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Bengt-Åke Gustafsson

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Bengt-Åke Gustafsson
Gustafsson in 2008
Born (1958-03-23) 23 March 1958 (age 67)
Karlskoga, Sweden
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for KB Karlskoga
Färjestads BK
Edmonton Oilers
Washington Capitals
VEU Feldkirch
National team  Sweden
NHL draft 55th overall, 1978
Washington Capitals
Playing career 1973–1999

Bengt-Åke Gustafsson (born 23 March 1958) is a Swedish professional ice hockey coach and former ice hockey player. Gustafsson is the former head coach of the Sweden senior team, a post he held from February 2005 to May 2010.

During his North American career, including two games in the World Hockey Association (WHA) with the Edmonton Oilers, and then nine seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Washington Capitals. He was often called Bengt Gustafsson or Gus.

The Capitals selected Gustafsson's son, Anton Gustafsson, with the 21st overall pick in the 2008 NHL entry draft.

In 2003, Gustafsson was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame as a player.

Playing career

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Gustafsson started his professional career in 1973, playing for KB Karlskoga in the Swedish second-tier league. He later transferred to Färjestads BK of the Elitserien. Gustafsson was drafted by the Washington Capitals in the fourth round of the 1978 NHL amateur draft. He chose to play the 1978–79 season in his homeland Sweden, but he signed with the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association (WHA) in March 1979. Gustafsson made his North American debut in the 1979 WHA playoffs, picking up a goal and two assists in two games. When the Oilers merged into the National Hockey League (NHL) that summer, despite their attempts to select him as one of their two protected skaters for the 1979 NHL expansion draft, the Capitals reclaimed Gustafsson's rights from Edmonton as they did not have a valid contract with him before the draft.

In the 1986–87 season, Gustafsson played for Bofors IK in the second-highest Swedish division and was selected for the Sweden senior team, which caused some controversy, before playing two more NHL seasons. After retiring from the NHL he played with Färjestads BK for the next four seasons, and then spent several years playing with VEU Feldkirch in the Austrian Hockey League and Alpenliga, winning five Austrian ice hockey championships and the 1997–98 European Hockey League championship.

International play

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Medal record
Representing  Sweden
Men's ice hockey
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1987 Austria
Gold medal – first place 1991 Finland
Silver medal – second place 1981 Soviet Union
Bronze medal – third place 1979 Soviet Union

Gustafsson played 117 games with Sweden senior team,[1] and has played in five World Championships. In both 1987 and 1991, he won the gold medal, got silver in 1981, and bronze in 1979.

He also played in the Canada Cup in 1984 and 1987.

In 1992, he represented Sweden in the Winter Olympics.

Coaching career

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Gustafsson started his coaching career as an assistant coach with Switzerland senior team, serving under head coach Ralph Krueger. He attended five World Championships with the Swiss team between 1998 and 2002.

Additionally, Gustafsson worked as head coach of Austrian VEU Feldkirch in the 1998–99 season, followed by a two-year stint as head coach of SCL Tigers of the Swiss Nationalliga A (1999–2001). In 2001, he accepted the head coaching job at Färjestads BK in the Swedish Elitserien. He guided the team to the Swedish championship in 2002 and to back-to-back finals appearances the following two years.

Gustafsson was named head coach of the Swedish senior team in 2005. Under his guidance, Sweden captured gold at the 2006 Winter Olympics and the 2006 World Championships, becoming the first coach to achieve this "double". He earned Swedish Coach of the Year honours that year. Gustafsson also led Sweden to a bronze medal at the 2009 World Championships. He stepped down from his position in 2010.[2]

In October 2010, he took over as head coach of the ZSC Lions of the Swiss National League A (NLA) and remained in the job until the end of the 2010–11 season.

On 6 May 2011, Gustafsson was named the head coach of Atlant Moscow Oblast of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), becoming the first Swede to be named the head coach of a KHL team.[3][4] However, after a disappointing start to the 2011–12 season for the team, Gustafsson was forced to leave the club on 3 November 2011. The team's then assistant coach Janne Karlsson took over the head coaching job for Atlant Moscow Oblast.[5]

In December 2012, he replaced Jeff Tomlinson as head coach of the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers of the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). After the season, Gustafsson did not have his contract renewed.[6]

In October 2013, he returned to Switzerland's SCL Tigers for a second spell with the club, having previously spent two years with the Tigers. He led SCL to the National League B (NLB) title and promotion to the NLA in 2015, but parted company with the club despite the success.[7] On 24 January 2017, he took over the head coaching position at NLB side EHC Olten.[8][9] He was sacked in early February 2018 following a run of five wins in 15 contests and after dropping to the fourth place of the NLB standings.[10][11]

Coaching style

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He has been reported as a "player's coach", listening to and arguing with his players rather than telling them what to do. In a SVT interview he stated: "[Ice] hockey is played on the ice, not behind the bench. As coach I can point things out to them and make them aware of stuff but they are the ones who play the game. As a player I have to confess that I didn't listen that much to what the coach said, and as a coach I don't expect them to do either."

He was criticised for asking various players whom they would like to see on the team and how they wanted to play and for asking players how they would like to see the lines formed. He then went in and adjusted the lines as the tournaments went on. The criticism has been somewhat subdued after his 2006 Winter Olympics and World Championships double.

The Olympic and IIHF teams only had eight players. Most of the stars from the Olympics were missing. Only Jörgen Jönsson, Kenny Jönsson, Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall, Mikael Samuelsson, Stefan Liv, Ronnie Sundin and Mika Hannula participated in both tournaments.

Awards and achievements

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As player

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As coach

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Records

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Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1973–74 KB Karlskoga SWE II 8 1 4 5 0 6 1 1 2 0
1974–75 KB Karlskoga SWE 18 4 5 9 2 — — — — —
1975–76 KB Karlskoga SWE II 11 7 3 10 — — — — — —
1976–77 KB Karlskoga SWE II 22 32 18 50 — 11 7 7 14 —
1977–78 Färjestads BK SEL 32 15 10 25 10 7 2 6 8 10
1978–79 Färjestads BK SEL 33 13 11 24 10 3 2 0 2 4
1978–79 Edmonton Oilers WHA — — — — — 2 1 2 3 0
1979–80 Washington Capitals NHL 80 22 38 60 17 — — — — —
1980–81 Washington Capitals NHL 72 21 34 55 26 — — — — —
1981–82 Washington Capitals NHL 70 26 34 60 40 — — — — —
1982–83 Washington Capitals NHL 67 22 42 64 16 4 0 1 1 4
1983–84 Washington Capitals NHL 69 32 43 75 16 5 2 3 5 0
1984–85 Washington Capitals NHL 51 13 29 42 8 5 1 3 4 0
1985–86 Washington Capitals NHL 70 23 52 75 26 — — — — —
1986–87 Bofors IK SWE II 28 16 26 42 22 — — — — —
1987–88 Washington Capitals NHL 78 18 36 54 29 — — — — —
1988–89 Washington Capitals NHL 72 18 51 69 18 4 2 3 5 6
1989–90 Färjestads BK SEL 37 22 24 46 14 10 4 10 14 18
1990–91 Färjestads BK SEL 37 9 21 30 6 8 3 6 9 2
1991–92 Färjestads BK SEL 35 12 20 32 30 6 2 5 7 2
1992–93 Färjestads BK SEL 40 17 14 31 32 3 0 1 1 2
1993–94 VEU Feldkirch Alpenliga 28 9 32 41 8 — — — — —
1993–94 VEU Feldkirch AUT 26 11 11 22 33 — — — — —
1994–95 VEU Feldkirch Alpenliga 17 12 17 29 8 — — — — —
1994–95 VEU Feldkirch AUT 24 9 25 34 14 13 9 13 22 2
1995–96 VEU Feldkirch Alpenliga 7 8 8 16 2 — — — — —
1995–96 VEU Feldkirch AUT 36 20 46 66 12 4 1 5 6 2
1996–97 VEU Feldkirch Alpenliga 40 21 41 62 10 — — — — —
1996–97 VEU Feldkirch AUT 11 3 13 16 0 — — — — —
1997–98 VEU Feldkirch Alpenliga 36 6 15 21 10 — — — — —
1997–98 VEU Feldkirch AUT 18 4 15 19 6 — — — — —
1998–99 VEU Feldkirch Alpenliga 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
SEL totals 195 84 95 179 100 37 13 28 41 38
NHL totals 629 195 359 554 196 18 5 10 15 10
AUT totals 115 47 110 157 65 17 10 18 28 4

International

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Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1976 Sweden EJC 5 3 2 5 2
1976 Sweden WJC 4 2 1 3 10
1977 Sweden WJC 7 2 2 4 6
1978 Sweden WJC 7 2 6 8 10
1979 Sweden WC 8 4 2 6 0
1981 Sweden WC 6 3 1 4 8
1983 Sweden WC 10 2 7 9 6
1984 Sweden CC 5 1 3 4 2
1987 Sweden WC 10 3 8 11 4
1987 Sweden CC 6 3 0 3 4
1991 Sweden WC 10 0 5 5 6
1992 Sweden OLY 6 0 1 1 0
Junior totals 23 9 11 20 28
Senior totals 61 16 27 43 30

References

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  1. ^ "Legends of Hockey -- NHL Player Search -- Player -- Bengt-Ake Gustafsson". www.legendsofhockey.net. Archived from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  2. ^ "Gustafsson to quit as Sweden coach at end of season; Marts named as replacement". www.thehockeynews.com. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Bengt-Åke Gustafsson till KHL" (in Swedish). GP. 6 May 2011. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  4. ^ "Bengt-Ake Gustafsson appointed new coach of Atlant Mytishchi". sports.ru. 6 May 2011. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
  5. ^ Hultqvist, Daniel (3 November 2011). "Janne Karlsson tar över KHL-klubb". jnytt.se (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 13 November 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
  6. ^ "Gustafsson und Funk müssen gehen". kicker.de (in German). 22 March 2013. Archived from the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  7. ^ Oppliger, Marco (16 April 2015). "Erfolgsgeschichte ohne Happy End". Berner Zeitung (in Swiss High German). Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
  8. ^ "EHCO trennt sich von Mansi – Gustafsson übernimmt". ehco.ch (in Swiss High German). 24 January 2017. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
  9. ^ Hartmann, Silvan (24 January 2017). "Knall nach 7:2-Sieg: Der EHC Olten entlässt Maurizio Mansi - es übernimmt Bengt-Ake Gustafsson". Zuger Zeitung (in Swiss High German). Archived from the original on 18 May 2025. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
  10. ^ "Olten trennt sich von Gustafsson". ehco.ch (in Swiss High German). 4 February 2018. Archived from the original on 5 February 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
  11. ^ "EHC Olten entlässt Trainer Gustafsson - Assistent Chris Bartolone übernimmt bis Saisonende". oltnertagblatt.ch (in Swiss High German). 4 February 2018. Archived from the original on 5 February 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  12. ^ "Bengt-Åke Gustafsson". swehockey.se (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  13. ^ "IIHF - Hall of Fame". IIHF.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2025. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
  14. ^ "Bengt-Åke Gustafsson årets coach". dn.se (in Swedish). 26 April 2006. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
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