William Löfqvist

Did You Know?

• Löfqvist died from breast cancer and attempted to raise awareness that men can also be affected.
• A memorial ceremony for him was held inside Gavlerinken Arena before an SHL game between Brynäs IF and HV71 on 27 October 2016.
• He was buried inside Hille Church on 18 November 2016.

Ice hockey career

Löfqvist was born and grew up in Gävle, Sweden, and began playing ice hockey as a teenager, becoming a goaltender by coincidence. At 18 he played his first season with Strömsbro IF in the Swedish second division. After three seasons there, helping the team advance to the first division, he was recruited by local rival Brynäs IF for the 1968–69 season. He spent 15 seasons with Brynäs, mostly as their first goaltender, playing 500 games and winning the Swedish national championship six times in eleven years: 1970, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1977, and 1980. For the 1971–72 season he received The Golden Puck as the best Swedish player in the highest league. He played 105 matches for the Swedish national team, 37 of them in World Championships, Olympic Games, or the Canada Cup. After the 1982–83 season he retired from ice hockey.

Golf career

Löfqvist began golf around age 12, searching for golf balls at Gävle Golf Club with friends to earn money for his first clubs. He convinced his father Sven to pay his membership fee, and within a few years won junior championships at club and district level. By 1966 he was among the top twelve junior golfers in Sweden, and the following year he was selected for a national team camp. In 1972 he won the Norrland Championship, one of three Swedish regions covering the northern half of the country. In July 1975 he won two successive national 72-hole amateur tournaments in consecutive weeks. On August 1, 1976, he won the Norrland Championship again, then ended his golf season to participate in the first Canada Cup ice hockey tournament. Despite being in the middle of his ice hockey career, he reached handicap scratch in 1977. That spring he finished second in Slottspokalen, one of Sweden's most prestigious amateur tournaments, at Uppsala Golf Club. After turning professional in 1983, he played on the Swedish Golf Tour, which began in 1984, but with a reduced schedule and limited success. His best finish in 1983 was tied 6th at the Gevalia Open on his home course, Gävle Golf Club, placing him 22nd on the 1983 Swedish Professional Order of Merit. On the Swedish Golf Tour his best finish was tied 26th at the 1984 Martini Cup at Rya Golf Club. His eldest son Robert also became a golf professional and was part of the team winning the Swedish national club team championship for Gävle Golf Club in 1997. Löfqvist and his son won the Swedish Father and Son Championship three times, a 36-hole foursome stroke-play event open to amateurs and professionals without prize money.