AIK

AIK Hockey is playing in the HockeyAllsvenskan, the second tier of Swedish ice hockey — a departure from the years when the black-and-yellow of the Gnaget, as their supporters call them, were a fixture of the Swedish elite.

The ice hockey section grew out of Stockholm's broader sporting club AIK, founded in 1891; hockey itself became a separate branch there in 1921. The championships that still define the club came early: the Le Mat Trophy went to Solna seven times, starting with three titles across the 1930s and finishing with back-to-back wins in 1982 and 1984.

Promotion has had to be earned twice more since — AIK topped the Allsvenskan in 1987 and again in 1994, each time forcing a way back into the highest division rather than simply staying in it.

Matches are watched at Hovet, a rink holding just over 8,000, though the bigger occasions move across the city to the Avicii Arena, where crowds can run past 13,000.

AIK plays Djurgården.