Bo Tovland

Bo Tovland (2 November 1936 – 25 September 2015) was a Swedish ice hockey coach and executive. He was the general manager of the Sweden men's national ice hockey team at seven Ice Hockey World Championships, three Winter Olympics and three Canada Cup tournaments. Under his leadership, Sweden won gold in ice hockey at the 1994 Winter Olympics, and three gold medals at the Ice Hockey World Championships. He previously coached the national junior team to a gold medal at the 1981 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, and won multiple medals coaching the under-18 men's team. He began working for the Swedish Ice Hockey Association in 1961, sat on its board of directors from 1981 to 2002, and was its vice-chairman for eight years. He was also a member of the Swedish Olympic Committee from 1985 to 2005, and was a member of International Ice Hockey Federation committees from 1998 to 2008. Tovland received multiple honors for his career in hockey, which included H. M. The King's Medal in 1996, the Paul Loicq Award for contributions to international ice hockey in 2006, and induction into the Swedish Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012.

Early life and business career Bo Tovland was born on 2 November 1936 in Stockholm. He worked as a clerk in a bank, was the chief financial officer of Sergel-Byggen AB for ten years, and was the chief executive officer of the property management company Fastighets AB in Stockholm for 23 years. He also served as vice chairman and treasurer of the Swedish Central Association for the Promotion of Sports. From 1968 to 1980, he coached the Sweden men's national under-18 ice hockey team at eleven tournaments in the IIHF European Junior Championships, and won three gold, four silver and two bronze medals. He described the strategy as a hybrid of European and North American styles of play. Tovland felt that the North American professional influence could destroy the European style of game as it has been known, since many junior European players attend hockey camps in Canada and idolized Swedish players in the National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association.

Tovland was the general manager of the Sweden men's national ice hockey team at seven Ice Hockey World Championships, three Winter Olympics and three Canada Cup tournaments. Under his leadership, Sweden won gold in ice hockey at the 1994 Winter Olympics, and three gold medals at the Ice Hockey World Championships. He was also a member of the organizing committees for 2002, and both the 2012 and 2013 championships co-hosted by Sweden and Finland. He served as a deputy to the general secretary for the 2006 IIHF World Championship hosted in Riga, Latvia. The IIHF named him a recipient of the Paul Loicq Award in 2006, for contributions to international ice hockey. Tovland was inducted into the Swedish Hockey Hall of Fame on 29 October 2012. Nicklas Lidström described Tovland as, "a very sympathetic person and a very good team leader for the national team".