Ove Dahlberg

Ove Dahlberg (12 April 1931 – 9 January 1997) was a Swedish ice hockey and soccer official. Having previously played a forward position in ice hockey, Dahlberg is considered one of the greatest European referees for his ability to read the game. He was inducted posthumously into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2004 and into the Swedish Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012.

Career Dahlberg was born on 12 April 1931 in Surahammar, Sweden. He grew up as childhood friends with Ronald Pettersson, who also played hockey and was eventually inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He played for Surahammars IF in the then-highest Swedish league Hockeyettan before making his Sweden national ice hockey team debut in 1954. He made his international debut at the 1962 Ice Hockey World Championships. Although it was originally agreed upon that both Dahlberg and Batja would officiate, the Soviets backed out of the agreement after Dahlberg was diagnosed with the flu. As a compromise, Josef Kompalla and Batja officiated the match, which ended with Canada winning the title. Besides refereeing ice hockey matches, Dahlberg also officiated soccer matches, including the qualifying rounds for the FIFA World Cup.

He was inducted posthumously into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2004, and into the Swedish Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012.

Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1947–48 Surahammars IF Division 2 4 1 0 1 – 2 0 – 0 – 1948–49 Surahammars IF Division 1 9 2 0 2 2—–——— 1949–50 Surahammars IF Division 2 7 10 0 10 0————— 1950–51 Västerås IK Division 1 10 3 – 3 0————– 1951–52 Surahammars IF Division 2 9 3 0 3 0————— 1952–53 Surahammars IF Division 1 10 3 0 3 2————— 1953–54 Surahammars IF Division 1 10 0 0 0 2————— 1954–55 Surahammars IF Division 2 8 8 0 8 020000 1955–56 Surahammars IF Division 1 9 2 0 2 0————— 1956–57 Surahammars IF Division 2 12 4 0 4 264044 1957–58 Surahammars IF Division 1 14 0 0 0 0————— 1958–59 Surahammars IF Division 2 7 1 0 1 0————— 1959–60 Surahammars IF Division 3 8 11 0 11 042—20 1960–61 Surahammars IF Division 2 5 2 0 2 4————— Source:

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM1962 Sweden WC 2 0 – 0 – Senior totals 20–2– Source: