Sparta Warriors


Ishockeyklubben Sparta Sarpsborg, commonly referred to as the Sparta Warriors, is a Norwegian ice hockey team based in Sarpsborg, Norway. They currently play in the GET League. They play their home games in the Sparta Amfi arena and is Norways oldest icehockey rink. The team colours are blue and white.

History

The ice hockey department of IL Sparta was founded in 1958, and got off to a fantastic start when Norway's first indoor hockey arena Sparta Amfi was opened in 1963. Within only three years, they earned promotion to the first division as the first team outside Oslo. It was only to be a short stint, and through most part of the late 1960s and 1970s, Sparta spent their time in the second division, with the odd visit to the top flight.
The 1980s was to be Sparta's greatest decade. Under the leadership of coach Lasse Bäckman and strengthened by several strong signings from other Norwegian clubs, and a couple of Swedish stars, they claimed the Norwegian Championships in 1984. The feat was repeated in 1989, when the club beat heavily favoured Trondheim in the final after claiming the last playoff spot in the last rounds of the league.
The success proved costly for the club, and in 1995, after years of economical problems, Sparta had to file for bankruptcy, the only sports club in Norway ever to do so. This meant that they had to start from scratch in the third division, and they lost their best players to other clubs in Norway. However, many of them came back to Sparta. They made the stay a short one, and in 1997 they were back in the Eliteserien, where they have remained since.
As of December 2007, Sparta once again assumed the top of the league table, closer to winning a title in Norwegian hockey, since the 1980s.
In the 2008/09 season, the team won the league and won silver in the Norwegian Championship after being defeated by Vålerenga.

Season-by-season results

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Sparta Warriors. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Sparta Warriors seasons.
Norwegian ChampionsRegular Season ChampionsPromotedRelegated

Current roster

Records and statistics

Scoring leader statistics for regular season only. Matches played statistic includes playoff games.

Most league matches

PlayerCareerMatches
Per Christian Knold1986-2005635
Jonas Solberg Andersen1998-2013596
Niklas Roest2006-568
Petter Witnes2001-2015519
Per Tengvert2002-2012505
Henrik Malmström2008-2018497
Rene Bøe2000-2011415
Pål Raab Lien1996-2003408
Reino Johansen359
Bjarte Bjønnes1998-2008339
Last updated: 29 May 2018
Source: http://stats.sparta.no/

Famous players