Gjøvik

There is no named derby, but Gjøvik Hockey and the Ringerike Panthers have turned into the kind of fixture both sides circle on the calendar.

The club grew out of Vardal, where a group of friends wanted better ice than they had, and got it once the Gjøvik Olympiske Fjellhall was built for the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics. Øystein Syversen founded the club in 1990.

Those years have mostly been spent one level below where the club wants to be. Gjøvik has never lifted a national title, and its promotion pushes to the Eliteserien fell short in 1999, 2003 and 2006. It reached the 1. divisjon in 1996 and again in 2016, with three runner-up finishes in the 2. divisjon along the way.

Home games are still played inside the mountain hall, in front of a crowd that, at full capacity, runs to 5,830.