Few games match the contrast in emotions that are produced by a final game decider of a relegation series. That was shown on Friday night when HV71 defeated Oskarshman 5-0 in Game Seven of the SHL Relegation Series.
HV71
For HV71 there was joy in avoiding relegation to the HockeyAllsvenskan for the second time in four years; however it was mixed with understandable frustration. The team from Jönköping are a proud club of great tradition. Their relegation in the 2020-21 season came just four years after they had been crowned SHL Champions and was met as much with shock as it was anger.
Having achieved promotion back to the SHL at the first time of asking, the supporters were expecting that lessons had been learned and they could put those struggles behind them. Instead, the team laboured to an 11th-placed finish last season and then finished second from bottom in this campaign. Even though the final game of the best-of-seven relegation series was a comfortable victory, there was nothing comfortable about the series overall and no one among senior management at HV71 should fool themselves as to how close they were to presiding over a second disaster in four years.
The HV71 fans certainly won’t let them escape responsibility. A section had come to Husqvarna Garden armed with banners that made their thoughts clear to the higher-ups.
The message translates approximately to: “The board and Nubben’s incompetence have destroyed HV’s existence … This would never happen. Now all bridges are burned … Resign everyone”.
They waited until their team was 5-0 up before displaying the message, but the whole point of it was that it would have been just as applicable if they were 0-5 down. Narrowly avoiding relegation and being relegated certainly are two different fates, yet the two situations come back to the same failings.
It wasn’t just a pocket of fans who were feeling this way. Team captain André Petersson was asked about the banner after the game by TV4 and stated: “I don’t know if I’m the right person to solve that problem. But it’s basically the same situation three out of the last four years and I don’t think it’s okay when we have these fans and the municipality supporting the team” (Google translation of comments as reported by HockeyNewsSE).
Oskarshamn
Everyone at Oskarshamn would happily deal with this problem. They don’t have the benefit of trying to channel their frustrations into doing better in the SHL next season. Instead, they are facing a complete overhaul and an uncertain competitive future.
Oskarshamn secured promotion to the SHL at the end of the 2018-19 season having lost to Leksand in the Final the previous season. It was huge moment for the club after years outside of the top-tier. Subsequently managing to stay in the SHL for five seasons shouldn’t be downplayed as an achievement for them, as Oskarshamn historically have not been among the Swedish elite, but that will be small comfort for them right now.
Oskarshamn know all too well how difficult it is to get out of the HockeyAllsvenskan and new Sporting Director Oscar Alsenfelt has a big job on his hands this summer.
The majority of players have exit clauses in their contracts that allow them to leave if the team falls out of the SHL. It’s previously been reported that Patrik Karlkvist has an agreement in place with Örebro and that play-off star Viktor Lodin has recently reached an agreement with Färjestad and, in truth, it will be much quicker to list the players that will stay at the club than those who will leave.
That also applies to Head Coach Martin Filander who will see his four years in Oskarshamn come to an end.
For their fans, it wasn’t just the end of a spell in the SHL, but the end of watching this group of players representing their club and their city. It will be a long summer for them as they look on at how their team’s management plots a path back to the Big Time.
