Syttende Mai - 1999 Norway National Team Per-Åge Skrøder Jersey

Norwegian Constitution Day, commonly known as Syttende Mai, which translates to "17th of May", is a celebration of the 1814 signing of Norway's constitution in the town of Eidsvoil, declaring Norway as an independent nation.

While it was celebrated to a certain degree in it's early days, Norway was actually still a part of the Kingdom of Sweden and the celebrations were not encouraged and were actually forbidden for a time in the 1820's. A protest incident in 1829 led to the celebration being tolerated.

It would take until 1864 for Syttende Mai to become more established, which included a children's parade, which is now a vital part of modern celebrations, with the largest being in Oslo, where 100,000 people turn out to take part in the festivities, which see approximately 100 schools and marching bands pass by the Royal Palace where the Royal Family observes from their balcony as the children march by and sing when they are not blowing whistles and rattling noise makers.

Additionally, the children are frequently wearing traditional costumes or ribbons in the colors of the flag, as well as carrying Norwegian flags.

There are also varying traditions of the public joining in behind the children's parade or a separate public parade either before or after the children's parade. Following the parades, there are games for the children as well as hot dogs, ice cream, pop and candy.

Norway has been a member of the IIHF since 1935 and currently participates at the top level of the World Championships, and have done so since being promoted by winning Division 1 in 1995 with their best finish being a 4th place in 1951, which included defeats of Great Britain and the United States.

They participated in their first Olympics in 1952, but not again until 1964. Since then, have have participated in seven more Olympics, including five in a row from 1980 to 1994. They did not qualify from 1998 to 2006, but once again returned in 2010, the highlight of which was taking Switzerland to overtime before coming up short in group play and then being tied after two periods to Slovakia before falling 4-3 in the Quarterfinals.

They were an automatic qualifier for the 2014 Olympics thanks to their 8th spot in the IIHF World Rankings, which saw the top nine countries following the 2012 World Championships earn an automatic place in Sochi.

Norway first participated in the IIHF World Championships in 1937 and 1938, but the outbreak of World War II put their participation on hold until 1949. After their 4th place finish in the 1951 World Championships, they sank to the B Pool for one season in 1956. They would bounce back and forth between the Top Division and the B Pool until 1965 when they dropped down to the B Pool for the next 20 years, with the occasional, brief relegation to the C Pool three times (1973, 1975 and 1986), which was followed by an immediate promotion back up to the B Pool each time.

They would win the C Pool in 1986 and the B Pool in 1989 to return to the Top Division for the first time since 1965. They would spend 10 of the next 12 years in the Top Division prior to slipping back to Division I (formerly the B Pool) from 2002 to 2005, when they won Division I Group A to earn a return to the Top Division for 2006, where they have remained for the last 11 years. 

Norway celebrates their win over Denmark in 2006

2011 would see Norway defeat Sweden for the first time ever with a stunning shootout victory and also post a stout 5-0 shutout over Austria to advance to the Qualifying Round, where they would defeat both Switzerland and France to advance again, this time to the Playoff Round. Despite their defeat by eventual champions Finland, they were credited with a 6th place finish, which placed them ahead of Germany, the United States, Switzerland, Slovakia, Latvia and Belarus for their finest result since 1962.

Perhaps the most familiar name to North American fans is Espen Knutsen, a veteran of 5 NHL seasons and the only Norwegian to have played in the NHL All-Star Game.

2002 NHL All-Star Espen Knutsen

Currently there is only one Norwegian in the NHL, left winger Mats Zuccarello of the New York Rangers.

Today's featured jersey is a 1999 Norway National Team Per-Åge Skrøder jersey. Skrøder began his professional hockey career in Norway in 1994 with Sparta Sarpsborg and Lillehammer before moving to the Swedish Elitserien in 1998. He has played for Frölunda, Linköping, HV 71, (where he won a championship in 2004) and Södertälje before moving to MoDo in 2006 where he won another Swedish championship in 2007 and the league scoring title in 2009.

He has been named as the Norway Player of the Year twice, with those coming in 2002 and 2009.

Additionally, Skrøder has competed for Norway in the European Junior Championships in 1995, the World Junior Championships in 1997, the World Championships at both Division I and the Top Division a combined 12 times and the Olympics in 2010 and again in 2014.

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1998 Norway National Team Ole Eskild Dahlstrøm jersey as worn during the 1998 World Championships Group B held in Slovenia.

This is a rare, one year only style for Norway, as the shield crest with the polar bear walking in profile was only used during 1998. The following year the jersey template remained the same, only the Norwegian Ice Hockey Federation logo (as seen above) was restored to the national team jerseys, which would remain the same through 2005.

Today's video section is highlights of Norway's shootout win over Sweden at the 2011 IIHF World Championships, their first ever win against Sweden in 61 years of trying.

As for the following video featuring the 1989 Norway National Team, you just can't make this stuff up.

1999 Norway National Team Per-Åge Skrøder Jersey

Currently playing for Modo in the Swedish Elitserien, Per-Åge Skrøder was born on this date in 1978.

Skrøder has been a regular member of the Norwegian National Team since first playing in the European Junior Championships in 1995. He has also competed for Norway in the World Junior Championships in the B pool in 1997 followed by 12 appearances in the World Championships in 1999 and 2000 in the A Pool, 2002, 2003 and 2004 in the lower Division 1 and in 2006, 2008 and 2009 back in the Top Division. He has since appeared in the World Championships in in 2001, 2012, 2013 and 2014. His record in the World Championships currently stands at 60 games played, 19 goals and 19 assists for 38 points.

He made his Olympic debut in Vancouver in 2010, which was unfortunately cut short due to a knee injury in the first game but returned to represent Norway again in Sochi in 2014 where he scored two goals in four games.

As a professional, Skrøder has played four seasons in Norway's Eliteserien, one for his hometown club the Sparta Warriors of Sarpsborg, Lillehammer IHK for two seasons followed by a return to Sarpsborg for another.

He then moved over to the Swedish Elitserien beginning in 1998 with the Frölunda Indians where he played for two seasons. He then joined Linköpings HC for the 1999-00 and 2000-01 seasons before moving to HV71 the following season when he was named the 2002 Norwegian Player of the Year.

He won his first championship with HV71 in 2004 and played there until 2004-05, including competing in the European Champions Cup. The next season would see him on the move once more to Södertälje SK for the 2005-06 season and then onto MoDo in 2006-07 where he would help MoDo capture his second Swedish Elitserien championship with 10 points in 20 playoff games and another appearance in the European Champions Cup. 2008-09 with MoDo was Skrøder's finest as a professional, when he scored 30 goals for the second time in his career to lead the league, along with 29 assists for 59 points in just 55 games to win the Elitserien scoring title, the first Norwegian to do so, and was named the Norwegian Player of the Year for the second time in his career.

His 2009-10 season was cut short by his Olympic injury, but not before he scored 33 points in 48 games. He rebounded with 41 points in 2010-11 and topped 20 goals in the top Swedish league for the fourth time with 22 in 2011-12 on his way to 51 points in 53 games, the most points by a non-Swede that season. He has since played two more seasons for MoDo and his career playoff statistics in the Elitserien are 32 goals and 33 assists for 65 points in 105 games.

Today's featured jersey is a 1999 Norway National Team Per-Åge Skrøder jersey. Aside from the desire to a Norway jersey to our collection, we especially wanted this one because of the "Ø" in the name which gives it a much more "European" look. When the jersey arrived we was surprised to see that the "Ø" was simply a standard "O" with an "I" glued diagonally over the top of it!

The Vår sponsorship logos are a heavy rather rubbery silkscreening. In addition, the Nike logos are also printed on the jersey as well, while the numbers are all sewn on. Also worth noting is the fairly large Norway Ice Hockey Federation crest on the front, which is blue screened onto white twill which was then sewn onto the jersey.

A very striking and colorful jersey with some excellent details that make it unique and definitely one of the favorites in our collection, especially when combined with the ongoing accomplishments of the player who wore it.

Here is an interview with Per-Åge from Modo TV. We're not sure if he's speaking Swedish or Norwegian, but either way, you are on your own as far as a translation goes...

Here is a highlight video of action from the MoDo club where Skrøder wears jersey #10.

And finally, Skrøder scoring for MoDo against Faräjestad, much to the delight of the home fans in Örnsköldsvik.

2014 IIHF World Championships Update

The second round of games of the 2014 IIHf World Championships have now been completed and with some unexpected results.

In Group A, Norway sits atop the group with 2 outright wins for 6 points highlighted by Per-Åge Skrøder's penalty shot goal against Denmark in the Norwegian's 4-3 win over Denmark. This follows Norway's opening 3-0 shutout win over Italy thanks to Lars Haugen's 15 saves in goal.

Lars Haugen

Right behind Norway is Sweden with 5 points following their blanking of Denmark followed by a resilient win over the Czech Republic, as Sweden had to come from behind three times, never having led in regulation until prevailing in a shootout.

Canada is third with 4 points, having suffered a shocking loss to France in a shootout on opening day. With the current World Championship format having two groups of eight teams playing seven games each, it does allow for teams to absorb a bad loss, as there are many more games in the group stage than previously, when an upset such as this would have much more impact. Canada rebounded strongly with a convincing 4-1 win over Slovakia to take the full 3 points.

Jonathan Huberdeau of Canada

The Czech Republic currently sits in the final place to advance to the Playoff Round, fourth. The Czechs defeated their rivals Slovakia in overtime for 2 points on opening day and then took away another point while losing to Sweden in a shootout yesterday for a total of 3.

The Czechs have a goal differential of zero, which places them higher in the standings than Italy's 3 points, which they gained by defeating France 2-1 in regulation following their opening loss to Norway.

Italy celebrates their win over France

France is in sixth place with 2 points from their stunning win over Canada thanks to the performance of former NHLer Cristobal Huet in goal after being outshot 36-29, but must be kicking themselves by throwing away the momentum gained from their upset victory by laying an egg against Italy, who are six places behind France in the IIHF World Rankings. France would have done themselves a big favor by at least making it to overtime and taking a point from the game but gave up the winning goal with under a minute to play in regulation.

Cristobal Huet of France stymies Canada

Slovakia has gotten off to a rough start by losing to the Czech Republic 3-2 in overtime and then having to face a resolute Canada in their second game, a 4-1 defeat, and now sit seventh with a single point. With the lower ranked teams in the group still remaining on their schedule, Slovakia will be looking to move up into the top four by the end of the Preliminary Round.

Denmark trails the group with no points following regulation losses to Norway and Sweden. The Danes will be hoping for good results against France and Italy to avoid relegation while hoping to steal points from a couple of the top clubs, as the wins for France and Italy have put them at a quick disadvantage.

Frederik Storm of Denmark celebrates with Patrick Bjorkstrand

Over in Group B, Russia has gotten off to a dominant start with two regulation wins over Switzerland and Finland for the maximum 6 points.

Russia's Alexander Ovechkin celebrates with Danis Zaripov

The United States has kept pace with two outright wins thanks to a pair of close offsides calls which negated goals for Switzerland. With that result going the way of the US, they slot in second behind Russia as they trail in goal differential by 1, 7-6 thanks to an opening day 6-1 win over hosts Belarus.

Germany is a surprising third place at 5 points thanks to Thomas Oppenheimer's heroics, as he scored the deciding shootout goal in the Germans opening game vs. Kazakhstan and then repeated the feat with a regulation penalty shot goal with less than five minutes to play against Latvia.

Thomas Oppenheimer wins the shootout for Germany

Latvia's 3-2 come-from-behind upset win to open play over Finland and NHL goaltender Pekka Rinne earned them three points, but, like France, they were coming off a terrific upset win over the Finns, only to lose their next game in regulation to Germany, taking away their unexpected momentum. Still, their fans are recognized as the most passionate and with the tournament being held in neighboring Belarus, the Latvians can expect home ice-like support for all of their remaining games.

Latvia's Edgar Masalskis got the win over Finland

Hosts Belarus are fifth in Group B. While the festive opening day was damped with a 6-1 defeat at the hands of the United States, they rebounded with a solid 4-1 win over Kazakhstan to undue some of the damage the US game did to their goal differential.

Mikhail Grabovski of the Washington Capitals leads host Belarus

Kazakhstan currently sits in sixth position, having secured a point in their 2-1 shootout loss to Germany. After their 4-1 loss to Belarus, things look bleak for the 17th ranked Kazakhs, as their remaining games are against the teams ranked 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 10th in the world.

Behind Kazakhstan, but only temporarily, are Finland, with a 3-2 loss to Latvia and a 4-2 loss to Russia, and Switzerland, who have also lost their two opening games, 5-0 at the hands of the Russians and their controversial 3-2 loss to the United States. Look for both Finland and Switzerland to right their ships and begin to accumulate points in the standings in short order. With five games remaining, it's not out of the question for both teams to reach the Playoff Round when the standings become final on May 20th.

Reto Berra of the Colorado Avalanche will be relied on

to turn Switzerland's fortunes around

The stories so far have been the upset wins by France and Latvia, who then both proceeded to lose to lesser opponents, the dominating start by Russia, keen to make some amends for their performance at the Olympics in February, and the quick starts for Germany and Group A leading Norway.

For fans of jerseys, the World Championships have many new jerseys making their debut, as the 2014 Olympic field was just 12 teams, while the World Championships consist of 16 clubs. Those debuting new jerseys are then Denmark, France, Italy, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Additionally, the Russians have a new home white jersey, as pictured above, which is quite different than the one worn in Sochi. Finland also has a new, more traditional white jersey, ditching the "wrapped in the flag" look of Sochi and has made some detail changes to their away blue jerseys, having taken away the flag on the sleeve and red coat of arms patch on the front.

Canada is not wearing either of it's Sochi jerseys either, reverting to the ones used at the 2013 World Championships with the crest of Hockey Canada, which is not allowed at the Olympics. Same goes for the United States, which is wearing the same jersey as in Sochi, only now with it's striking USA Hockey crest which is not allowed under Olympic rules on commercialism.

Finally, the German men were not part of the 2014 Olympics, but their black jersey was worn by their women's team in Sochi so it did not receive much exposure and may be new to many. Additionally, the men's World Championship home jersey is now white rather than the gold that the women wore in Sochi.

Games today include Switzerland trying to get on track against Belarus and Slovakia facing off against France in the early games, while the late games have Canada taking on the Czech Republic and Jaromir Jagr, while the United States and Russia, led by Alexander Ovechkin, battle to stay undefeated atop Group B. The late games both start at 1:30 PM eastern time, with the USA game on the NBC Sports Network in the United States with TSN showing the Canadian game and TSN2 carrying the USA vs Russia game in Canada.

Today's featured jersey is a 1999 Norway Per-Åge Skrøder jersey. When we acquired this jersey we were especially happy to get a name with the Norwegian "ø" character as part of it only to discover when it arrived that it has a standard "O" with an "I" glued diagonally over the top of it!

The Vår sponsorship logos are a heavy rather rubbery silkscreening. In addition, the Nike logos are also printed on the jersey as well, while the numbers are all sewn on. Also worth noting is the fairly large Norway Ice Hockey Federation crest on the front, which is blue screened onto white twill which was then sewn onto the jersey.

Skrøder began his professional hockey career in Norway in 1994 before moving to the Swedish Elitserien in 1998. He has played for Frölunda, Linköpings, HV 71, where he won a championship in 2004 and Södertälje before moving to MoDo in 2006 where he won a second championship in 2007 and the league scoring title in 2009. He was named Noway's Player of the Year in 2002.

Additionally, Skrøder has competed for Norway in the European Junior Championships in 1995, the World Junior Championships in 1997, the World Championships at both Division 1 and the Top Division 13 times and the Olympics in 2010 and 2014.

A very striking and colorful jersey with some excellent details that make it unique and definitely a favorite, especially when combined with the ongoing accomplishments of the player who wore it.

Today's video section begins with France's unlikely upset win over Canada.

Speaking of upsets, here are highlights of Latvia defeating Finland.

Finally, the United States controversial win over Switzerland.

1999 Norway National Team Per-Åge Skrøder Jersey

Norwegian Constitution Day, commonly known as Syttende Mai, which translates to "17th of May", is a celebration of the 1814 signing of Norway's constitution in the town of Eidsvoil, declaring Norway as an independent nation.

While it was celebrated to a certain degree in it's early days, Norway was actually still a part of the Kingdom of Sweden and the celebrations were not encouraged and were actually forbidden for a time in the 1820's. A protest incident in 1829 led to the celebration being tolerated.

It would take until 1864 for Syttende Mai to become more established, which included a children's parade, which is now a vital part of modern celebrations, with the largest being in Oslo, where 100,000 people turn out to take part in the festivities, which see approximately 100 schools and marching bands pass by the Royal Palace where the Royal Family observes from their balcony as the children march by and sing when they are not blowing whistles and rattling noise makers.

Additionally, the children are frequently wearing traditional costumes or ribbons in the colors of the flag, as well as carrying Norwegian flags.

There are also varying traditions of the public joining in behind the children's parade or a separate public parade either before or after the children's parade. Following the parades, there are games for the children as well as hot dogs, ice cream, pop and candy.

Norway has been a member of the IIHF since 1935 and currently participates at the top level of the World Championships, and have done so since being promoted by winning Division 1 in 1995 with their best finish being a 4th place in 1951, which included defeats of Great Britain and the United States.

They participated in their first Olympics in 1952, but not again until 1964. Since then, have have participated in seven more Olympics, including five in a row from 1980 to 1994. They did not qualify from 1998 to 2006, but once again returned in 2010, the highlight of which was taking Switzerland to overtime before coming up short.

After their 4th place finish in the 1951 World Championships, they sank to the B Pool for one season in 1956. They would bounce back and forth between the Top Division and the B Pool until 1965 when they dropped down to the B Pool for the next 20 years, with the occasional, brief drop down to the C Pool.

They would win the C Pool in 1986 and the B Pool in 1989 to return to the Top Division for the first time since 1965. They would spend 10 of the next 12 years in the Top Division prior to slipping back to Division I (formerly the B Pool) from 2002 to 2005, when they won Division I Group A to earn a return to the Top Division for 2006, where they have remained since.

Norway celebrates their win over Denmark in 2006

2011 would see Norway defeat Sweden for the first time ever and shut out Austria to advance to the Qualifying Round, where they would defeat both Switzerland and France to advance again, this time to the Playoff Round. Despite their defeat by eventual champions Finland, they were credited with a 6th place finish, their highest ranking since 1962.

This year, Norway was placed in Group S in Stockholm, where in seven games in the Preliminary Round, Norway lost their first three games, including taking the Czech Republic to a shootout, before reeling off wins by defeating Italy 6-2, shutting out Latvia 3-0, destroying Germany12-4 and downing Denmark 6-2 to gain an automatic berth in the 2014 Olympics and advance to the Quarterfinals against Russia in a game played today, where they hope to provide all of Norway with a memorable Syttende Mai. Currently Patrick Thoresen, who once played for the Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers, leads all tournament scorers with 16 points heading into today's game.

Perhaps the most familiar name to North American fans is Espen Knutsen, a veteran of 5 NHL seasons and the only Norwegian to have played in the NHL All-Star Game.

2002 NHL All-Star Espen Knutsen

Currently there is only one Norwegian in the NHL, left winger Mats Zuccarello of the New York Rangers.

Today's featured jersey is a 1999 Norway National Team Per-Åge Skrøder jersey. Skrøder began his professional hockey career in Norway in 1994 with Sparta Sarpsborg and Lillehammer before moving to the Swedish Elitserien in 1998. He has played for Frölunda, Linköping, HV 71, where he won a championship in 2004 and Södertälje before moving to MoDo in 2006 where he won a championship in 2007 and the league scoring title in 2009.

He has been named as the Norway Player of the Year twice, with those coming in 2002 and 2009.

Additionally, Skrøder has competed for Norway in the European Junior Championships in 1995, the World Junior Championships in 1997, the World Championships at both the Top Division and Division I 11 times and the Olympics in 2010.

During this year's World Championships, Skrøder is second in scoring for Norway with 11 points from 4 goals and 7 assists for 5th overall to date.

Today's video section is highlights of Norway's shootout win over Sweden at the 2011 IIHF World Championships, their first ever win against Sweden in 61 years of trying.

As for the following video featuring the 1989 Norway National Team, you just can't make this stuff up.

1999 Norway National Team Per-Åge Skrøder Jersey

The upsets just keep on coming at the 2011 IIHF World Championships in Slovakia. A day following Germany's first win at the World Championships over Russia, Norway defeated Sweden for the first time at any level of IIHF competition dating back 61 years to Norway's first participation in 1950.

During that time Sweden had won every single game at the World Championships (11 games), the Olympics (twice), the U-20 World Junior Championships (5 games) and the U-18 World Juniors (3 games). The only blemish on Sweden's perfect record was a tie at the World Championships in 1994, making Norway's record up until today 0-21-1.

Sweden must have assumed it was business as usual after taking a 3-1 lead after the first period a goal from Loui Ericksson followed by a pair from Patrik Berglund. Norway's Martin Roymark's power play goal at 8:06 evened the at 1-1 before Berglund's goals, the second one with a man advantage.

Swedish goal scorer Ericksson

Norway had a surprise for Sweden in the second period though. First they converted a late first period Sweden penalty into a power play goal one minute into the second period to pull within one when Morten Ask scored on a shot from the point though a tangle of bodies.

Skrøder celebrates Ask's goal against Sweden

Marius Holtet continued the Norwegian special team's performance with their third power play goal on four tires at 13:45 of the second period to complete the comeback when he fired a wrist shot into the top of the net. The period ended with the game tied at 2-2 despite Sweden outshooting Norway 26-10 at that point.

Norway rebounds during the second period

A feisty third period saw a a pair of roughing minors handed out twice within a minute and a half before Ask was whistled for hooking at 48:14. Sweden converted for their second power play goal at 9:37 to put Sweden back on top 4-3.

Norway was not about to go away quietly this time though, and Anders Bastiansen pounced on a loose puck and fired it between goaltender Erik Ersberg's legs for the equalizer at 15:06.

Neither team could produce a game winner in regulation time and the game moved into overtime, with Sweden starting on the power play thanks to a late penalty on Norway with just 11 seconds left in regulation.

Norway successfully killed off the penalty to begin the overtime and, despite Sweden outshooting Norway 6-2 in the extra period, the overtime passed without a game winner.

From there the game moved to "Game Winning Shots" as the shootout is called by the IIHF. Per-Åge Skrøder scored on the first shot for Norway while Lars Haugen saved Eriksson's attempt. Mathis Olimb then gave Norway a huge advantage when he scored on Norway's second attempt, putting all the pressure on Berglund, who needed to score to keep the Game Winning Shots going. When Berglund missed to the right, Norway had secured it's historic victory by a final score of 5-4.

Ersberg made 42 saves for win, as Sweden outshot Norway 46-20.

Ersberg makes one of his 42 saves for Norway

Following the United States 5-1 win over Austria, the Group C standings have the US on top with 3 points for their regulation win, Norway with 2 for their overtime win, Sweden at 1 for an overtime loss and Austria with zero.

Norway next plays the United States on Monday, which will be aired live by Versus in the United States at 10 AM Eastern Time. Sweden and Austria then meet later the same day.

Today's featured jersey is a 1999 Norway National Team Per-Åge Skrøder jersey.

Skrøder began his professional hockey career in Norway in 1994 before moving to the Swedish Elitserien in 1998. He has played for Frölunda, Linköpings, HV 71, where he won a championship in 2004 and Södertälje before moving to MoDo in 2006 where he won a championship in 2007 and the league scoring title in 2009.

Additionally, Skrøder has competed for Norway in the European Junior Championships in 1995, the World Junior Championships in 1997, the World Championships at both the Top Division and Division 1 nine times and the Olympics in 2010.

Today's video section is highlights of Norway's shootout win over Sweden at the 2011 IIHF World Championships, their first ever win against Sweden in 61 years.

1999 Norway National Team Per-Åge Skrøder Jersey

Currently playing for Modo in the Swedish Elitserien, Per-Åge Skrøder was born on this date in 1978.

Skrøder has been a regular member of the Norwegian National Team since first playing in the European Junior Championships in 1995. He has also competed for Norway in the World Junior Championships in the B pool in 1997 followed by eight appearances in the World Championships in 1999 and 2000 in the A Pool, 2002, 2003 and 2004 in the lower Division 1 and in 2006, 2008 and 2009 back in the Top Division as well as the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in 2009 as Norway successfully won their group and earned the right to compete in the Olympics in Vancouver in 2010.

His record in the World Championships currently stands at 41 games played, 18 goals and 7 assists for 25 points.

As a professional, Skrøder has played four seasons in Norway's Eliteserien, one for his hometown club the Sparta Warriors of Sarpsborg, Lillehammer IHK for two seasons followed by a return to Sarpsborg for another.

He then moved over to the Swedish Elitserien beginning in 1998 with the Frölunda Indians where he played for two seasons. He then joined Linköpings HC for the 1999-00 and 2000-01 seasons before moving to HV71 the following season when he was named the 2002 Norwegian Player of the Year.

He won his first championship with HV71 in 2004 and played there until 2004-05, including competing in the European Champions Cup. The next season would see him on the move once more to Södertälje SK for the 2005-06 season and then onto MoDo in 2006-07 where he would help MoDo capture his second Swedish Elitserien championship with 10 points in 20 playoff games and another appearance in the European Champions Cup. 2008-09 with MoDo was Skrøder's finest as a professional, when he scored 30 goals for the second time in his career to lead the league, along with 29 assists for 59 points in just 55 games to win the Elitserien scoring title, the first Norwegian to do so, and was named the Norwegian Player of the Year for the second time in his career.

Today's featured jersey is a 1999 Norway National Team Per-Åge Skrøder jersey. Aside from the desire to a Norway jersey to my collection, I especially wanted this one because of the "Ø" in the name which gives it a much more "European" look. When the jersey arrived I was surprised to see that it was simply a standard "O" with an "I" glued over the top of it!

The Vår sponsorship logos are a heavy rather rubbery silkscreening. In addition, the Nike logos are also printed on the jersey as well, while the numbers are all sewn on. Also worth noting is the fairly large Norway Ice Hockey Federation crest on the front, which is blue screened onto white twill which was then sewn onto the jersey.

A very striking and colorful jersey with some excellent details that make it unique and definitely one of my favorites in my collection, especially when combined with the ongoing accomplishments of the player who wore it.

Here is an interview with Per-Åge from Modo TV. I assume he's speaking Swedish and not Norwegian, but either way, you are on your own as far as a translation goes...

Here is a highlight video of action from the MoDo club where Skrøder wears jersey #10.

And finally, Skrøder scoring for MoDo against Faräjestad, much to the delight of the home fans in Örnsköldsvik.