The Founder of Blue Line Hockey and The Hockey IQ Program is Marcus Gustafsson.

He grew up near Uppsala, Sweden and played Youth, Junior and Division 1 (now Allsvenskan) with Almtuna IS.

He was fortunate to play for Almtuna IS when many top coaches in Sweden were coaching for the organization (see list below).

At age 20, Marcus left Sweden for the University of Maine.  During his four years as a Black Bear, he was part of a National Championship runner-up and a Hockey East Regular season Champion in 1995. He scored the game-winning goal in O.T. to win the 1999 NCAA National Championship game vs New Hampshire.

Marcus still holds two school records for the Maine Black Bears:

1) Most points in a game (6), and

2) Most assists in a game (5).

The coaching staff at Maine was nothing short of phenomenal (see below).

In the list of coaches below, you will see a few Stanley Cup champions, College Hockey Coaches of the Year, World Championship and Olympic coaches for both the U.S and Sweden.

The information in the Blue Line Hockey I.Q. Program is gathered from Marcus’ years of playing for these coaches, as well as from his teammates from the various teams and by being a student of the game for the last 20+ years after retiring from hockey.

“Most players today would be fortunate to learn from just one of these coaches.  I had the luxury of learning from all of them and I want to share that knowledge to give the next generation of players an edge when it comes to Hockey IQ” 

Marcus Gustafsson

Founder of The Blue Line Hockey IQ Program.

List of Coaches that Marcus played for & has learned from:

Sweden:

• Hakan Press (Came to Uppsala after coaching with Thomas Storm and AIK)
• Christer Hoglund (Sweden Hockey Hall of Fame & author)
• Mats Emanuelsson (Founding member of Sweden Hockey Institute)
• Claes-Goran “Myggan” Wallin (G.M. for Team Sweden)
• Thomas Ullbors (Sweden’s youngest Elite coach of all time. Spent time in the Soviet Union learning from Victor Tichonov and in Canada with Dave King).

North America:

College Coaches:

• Shawn Walsh (5-time College Hockey Coach of the Year award winner, 2 NCAA Championships)
• Grant Standbrook (5 NCAA Championships with Wisconsin & Maine, Assistant Olympic & World Championship coach)
• Greg Cronin (Current Head Coach for Anaheim Ducks, NHL)
• Nate Leaman (2 NCAA Championships with Maine & Providence, USCHO College Coach of the Year)
• Gene Reilly (USHL Head Coach)

Professional Coaches:

• Vancouver Canucks (NHL) – Marc Crawford & Mike Johnston
• Syracuse Crunch (AHL) – Jack McIllhargey
• Lowell Lockmonsters (AHL) – Bruce Beaudreau
• New Orleans Brass (ECHL) – Ted Sator & Reijo Routsalainen.