Linköping HC

Lore & Background

The club's roots trace back to 1942, when football players of BK Kenty founded the ice hockey club BK Robbi, which played friendlies on Stångån during winter. In 1945, BK Robbi merged with BK Kenty after the Kenty board had been hesitant to establish a hockey department. Kenty played only 30 games in five seasons during the second half of the 1940s due to weather dependence, but by the end of the 1950s had established itself in Division 2, the domestic second tier. The club was granted a permanent home at Folkungavallen near the city centre. In 1969, Kenty merged with IK Terra, but internal differences arose in the 1970s as part of the board wanted to prioritize football financially over hockey.

Linköping HC was founded on 4 August 1976 as a spin-off from BK Kenty and moved into the newly-built indoor arena Stångebro Ishall. The club first played in the top division in the 1999–2000 season and has been in the top division since the 2001–02 season. LHC reached the playoffs eight times, advancing to the final for the first time in 2006–07, where they lost to Modo Hockey. In the 2007–08 season, they again reached the final, losing to HV71 and winning the silver medal.

Reader's Guide

Linköping HC's significance lies in its relatively rapid rise from a local spin-off club to a consistent presence in Sweden's top hockey division. Founded in 1976 as a breakaway from BK Kenty, the club spent its early decades in lower tiers before first reaching the Elitserien in the 1999–2000 season and establishing itself permanently from 2001–02 onward. The club's two appearances in the SHL finals (2006–07 and 2007–08) mark its highest achievements, earning silver medals both times. Off the ice, Linköping HC has expanded its influence beyond hockey: it financially backs and is affiliated with Linköpings FC, the women's football team, and in 2008 announced an affiliation with local volleyball club Team Valla, rebranded as Linköpings Volleyboll Club. The club's twelfth-place standing in the SHL marathon standings reflects its sustained competitiveness since joining the top flight. Its home arena, Saab Arena, with a capacity of 8,190, has been the club's home since moving from Stångebro Ishall.

Did You Know?

• The club's home arena, Saab Arena, was formerly known as Cloetta Center and seats 8,190 spectators.
• LHC reached the SHL final twice, in 2006–07 and 2007–08, losing both times and winning silver medals.

The Long Road Through the NHL

Taffe entered the professional world after three collegiate seasons at the University of Minnesota, during which the Blues moved his rights to Phoenix in a transaction involving Keith Tkachuk. His 2002–03 debut split time between the Springfield Falcons and twenty NHL games with the Coyotes, where he tallied three goals. Over portions of three seasons he logged 82 games in Arizona before a mid-2005–06 trade sent him to New York for Jamie Lundmark; two brief appearances later, he was dealt back to Phoenix for Martin Sonnenberg. A 2007 signing with Pittsburgh gave him a checking role on the fourth line, and the following year he was recalled for the Penguins' playoff push. His most fleeting stints came with Florida and Chicago, where a single game against his former Coyotes on February 12, 2011, marked his only Blackhawks appearance. A five-game recall with Minnesota in 2011–12 closed out a decade of North American professional hockey defined more by movement than by stability.

AHL Scoring Prowess

After a decade of splitting time between the NHL and its minor-league affiliates, Taffe found his most consistent offensive identity in the American Hockey League. The 2012–13 campaign with the Hershey Bears proved to be his breakout: he led the team in scoring with 71 points across 73 games, a total that ranked second in the entire AHL. His playmaking was particularly remarkable, and on April 20, 2013, in the penultimate regular-season game, he logged his 53rd assist of the year in a 4–2 loss to the Binghamton Senators, crossing the 500-point milestone in the league. That season earned him a selection to the AHL Second All-Star Team. Earlier in his career, the 2004–05 season with the Utah Grizzlies had already hinted at his offensive instincts at the professional level. The Bears run in 2012–13 stood as the clearest evidence that, when handed a full season and a defined role, Taffe could compete with the league's top producers.

The European Odyssey

Taffe's first foray abroad came on May 17, 2013, when he signed a two-year contract with Linköpings HC in Sweden's top division. Yet barely two weeks later, citing personal reasons, he was granted a release to remain in North America; the parting was amicable, and Linköpings left the door open for a future return. After another year with Hershey that ended without a playoff berth, Taffe honored that invitation, signing a one-year deal on July 22, 2014. The 2014–15 season vindicated the move: he adapted quickly and produced 59 points in just 54 games, meeting the high expectations set by his AHL form. In April 2015 he departed for a lucrative one-year contract with HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk in the KHL, followed by a second Russian season with HC Slovan Bratislava. His journeyman path continued to HC Ambrì-Piotta in Switzerland in August 2017, and he ultimately returned to Slovan Bratislava on August 22, 2018, for another one-year commitment.

Defining Moments

Two episodes bookended Taffe's career with moments that shaped his public narrative. On November 28, 2004, while playing for the Utah Grizzlies, he struck Houston Aeros goaltender Josh Harding with an elbow to the back of the neck, producing a grade-two concussion; the league suspended him for four games. At the other extreme, the 2009 Stanley Cup run with Pittsburgh offered a bittersweet footnote: recalled after Wilkes-Barre's AHL playoff elimination, Taffe sat on the practice squad throughout the championship series. Because he did not appear in a game, he did not qualify to be inscribed on the Stanley Cup itself, yet he still took part in the on-ice celebration, posed for the team photograph, and received a championship ring. His lone NHL game with Chicago on February 12, 2011—a 3–2 shootout loss to his old Coyotes, filled in for injured and ill teammates—remains a footnote in a career marked more by proximity to greatness than by sustained stardom.