Eirik Skadsdammen

Eirik Bruntjernsberget Skadsdammen was born on 23 May 1981 in Kongsvinger, Norway, according to the Storhamar club archive and Wikidata. He grew up at Lundersæter (also written Lundersætra) on Finnskogen, the forested border district in Kongsvinger municipality, Innlandet.

As a boy he cycled together with his older brother Trond. He came to ice hockey at around the age of 12, first playing on the frozen lakes around Kongsvinger, including Steinreien and Øvre Digernessjøen. When the Kongshallen rink in Kongsvinger opened in 1992, he and four friends from Lundersæter went along to try organised hockey. Kongsvinger IL Ishockey became his first club (moderklubb).

His brother later told VG that coming from Finnskogen it was far from a given that he would play for Storhamar, let alone win caps for Norway.

Skadsdammen joined Storhamar Dragons in Hamar from Kongsvinger before the 1999 season, as an 18-year-old. He and Patrick Thoresen broke into the senior team together, and the club has marked their shared debut in October 1999 as the day "two legends were born".

A forward who stood 181 cm and played at about 92 kg, he quickly became a key part of the team. The club archive describes him as a loyal club man who played wherever he was placed and always gave everything, whether on the first or fourth line, moving over the years from solid defensive forward to goalscorer on the top line. His raw strength and stamina earned him the nickname "maskina" (the machine). In August 2006 he topped the Norwegian Ice Hockey Federation's physical testing of elite league players and was named the year's "Ironman", with 640 points overall; his best event was the 3,000 metres, which he ran in 9:56, the only player under ten minutes.

With Storhamar he won the Norwegian championship (NM gold) in 2004, 2008 and 2018, and the league title (seriemester) in 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2018. The defining moment of his career was the 2008 final, which he decided with a sudden-death goal. Several long injury lay-offs interrupted his career, but he always came back, often fitter than before. In 2014-15 he enjoyed a late peak with a career-best 68 points across the regular season and playoffs.

Over 18 seasons he played more than 900 games for Storhamar, second only to one player in the club's history, and scored 262 goals with 291 assists for 553 points. He ended his top-flight career with the King's Cup after his final game in spring 2018. He then made a comeback for Storhamar's second team in the 1. divisjon, and after moving home to Kongsvinger he played the end of the 2023-24 season for Kongsvinger, helping his first club win promotion to the 1. divisjon.

Skadsdammen represented Norway's men's national team. He played at Division I (B-level) World Championship tournaments and was part of Norway's squad at the 2008 IIHF World Championship in Canada, according to VG.

Sources differ on his number of caps. VG reported 27 games for Norway, while Glåmdalen reported 32. The Storhamar archive lists 11 official internationals.

Skadsdammen was known as a man of the forest. He loved hunting, took time for the elk hunt during the hockey season, and invited many team-mates to hunt small game at home at Lundersætra on Finnskogen, where they remember his hospitality. His goal song also came from Lundersætra and became a favourite at Storhamar's CC Amfi arena.

In the last part of his life he lived in Kongsvinger, as a neighbour of his brother Trond, who called him "my little brother and my best friend". He was survived by his partner (samboer) and two children, whose names have not been made public. Trond told VG that if Eirik could choose, he would rather be remembered as a good hunter than a good hockey player.

Skadsdammen is regarded as one of the greatest players in Storhamar's history. His number 8 shirt was retired and hangs from the roof of CC Amfi in Hamar, and he ranks second on the club's all-time games list. Storhamar's tribute remembered him less for his statistics than for his character: "the loyal man who went first into battle and fought for the team", always honest, always fair, and someone who never hid.

Patrick Thoresen, who debuted alongside him, said Skadsdammen inspired the training hours that drove his own career and called him "a physical monster". Storhamar general manager Espen Løvås said he had left deep marks on the club both through his performances on the ice and through the person he was.

Norwegian champion (NM gold) with Storhamar: 2004, 2008, 2018.

Norwegian league champion (seriemester) with Storhamar: 2001, 2004, 2006, 2018.

Named the Norwegian Ice Hockey Federation's "Ironman" (best physical test among elite league players), 2006.

Scored the deciding sudden-death goal in the 2008 Norwegian championship final.

Number 8 retired by Storhamar, 2018, with a testimonial match that autumn.

Storhamar Hockey's own channel published interviews and features with him, including a "10 Kjappe" (ten quick questions) video and a pre-match SIL-TV interview with Jeff Jakobs, as well as footage from his 2018 testimonial match in Hamar. Footage of Storhamar winning the 2008 Norwegian final also survives online. After his death, his passing was covered by VG, NTB, Hamar Arbeiderblad and Glåmdalen in Norway and by heute.at in Austria.

Eirik Skadsdammen died on Wednesday 7 October 2026, aged 45. VG, citing Hamar Arbeiderblad, which first reported the death, said the cause was a cardiac arrest during a hunting trip. His brother Trond was on the trip, and he and others in the hunting party tried to help, but his life could not be saved. The exact location of the hunt has not been made public.

"We take some comfort in the fact that he died doing something he loved, hunting," Trond told VG, adding that his brother had simply collapsed and had not suffered.

Storhamar announced the news the same evening, writing that it had received it "with disbelief and great sorrow". Tributes followed from former team-mates including Patrick Thoresen, from the club's general manager Espen Løvås, and from fans across Norwegian hockey. Funeral details had not been made public at the time of writing.