IK Oskarshamn

IK Oskarshamn is an ice hockey club from Oskarshamn in Sweden. The team is currently playing in the second highest league in Sweden, HockeyAllsvenskan. Head coach is Fredrik Söderström.

General information

IK Oskarshamn (abbreviated as IKO) was founded in 1970 when the town's two then existing ice hockey teams, Oskarshamns AIK and IFK Oskarshamn, were merged into one. The team has twice reached the final qualification stage for the highest league in Sweden. This happened in the 2000–01 season and in the 2004–05 season. The team play their home games in Arena Oskarshamn which has a capacity of 3,424 people. The arena was first built in 1974 but was completely renovated and enlarged in 2005.

History

Seasons

In the 2000–01 season and in the 2004–05 season IK Oskarshamn succeeded to reach the Kvalserien. In Kvalserien the team finished in 5th place the first year and in 6th place the second year. In the 2010–11 season IK Oskarshamn finished 9th in Hockeyallsvenskan, six points from playing in the new pre-qualification. Both in 2011-12 season and in 2012-13 season IK Oskarshamn finished topp-7 and reached the Playoff round. IK Oskarshamns Evan McGrath was the top scorer in the HockeyAllsvenskan regular season with 50 points in 52 games.

Oskarshamn

Oskarshamn is a coastal city and the seat of Oskarshamn Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 17,258 inhabitants in 2010.

History

Etymology

Döderhultsvik was the original name before a town charter was granted in 1856. The name was then changed to Oscarshamn (meaning: Oscar's port) after the king Oscar I of Sweden. The spelling has later changed to Oskarshamn.

Struggle for town charter

The location of Oskarshamn was known as Döderhultsvik since the Medieval age. In 1645, the city of Kalmar, to the south, made a request to the Royal Government on holding commerce in the bay there, which was granted, giving it merchancy rights as a köping. There followed 200 years of merchancies in the town, during which it was governed and dependent on Kalmar; while the surrounding towns and municipalities made frequent requests to grant it a charter, consequently turned down each of the attempts made in the years: 1786, 1798, 1800, 1815, 1818, 1823, 1825, 1830 and 1838. In 1843 it got some independence, with a local council, but the council itself was occupied by citizens of Kalmar. In 1854, the King Oscar I of Sweden promised to grant it a charter as soon as it had fulfilled certain demands, including building a prison and a council hall, among other things. When they had accomplished the feats, the charter was granted, and the city became one of the Cities of Sweden starting 1856, on May 1. This status has today no legal significance, but Oskarshamn is now the seat of the much larger Oskarshamn Municipality, without being a political entity of its own.