Spektrum Flyers
| Spektrum Flyers | |
|---|---|
| City | Oslo, Norway |
| League | Eliteserien |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Home arena | Oslo Spektrum |
Spektrum Flyers was a short-lived ice hockey team from Oslo, Norway. A merger between Manglerud Star and Furuset, it played the 1994–95 and 1995–96 seasons in Eliteserien, the premier ice hockey league in Norway, with home games at Oslo Spektrum. The team relocated to Bergen after two seasons.
Manglerud Star and Furuset had formerly cooperated with the team Oslo Hockey. After it was dissolved, Manglerud Star became a farm team for Vålerenga Ishockey. Following the opening of Oslo Spektrum in 1990, Vålerenga moved their games to the venue in the heart of Oslo. After the end of the 1992–93 season, the team returned to its old venue, Jordal Amfi, and Oslo Spektrum started looking for a new tenant. Oslo Spektrum's new management company, SMGManagement, encouraged Manglerud Star and Furuset to play some of their games at Oslo Spektrum. Instead, the two teams decided to merge their top-level teams to create a team that all of Oslo could support. In September 1993, Furuset, Manglerud Star and SMG signed an interim agreement, which would establish the new team in the city center. The new team received an exclusive right to play matches at Spektrum, and SMG would perform marketing of the games. The condition was that at least one of the two teams succeeded at keeping their place in the premier league.
The team received 1 million Norwegian krone from the two mother teams to purchase six top players, including two from Canada. The team's management stated that they were working on a cooperation with the National Hockey League (NHL) side Philadelphia Flyers. In a deal in November 1993, Furuset-players Cato Tom Andersen, Christian Kjeldsberg and Jan Roar Fagerli all transferred to Manglerud Star for the 1993–94 season, which Furuset would play in First Division. The players were intended to be transferred to Spektrum Flyers. In March 1994, Ole Jacob Libæk, who was instrumental in the creation of the new team and had been appointed chair, stated that he wanted Vålerenga to also participate. He hoped that this would create sufficient interest to generate four to five thousand spectators per match, which would be necessary to maintain a professional team.
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