HV71 set to lose their captain?

On Tuesday evening, as the heat of a rare sunny British summer day started to reduce, I sat at my laptop and continued work on my 2024-25 SHL preparation.

The result was a first draft of my 2024-25 team sheet for HV71. Less than 24 hours later, I’m having to make my first major revision to it.

Team captain André Petersson was notable by his absence at HV71’s opening training day on Wednesday. Sportbladet have subsequently reported that the squad were informed that he would not be returning to the team for the coming season.

How HV71 got here

Last season almost ended in disaster for the Jönköping club when they narrowly escaped relegation by winning a Game Seven ‘Play-Out’ decider against Oskarshamn. With six minutes of the game left, and HV resting on a comfortable 5-0 lead, it became clear over the TV coverage that the tone in Husqvarna Garden was suddenly changing.

The relief and joy of the evening was being replaced with anger and frustration. Thirty seconds later, the production crew at TV4 cut away from the action on the ice to the action in the stands. Three white banners were being held aloft, with a very blunt message to the HV higher-ups.

“The board and Nubben’s incompetence have destroyed HV’s existence”
“This would never happen. Now all bridges are burned”
“Resign everyone”

HV’s captain, André Petersson, was interviewed by TV4 after the game and he wasted little time in making clear whose side he was on. “A change is needed”, said the captain, explaining that “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”.

Sporting Director Kent Norberg, the “Nubben” targeted in the fan’s message, was promptly ‘relieved of his duties’ and that was only the start of the off-season upheaval.

Yet few would have predicted that Petersson would be following Norberg out the door.

Agent goes public with the dispute

Things have come to a head over the past couple of weeks. On 23 July, Petersson’s agent, Aljosa Pilko, took to social media to publicly criticise HV’s new Sporting Director Chris Abbott. In summary, Pilko claims that his client had been promised a contract extension – presumably by Norberg – and Abbott was now refusing to honour that agreement.

If the claim is true then Petersson’s frustration would be understandable. No one can deny his commitment to HV in recent seasons, nor the contribution he has made to keep the team in the SHL.

The problem is, Abbott’s position is just as understandable in return. He cannot be bound by a verbal agreement that he was not party to. Petersson is presumably one of their top earners, he would certainly deserve to be, and Abbott would want to settle into his role before making such a financial commitment.

The rights and wrongs from there depend on what’s really happened. Pilko has implied that Abbott isn’t returning his calls, which would be an odd approach to take when it concerns the team’s captain. Abbott may disagree with that claim, or may feel justified in refusing to take Pilko’s calls given earlier discussions.

What everyone can agree on is that an agent publicly ‘clowning’ a Sporting Director is usually the beginning of the end.

Only one ending

A real change in culture is needed at HV, as Petersson himself said. To deliver that, Abbott has to show strong leadership. Letting an agent be seen to be calling the shots would immediately damage his authority. Pilko’s comments left Abbott with no choice but to accept his captain’s departure.

And maybe that leads us to something like the truth, if a single version of the truth really exists here.

Agents work for their players, not the other way around despite what some teams like to claim to save face with their fanbase. If Petersson is unhappy and wants out with a year remaining on his contract, the agent’s job is to make that happen. If achieving that means Pilko has to make himself the bad guy publicly, so be it. That’s just part of the job.

Whilst the manner of Petersson’s impending departure will be debated, what is clear is that it is a sad end to his time with the club. And, the timing is going to cause Abbott a headache he could really do without.

My initial roster draft from Tuesday evening had HV71 turning out a potential top line of Henrik Borgström, Tanner Kero and André Petersson. The latter has now been replaced with a question mark.

Abbott is going to need to work quickly to turn that question mark into a high quality replacement.