaufverein embarked on a tour of Sweden. The first Swedish Championship in bandy was staged in 1907. At the beginning, only the district champions participated in the tournament, but this format was modified in 1909.

The sport of ice hockey was introduced to Sweden in 1919 by the American film director, Raoul Le Mat. He was impressed the Swedes prowess at bandy and was convinced their strong skating skills would make them good hockey players. The Swedish National Team took part in the ice hockey tournament at the 1920 Summer Olympics, where they were coached by Le Mat. The first ice hockey game on Swedish soil was played on January 30, 1921. IFK Uppsala defeated the German club Berliner Schlittschuhclub 4-1 at the Stockholm Stadium. The first national championship in ice hockey was held in 1922.

Bandy remained more popular than ice hockey in Sweden until the late 1920s-early 1930s. Ice hockey caught on faster in the capital of Stockholm than in the rest of the country. Many great players alternated between bandy and ice hockey. In 1928 the leading bandy clubs in Sweden began exploring the possibility of the creation of a bandy league. A test series (known as the Sexlagsserien) was played in 1930, and the Division I began a year later.