The Champions Hockey League trophy usually returns to Sweden after a team from another country takes it away, based on recent history at least.
Tappara Tampere claimed the prize in 2023, so it fell to Skellefteå to go and claim the trophy back again last Tuesday evening after it had spent a year on loan in Finland.
That’s not how it turned out, though, as noted in my game report from the Final. Switzerland’s Genève-Servette were worthy winners on the night in a 3-2 victory and Sweden will go without a winner for two straight seasons for the first time since the new CHL format was introduced in 2015.
It’s hardly a reason to start an inquest into the health of Swedish hockey, but it will smart a bit based on the way in which Swiss money is taking away some premium talent from the SHL this summer, most notably Victor Ejdsell (leaving Färjestad for SC Bern) and the Finnish Malmö pair Janne Kuokkanen and Lauri Pajuniemi who are heading to Lausanne.
Skellefteå return to home comforts
Robert Ohlsson’s squad quickly got their CHL Final disappointment out of their system by earning victories on Thursday and Saturday to increase their SHL winning streak to six games.
Former NHL player Oscar Lindberg has been at the heart of their recent form, coincidentally having returned to his home team after spending last season in the Swiss National League with SC Bern. He’s recorded eight points over the winning run, including a goal and two assists in the 5-3 win over Oskarshamn on Saturday.
Those points have lifted him to the top of the SHL points leader board with 42 from 43 games, one point ahead of Linköping’s Ty Rattie who has 41 points from 45 games.
Oskarshamn’s losing streak continues, whilst Leksands’ ends
Oskarshamn’s loss to Skellefteå extended the bottom club’s losing streak to a depressing 11 games, during which they have been outscored by 54 goals to 18.
Their next attempt to break that unwanted run comes on Tuesday when they host Leksands at the Be-Ge Hockey Center. If they need some inspiration then their next opponents would be a good team to look towards.
Leksands have been in a tailspin of late and had lost seven games in a row prior to hosting Luleå at the Tegera Arena on Saturday. Luleå took the lead after only 28 seconds and when they doubled their advantage early in the 2nd Period it would have been no surprise to see Leksands’ heads drop.
Instead they staged a comeback and won the game 4-3 with Max Veronneau notching his second goal of the game with a mere five seconds remaining to win it in dramatic style. Those of you who watched my Saturday afternoon SHL livestream will know that I happened to switch over to that game just as the puck went to Veronneau and the explosion of noise from the crowd was deafening.
Charles Berglund’s side are still in seventh place in the SHL table despite their recent slide and sit four points behind sixth-placed Timrå with a game in hand. Stopping the losing streak this past weekend has given them a fair chance to fight for a top-six finish, something that was slowly slipping away after they had looked certainties to finish there just three weeks ago.
Scary moment for Sebastian Hartmann
Timrå claimed an excellent come-from-behind 2-1 win against second-placed Växjö on Saturday, with Anton Wedin getting a brace for the home team.
Sadly, the celebrations were somewhat muted due to an awful incident near the end of the First Period in which their forward Sebastian Hartmann had a skateblade run over his calf.
The officials decided to call for the intermission early so that the medics could take all the time they needed, oddly something that also happened in the game between Malmö and Rögle the same afternoon albeit for the less-serious reason of a piece of the plexiglass breaking and needing to be replaced.
Timrå posted a brief update on their official website on Sunday that confirmed he would be okay, yet with the unfortunate news that the pending surgery and recovery period means Hartmann’s season is over prematurely.
Färjestad in First
The top-of-the-table clash on Thursday between Färjestad and Vaxjo was as closely-contested as expected, with the two teams unable to be separated after 65 minutes of play.
Färjestad ultimately won the shootout and grabbed the extra point in a 4-3 victory and they then won by the same scoreline on Saturday against Örebro, although they were made to work hard for it.
The league-leaders trailed 2-0 after less than seven minutes before recovering and setting themselves up for what looked like being a 3-2 home win. That was until the puck fell to Robert Leino with a mere six seconds remaining and he sent the game to Overtime. Per Åslund scored in the final minute of the additional five to extend Färjestad’s winning streak to eight games, although they will be frustrated that the latest victory earned them two points when they will feel they should have had all three.
It still gives Färjestad the best active winning streak in the SHL after Frölunda saw their nine-game streak snapped on Saturday in a shoot-out loss to HV71.
Is there hope for HV71?
HV71 had the benefit not only of a sold-out Husqvarna Garden but also the presence of Frederik Dichow in between the pipes, who was determined to impress against his former team. He did just that by saving 16 of the 17 shots he faced and then came out on top in the shoot-out, teammate Henrik Borgström getting the credit for the game-winning penalty shot in a 2-1 victory.
HV71 remain in 13th place, but are now only three points behind Malmö Redhawks after they lost 3-2 in the 11th versus 12th battle against Rögle on Saturday.
HV71 travel to Ängelholm to take on Rögle on Tuesday night in a huge game for both clubs. A win for Rögle would give them a 10-point gap to the dreaded relegation play-off places with six games remaining; however, if HV71 can come away from Catena Arena victorious they will close to within four points of their opponents in the league table.
When you add into the mix Malmö hosting Frölunda on the same evening you have a recipe for real drama. If both results go the way HV71 would wish for they would end Tuesday night level on points with the Redhawks.
Although there is plenty of hockey to be played over the next couple of weeks that could quickly change the equation, the fact that Malmö and HV71 face each other on the final day of the regular season offers the tantalising prospect (for us neutrals, at least) of a nerve-jangling climax.
