Herning Blue Fox is a Danish professional ice hockey team based in Herning , Denmark, playing in the Metal Ligaen , the top tier of Danish ice hockey. The club was founded in 1947 and play their home games in the KVIK Hockey Arena which has a capacity of 4,105 spectators.
13-509: The club has won the Danish championship 16 times with the last title coming in 2012. 2015–2016 season After the departure of long-time head coach Todd Bjorkstrand, Herning signed Mario Simioni to take the helm of the club. Simioni led the team to the playoffs where they faced the fifth-ranked Odense Bulldogs in the quarterfinals. Herning started the series strong with a 2–1 victory at home, though Odense then evened it up in game two, with
26-421: A 3–0 shutout victory. Herning came back strong in game three as they dominated Odense in a 6–1 road win. Game four was a 2–1 victory to Odense, again evening up the series. Odense took their first lead of the series as they won game five in overtime 2–1. Herning evened up the series in game six with a 2–1 victory on the road. Herning won the series, with a series-clinching 2–1 overtime win in game seven to move on to
39-756: The Austrian Hockey League , he was released in February 2015. In April 2015, he was named head coach of Danish outfit Herning Blue Fox and led the team to a finals appearance in the 2015-16 season, where they fell short to Esbjerg Energy . Simioni left Herning after one year to join the coaching staff of the Hamburg Freezers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) in Germany as an assistant to Serge Aubin . However,
52-678: The Cardiff Devils of the British Ice Hockey Superleague and the 1999-00 season with the Odense Bulldogs of Denmark. In Odense, he served as player-coach and put an end to his playing career in the year 2000. Simioni focused on coaching at Odense after serving as player-coach in 1999-00. In his five-year stint with the Bulldogs, he guided the team to the playoff-finals in 2002 and 2003, while winning
65-652: The Erste Bank Hockey League . This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by Herning Blue Fox. Updated 1 October 2024. Mario Simioni Mario Simioni (born April 1, 1963) is a Canadian - Italian professional ice hockey coach and former professional ice hockey player. He has been serving as head coach of the Frederikshavn White Hawks since May 2016. Born in Toronto , Ontario , Canada, Simioni
78-519: The 2003 Danish Cup competition. In April 2004, Simioni was appointed head coach of German first-division side Krefeld Pinguine , but was sacked only some months later, in October, after having won only three of the ten opening games of the 2004-05 season. He returned to Denmark and took over head coaching duties at SønderjyskE in December 2005, kicking off a "golden era". Under Simioni's guidance,
91-725: The Hamburg team folded in May 2016 and a couple of days after this announcement had been made, Simioni was named head coach of the Frederikshavn White Hawks of the Danish top-flight Metal Ligaen . Krefeld Pinguine The Krefeld Pinguine (Krefeld Penguins) are an ice hockey team in the DEL2 . Their home ice is in Krefeld , North Rhine-Westphalia , Germany at the Yayla Arena . Founded in 1936 by entrepreneur Willi Münstermann ,
104-581: The Italian Serie A and would dominate the league in scoring during his seven-year stint. A Canadian of Italian descent, he was named to the Italian national team, representing the country at three World Championships (two in Group B, 1992 in the highest division). From 1994 to 1998, Simioni played for Vojens IK , continuing his scoring prowess in the Danish league. He then spent the 1998-99 campaign with
117-421: The club which he had played for in the late 1990s (named Vojens IK back then) won four Danish championships (2006, 2009, 2010, 2013), four bronze medals (2007, 2008, 2011, 2012), three Danish Cup titles (2010, 2011, 2013) and one bronze medal in the 2010-11 IIHF Continental Cup . He parted ways with SønderjyskE following the 2012-13 season. In August 2014, Simioni accepted the head coaching job at HC Bozen of
130-464: The finals—their first since 2004. After his first season with Herning, Simioni left the club to join the coaching staff of the Hamburg Freezers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) in Germany as an assistant to Serge Aubin . 2016–2017 season In May 2016, Herning Blue Fox signed former head coach Todd Bjorkstrand. Bjorkstrand returned to the club after leaving in 2014 to coach the Graz 99ers of
143-533: The semis. The semifinals saw the Herning Blue Fox facing the second-ranked Frederikshavn White Hawks . Game one resulted in a 3–1 home win for the White Hawks. In game two Herning came out victorious in a blowout 7–1 win. The White Hawks regained the series lead with a 5–2 win in game three. In game four Herning evened up the series with a 5–2 win. The White Hawks won game five 5–3 as they took back
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#1732791441521156-479: The series lead, though game six saw Herning shutout the White Hawks in a 2–0 win. Herning defeated the White Hawks 3–1 in game seven to clinch a spot in the league final. In the finals, Herning Blue Fox was set to clash with the Esbjerg Energy . In game one, Esbjerg came out victorious in a 3–2 home win. Though Herning won three straight games to take a 3–1 series lead, Esbjerg won three straight games to win
169-935: Was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the 1981 NHL Draft (5th round, 99th overall), but never played in the National Hockey League . However, he saw action for the Colorado Flames , then Calgary's CHL affiliate, in 1982-83 and 1983-84. He split the 1984-85 season between the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the IHL and the Moncton Golden Flames of the AHL, before continuing his pro career in Europe. Simioni signed with Asiago of
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