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SHL Line-Ups

SHL Line-Ups: 20 September

by Matthew Smith
written by Matthew Smith

We’re almost there! The 2024-25 Swedish Hockey League season gets going tomorrow with all 14 teams in action. Here are a few team notes from today.

Frölunda

There are two positive bits of news coming out of Gothenburg on the eve of the new season, just outweighing the bad.

The first is that the team has somewhere to play! Frölunda have been in dispute with their landlord, GotEvent, all summer regarding a new lease at the Scandinavium. The new lease was signed today so fears that their opener against Leksand might be postponed, which always seemed like a negotiating tactic rather than a likely endpoint, have been allayed.

The second is that goaltender Lasse Johansson has signed a two-year contract extension with the team. The 37-year old already had one year remaining, so this takes him through to the end of the 2026-27 season.

The bad news is that forward Gustav Rydahl will not be returning to action as soon as first hoped. Having undergone back surgery at the start of 2024, a pre-season game appearance over the previous weekend backed up the player’s own optimism that he might be ready for the SHL Opener.

That is not to be, as Head Coach Roger Rönnberg has confirmed that it will still be a few weeks before he is ready for competitive action. The English translation of his quote to GP is: “Nothing dramatic has happened. It takes time to get fresh after an operation like this. He was examined by specialists earlier this week – and received reassuring news from there. But it takes longer than he wants”.

Brynäs

The Hockey Gods also giveth and taketh away in Gävle.

Brynäs have confirmed today that defenseman Viktor Persson has signed a short-term contract with the team. He was brought in on trial over the pre-season period and has impressed enough to be given an initial seven-week contract.

The decision has been influenced by a lower-body injury to off-season signing Charle-Édouard D’Astous. Brynäs state that he is expected to be out for “two to five weeks”.

The other big loss in Brynäs is nothing to do with the playing squad. Fans will have to do without a ‘media cube’ (i.e. the big four-sided TV in the centre of the arena ceiling) for the time being. The team decided to invest in some improvements to Monitor ERP Arena after their promotion back to the SHL was confirmed; however the equipment has been held up on its ocean voyage from Asia and is unlikely to be operational until sometime in October.

Malmö

Malmö players and fans have come out fighting in response to them being the most frequently-predicted team to face the drop this season. The feeling from many is that they have more depth than others are giving them credit for.

That depth will be tested straight away as goaltender Marek Langhamer has been ruled out of the opening game against Skellefteå, with Daniel Marmenlind taking over between the pipes. Expressen are reporting that it may be the start of a longer lay-off, although the team’s official line currently is that it is a day-to-day issue.

Unfortunately, it’s definitely not a day-to-day issue affecting Thomas Berg Paulsen. The forward is currently sidelined and Head Coach Tomas Kollar confirmed to Expressen that it is possible he will be missing until mid-November.

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SHL Line-Ups

SHL Update: 10 September

by Matthew Smith
written by Matthew Smith

After enjoying a whole load of Champions Hockey League action over the weekend, and then recording the latest podcast episode yesterday evening, I’ve spent part of my Tuesday evening catching up on some SHL team notes. As always, click on the team name to go their dedicated team page where you can find the Team Line-up chart and further details.

Brynäs

Brynäs are continuing to look for a defenseman following the news that Christian Djoos will be out for 4-6 weeks. He confirmed today, in an interview with Gefle Dagblad (via HockeyNews.SE) that he has discarded his crutches and his recovery is going to plan. “I hope [to return] as soon as possible, but hopefully I will be back in four weeks”, is how Djoos puts it.

We know that there will not be a return for Jordie Benn as the Canadian confirmed today that he has retired. Whilst Brynäs would have loved to have him back, the fact that his wife is due to give birth to their third child soon always made that seem unlikely. There was a chance that he may sit-out the first few months and then join later in the season, but his retirement has closed that door.

Brynäs next take to the ice on Wednesday with a pre-season game against MoDo.

Frölunda

The good news coming out of Frölunda’s pre-season training camp is that Gustav Rydahl’s rehabilitation from back surgery is going well.

Rydahl last played at the end of December and it’s been a long road back for him. He was able to start skating last week and it’s hoped he will be able to take part in team training this week. That means there’s a chance he could be ready for SHL Opening Day although, given his lengthy lay-off, you would expect Frölunda to be cautious rather than risk a setback. Having Rydahl back within the first couple of the weeks of the season starting would be a bonus in any event.

Färjestad

Färjestad had an excellent start to the 2024-25 season in the Champions Hockey League by winning both of their first two matches. They beat Lahti Pelicans 5-0 and KAC Klagenfurt 6-2.

Joel Kellman missed the opener but was in the line-up on Sunday and Färjestad’s other injured players all have a chance of being involved in the CHL games this weekend, with the exception of long-term injured defenseman Jérémy Groleau. David Tomasek was close to being involved on Sunday, but ultimately was not risked, although it’s currently expected he will play this weekend. The same goes for Linus Johansson and Magnus Nygren.

HV71

HV71 today announced the signing of defenseman Sean Day. He has spent the past four seasons in the AHL playing for Syracuse Crunch, as well as making 2 NHL appearances for Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2021-22 season.

This will be Day’s first foray into Europe and, as with all North American players, we should expect there to be a period of adjustment as he gets used to the bigger rink and the slightly different style of play. He will have a familiar face to welcome him to Jönköping in goaltender Hugo Alnefelt, who was previously a teammate of his in Syracuse.

HV also announced today that young forward Herman Träff is being loaned to Nybro Vikings so that he can get some regular playing time in the Allsvenskan.

HV71 played a pre-season game against Örebro today, winning 5-4. Their starting line-up included young Swiss forward Jamiro Reber. He only turned 18 years-old last week and is set to be part of the J20 team again this coming season having scored 39 points in 46 games at that level last season.

Örebro

Head Coach Niklas Eriksson was interviewed on Örebro’s official website yesterday and spoke positively about how pre-season has been going.

The preseason has been a week longer than before. It will be seven weeks, we usually do six weeks and now we’ve done this tough loading part. Now it’s more about trying to fine-tune, find fresh legs, fresh minds, and find a game where we are clearly precise and have a common thought in what we do.

Things look fairly settled with Örebro’s line-up ahead of the SHL Opening Day on September 21st, with William Wikman now back in full training with the team.

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Swedish Hockey

Where will David Edstrom play in the 2024-25 season?

by Matthew Smith
written by Matthew Smith

We noted yesterday that David Edstrom had been traded to the Nashville Predators by the San Jose Sharks as part of the Yaroslav Askarov deal.

The young Swedish centre is under contract with SHL team Frölunda until the end of the 2024-25 season and was formally loaned to them by San Jose last season. It has been expected that this would continue through the coming season and Edstrom has been playing in their pre-season training games, including on Friday and Saturday.

The trade immediately created some doubt as to whether that agreement will be honoured. A short update by ProHockeyRumors on Saturday added fuel to that fire by claiming that Nashville’s General Manager, Barry Trotz, had indicated that Edstrom would be heading to AHL Milwaukee:

New Predators prospect David Edstrom spent last season on loan to SHL Frolunda after signing his entry-level deal with Vegas. However, it doesn’t appear as if that will be the case this time around.  In an interview with 102.5 The Game (audio link), Nashville GM Barry Trotz indicated that he envisions his new center playing big minutes with AHL Milwaukee.  Since Edstrom wasn’t drafted out of the CHL, he is AHL-eligible despite being just 19.  He played in 44 games in Sweden last season, picking up 19 points and should be counted on to produce a bit more than that in his first taste of action in North America.

Nashville technically do have the right to claim Edstrom, but teams rarely do that without discussing it with the prospect. It is often the case that young European players are more inclined to stay an extra year where they are comfortable rather than making an early switch to North America.

We saw a prime example of that this off-season when Axel Sandin-Pellikka decided to stay with Skellefteå for the 2024-25 season rather than move to the Detroit Red Wings’ AHL team. It was clear that this was Axel’s call, but one that Detroit were happy to agree to knowing that his development would be well taken care of by a high-quality professional team.

The same can be said about Frölunda, who have a strong track record of developing NHL talent.

Where that leaves Edstrom

This is what GM Barry Trotz said when asked by the host where Edstrom fitted in to Nashville’s prospect group.

I think, especially at the center position – I obviously would like to get him here, he’s a year younger – but I would put him and [Fedor] Svechkov, [they] are both really good prospects. They’re going to play in the National Hockey League. They’ve got some size. They’ve got some skill. I feel really, really strongly, that they’re both going to be players that are going to play big minutes for us, and important minutes for us, in the future.

I think we’re building a centre-ice that has some, I’ll say, some depth to it. It started to obviously with this trade today getting Edstrom. I got an opportunity to see him last year, at the Four Nations in Detroit last year, and he was really impressive. And he’ll be one of the leaders for the junior team in Sweden this year. So we feel real strongly that we improved our centre-ice, but we had to do it with giving up a really good prospect in Askarov.

As quoted above, Trotz says he would “like to get him [Edstrom] here” and that he anticipates that he (and Svechkov) will “play big minutes for us”, however that’s not with reference to Milwaukee and the AHL.

It’s also worth noting that Trotz mistakenly says that Edstrom is “a year younger” than Svechkov when he’s actually two years younger. Svechkov, born on 5 April 2003, was selected 19th overall in the 2021 draft by Nashville. The Russian moved to North America last year, playing 57 regular season games in the AHL for Milwaukee Admirals in 2023-24. Edstrom was born on 18 February 2005 and drafted in 2023.

I’ve listened to the entire interview segment and, unless I’m somehow missing it, Trotz doesn’t directly state anything else about where Edstrom may be playing this coming season. So, it may be that PHR have been slightly mistaken in their report and Edstrom will continue as planned with Frölunda.

That would be a natural progression for him. He had exactly the type of encouraging season in 2023-24 that you would hope for from a young prospect. Edstrom’s overall numbers may not stand out from a distance (19 points in 44 regular season games), yet for someone of his age they are very respectable.

More importantly, once it got to the play-offs you really saw how he was maturing in terms of taking on more responsibility. By the season’s end he had developed from showing glimpses of his potential to being one of the more noticeable players on the ice.

Building on that with a second full season in the SHL feels like the best next step. His use so far in the pre-season games, as the centre on Frölunda’s second line, suggests that’s what’s expected of him by Head Coach Roger Rönnberg too.

Frölunda will certainly hope so as Edstrom would be a big piece for them to lose less than a month before the Swedish Hockey League season begins.

It’s definitely a story to keep an eye on over the next few days.

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SHL Line-Ups

SHL 24 August

by Matthew Smith
written by Matthew Smith

Frölunda’s David Edstrom had an eventful Friday. He was traded by the San Jose Sharks to the Nashville Predators as part of the deal for goaltender Yaroslav Askarov. It’s the second time that Edstrom has been traded since he was selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the First Round of the 2023 NHL draft.

Nashville have had a busy off-season, acquiring Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei, and signing Juuse Saros to an eight-year, $62M contract extension. The latter decision signalled that the highly-rated Askarov could be available if the right offer presented itself to Nashville’s General Manager Barry Trotz.

The Sharks decided to deal from their prospect pool to acquire someone who they will hope can develop into a goalie at the heart of their rebuild.

It shouldn’t have any immediate impact on Edstrom. He was already ticketed to spend the 2024-25 season on loan with Frölunda and there’s no suggestion that this will change. Edstrom doesn’t turn 20 years old until mid-February next year, so the plan should remain for him to have another season in the SHL and then potentially to move across to North America next summer.

Frölunda

Earlier in the evening, Edstrom was centring Frölunda’s second line in a pre-season game against Leksand. Edstrom was flanked by Max Friberg and Linus Weissbach, with Mikael Ruohomaa on the first lines alongside Erik Thorell and Arttu Ruotsalainen.

Leksand

As for Leksand, Jakob Hellsten made his first unofficial start with his new team and conceded five goals. It’s always good to get the bad luck out of the way early!

MoDo

MoDo’s training game on Friday against Björklöven saw Lucas Pettersson, the 35th overall selection in this summer’s NHL draft (by Anaheim), starting on a forward line with Riley Woods and Sam Vigneault.

Rögle

Rögle played their second main training game on Friday night, this one coming against Västerås. Daniel Zaar returned to the line-up, following missing their previous game through illness, and went on a forward line with off-season recruits Leon Bristedt and Josh Dickinson.

Bristedt also has been named as one of Rögle’s three Assistant Captains alongside Dennis Everberg and Ludvig Claesson, with Anton Bengtsson continuing as the team’s Captain.

Timrå

Timrå played their second game against Vassan Sport and, once again, fielded a shortened line-up with only 11 forwards and 6 defensemen.

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SHL Line-Ups

SHL: 20 August

by Matthew Smith
written by Matthew Smith

This may be Update Part One depending on what news we get later on today, including from the game this evening between Brynäs and Örebro. Click on the team name to go to their dedicated page, which includes their Line-Up charts.

Brynäs

Starting with Brynäs, I’ve updated this line-up to reflect the (limited) update provided by Head Coach Niklas Gällstedt about defenseman Simon Bertilsson. Gällstedt told HockeyNews.SE that Berilsson “was not available to train today [19 August], but we are waiting and taking it day by day”. When questioned if it may be a long-term injury, the Head Coach said “No, I don’t think so. At least I hope not”.

Also updated to reflect the lines used in training on Monday, with the likelihood that this is how they will take to the ice this evening. That includes Miks Indrasis being away with the Latvian national team preparing for their upcoming Olympic qualifier at the end of the month. Gällstedt has confirmed that he will be trying out some different forward line combinations as a result.

HV71

Updated to reflect the long-term injury to forward William Ignberg Nilsson. It’s been confirmed on HV’s official website that he will undergo an operation on his foot this week and will be out for 3-4 months.

By the sounds of it, the injury was just a freak accident. It’s a tough blow for the team and the player, particularly coming at the time of the year when everyone is excited for the new season. I would currently pencil him in for a return in early December and adjust from there based on updates as his rehabilitation progresses.

Frölunda

Updated Gustav Rydahl’s injury status as reported by Raka Puckar (via HockeyNews.SE). Rydahl has been out since the end of 2023 and had surgery on his back in early 2024.

Frölunda are downplaying his limited role in training currently. It is said to be part of the recovery going to plan rather than being a problem. Taken at face value, I would work on the basis that they don’t expect he will be ready for Opening Day on 21 September.

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SHL Line-Ups

SHL: 16 August

by Matthew Smith
written by Matthew Smith

The pre-season training schedule in Sweden is now properly up-and-running, so lots of SHL teams are starting to get their skates on and trying out some initial ideas for forward lines and defensive pairs.

Some of the teams haven’t reported their line-ups yet, so we’ll start with these three teams and then update on others tomorrow. As always, check out the individual team pages for the full line-up charts.

Skellefteå (Team Page)

Skellefteå got their training-game schedule underway on Friday with a game against Allsvenskan team Björklöven.

Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, Detroit’s 1st round pick in the recent NHL amateur draft, was put on the left-wing of the top line alongside the Johnson brothers (centre Jonathan and right-wing Andreas). Brandsegg-Nygård will be heading to the Red Wings’ pre-season camp in early September so Head Coach Robert Ohlsson will be keen to get him some good playing time with different line-mates over the next week or so.

Rickard Hugg is still rehabilitating after having surgery on a pectoral muscle injury, but he is back training with a non-contact bib on and shouldn’t be too far behind.

On the defensive end, Måns Forsfjäll and Axel Sandin-Pellika were not involved in this game, but captain Jonathan Pudas was on the ice after finishing last season with his arm in a sling.

Rögle (Team Page)

Rögle’s team for their opening training game against Frölunda was as expected, other than Daniel Zaar missing out due to illness. Alexander Gunnarsson was loaned from Ettan team Halmstad to make up the numbers as Rögle’s junior players were unavailable.

Frölunda (Team Page)

As for Frölunda, the main absentees from their opening line-up were Henrik Tömmernes, Gustav Rydahl and Wiktor Nilsson. We’ll await further news as to whether they were being rested or if there are any injuries involved. Young goaltender Tobias Normann got the start with Lars Johansson backing him up.

New recruit Arttu Ruotsalainen was put on the top line with fellow Finn Mikael Ruohomaa and another newcomer in Filip Cederqvist.

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Swedish Hockey

Catching Up on Recent SHL Signings

by Matthew Smith
written by Matthew Smith

The past week has seen another group of player signings in the Swedish Hockey Leagues.

MoDo Making Moves

Predicting which two teams may end the coming season in the relegation play-off is always very difficult, not least as you’re bound to upset their fans in the process.

One team who you could reasonably put in the group of potentials is MoDo. That would be ased on their 11th-placed finish last season and that 2024-25 will be their second season in the SHL following promotion. Just as music bands can struggle with the ‘difficult second album’, the ‘difficult second season’ can be an issue too.

The problems are usually two-fold. Firstly, some of your best players can be snapped up by more established teams now that they have shown what they can do in the top-tier. For MoDo, that’s come in the form of forward Josh Dickinson departing for Rögle and defenseman Daniel Brickley moving to Tappara Tampere in Finland.

Secondly, staying up the first season often relies on retaining the team spirit that helped you get promoted in the first place and that group dynamic can be disrupted when bringing in new players if you are not careful.

So far it looks like the team has managed this process well this summer and they confirmed two more additions last week. Paul LaDue has joined from the Bridgeport Islanders in the AHL and Ludwig Byström returns to the team that gave him his professional debut as a 16-year-old back in 2010.

Mattias Persson of HockeyNews SE was so impressed that last Tuesday he even tipped MoDo to be a play-off team in 2024-25. If that comes true then it will be the perfect way to banish the ‘difficult second season’ curse.

HV71 and Brynäs too

Two other teams you would have to put in the relegation series conversation are the team that narrowly escaped relegation in 23-24, HV71, and the team that has come up from the Allsvenskan, Brynäs. Both teams have made a number of additions over the off-season to try to keep out of the danger zone.

Brynäs unsurprisingly have been especially active in building a team to step back up to the SHL. Their most recent move has been to complete their goaltender tandem by signing former Frölunda junior Ludvig Persson. Persson spent four years playing in NCAA and now returns to Sweden to compete for playing time in the crease with Erik Källgren.

Brynäs benefitted from some outstanding goaltending in their promotion campaign courtesy of the Anaheim Ducks’ prospect Damian Clara. The 6’6″ goalie was selected 60th overall in the 2023 draft and was then loaned to Brynäs by Färjestad for the 23-24 season. Clara signed an Entry Level Contract with the Ducks in June and although he is expected to return to Sweden for one more season, that will be with Färjestad.

As for HV, they were one of several SHL teams linked to Finnish forward Joona Luoto this off-season and they were able to confirm that they had won this particular prize last week. The former Winnipeg Jet and Columbus Blue Jacket spent the 23-24 season in Switzerland with Bern and should be a very useful addition to HV71’s group of forwards.

Teams at the top getting better as well

At the other end of the table, last season’s beaten finalists Rögle have completed what, on paper, looks to be a flawless off-season by signing Jacob Peterson. The former Frölunda and Färjestad forward returns to the SHL after three seasons in North America that included 83 NHL games combined for the Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks.

Peterson is one of 10 main new signings that Rögle have secured this off-season. Sporting Director Hampus Sjöström deserves a lot of credit for the retooling job he has done, particularly after the somewhat surprising exit of Rodrigo Abols who opted out of his contract to sign a two-way contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Meanwhile beaten semi-finalists Frölunda followed up their signing of Arttu Ruotsalainen on 12 July with the capture of Linus Weissbach over the past weekend.

The team from Göteborg has also had to recover from an unplanned departure to the NHL, in Frölunda’s case that being Jere Innala opting of his contract to sign with the Colorado Avalanche. Bringing Weissbach back home is an excellent Plan B, not least as the 26-year-old will still feel highly motivated to keep his own NHL dream alive.

The forward hasn’t been able to find a way through the Buffalo Sabres’ deep prospect system over his past three AHL seasons. He will return to Sweden determined to perform well for Frölunda and to catch another NHL team’s eye in the process.

Växjö to add one more?

Expressen reported on Monday that Växjö Lakers are about to complete their summer shopping with the addition of Canadian forward Félix Robert. [NOTE: just after I published this article, Växjö confirmed the signing on their website].

He turns 25 years old on Wednesday 24th July and his birthday present will be to sign a contract to play in Europe for the first time. The centre has played in the AHL for the Syracuse Crunch over the past two seasons, with very consistent results: 34 points from 55 games in 22-23 and 34 points from 53 games in 23-24.

The news immediately puts to bed any rumours of a return for Kalle Kossila. The Finnish forward’s move to Bern was called off at the end of last week due to them finding issue with an undisclosed part of his pre-contract medical examination. Kossila had been excellent for Växjö over the past two seasons and a return to his former team might have been an option, given that they will know his recent medical history better than most.

However, there will be no space for him once Robert arrives and HockeyNews SE reports that it is looking likely that Kossila will stay in Switzerland with Ambri-Piotta.

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Swedish Hockey

Recent Swedish Hockey League Signings

by Matthew Smith
written by Matthew Smith

Although the NHL Free Agency market quickly ran cold, teams in the Swedish Hockey League are continuing to build their rosters. Three teams have added a new player over the past couple of days.

Timrå sign Max Eisenmenger

Timrå have added 25-year-old German national team centre Max Eisenmenger on a two-year contract.

The 6’4″ forward spent the 2023-24 season with Adler Mannheim in the DEL, where he played 41 times and contributed 10 points. He is no stranger to Swedish hockey as he grew up in the country, coming through the junior ranks at Södertälje and Djurgården. He also spent the 2022-23 season in the HockeyAllsvenskan with Tingsryds.

This will be his first step up to the SHL, aside from 2 appearances for Djurgården as an 18-year-old. He’s a two-way centre, but more known for his defensive work and face-off ability than someone who you would expect to be racking up too many attacking points.

Frölunda sign Arttu Ruotsalainen

Frölunda have been looking for two new forwards following the departures of Malte Strömwall to Switzerland with Rapperswil-Jona Lakers and Jere Innala to the NHL with the Colorado Avalanche.

Arttu Ruotsalainen will fill one of those vacancies after his signing was confirmed on Friday.

The Finnish forward made 35 appearances in the NHL for the Buffalo Sabres across the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons before heading back to Europe, spending the past two seasons in the Swiss National League. He amassed 42 points in 52 games for Kloten in 2022-23 before moving on to Lugano in 2023-24 where his production took a downturn with 14 points in 43 games.

He has good pedigree though and should fit in well at Frölunda.

Växjö sign Otto Koivula

Växjö Lakers were another team searching for some fire power after losing two key forwards this summer, in the form of Kalle Kossila and Marcus Sylvegård.

Tanner Kero was one of the names linked to the Lakers before he signed for SHL rivals HV71, but another of the rumoured former NHL/AHL targets has been secured in Otto Koivula.

Koivula did make 28 appearances in the NHL for the New York Islanders across three seasons, but spent all of the 2023-24 season with their AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Islanders. He was an unrestricted free agent this summer and has decided to return to Europe on a two-year contract.

The 6’5″ Finn has the type of power forward game that should really add an extra dimension to Växjö’s offensive options and it would be no surprise if he impresses enough in the SHL to make his way back to the NHL at some point.

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Swedish Hockey

An Incredible Friday Night of SHL Action

by Matthew Smith
written by Matthew Smith

I was so engrossed in the three SHL play-off games last night that I didn’t do a livestream in the end. There was too much to keep up with, and too much to enjoy, to try to add running a livestream on top of it!

There’s sure to be more to come on Saturday, with the second games of the Quarter Final series involving Färjestad and Rögle, and Växjö and Luleå, so I’ll limit my review to some bitesize thoughts.

Skellefteå 4 – 3 Linköping (OT)

A crazy game to start their Quarter Final series and one in which both teams will come out of it with mixed emotions.

Skellefteå can bask in the glory of an Overtime winner, thanks to Filip Sandberg, and you have to be delighted with any win in the play-offs; however, Head Coach Robert Ohlsson will be cursing his team for throwing away a 3-0 lead. Had goalie Linus Söderström not been at the top of his game they could have easily lost and it was a stark reminder of the levels you have to maintain throughout the full sixty minutes to earn a victory in the SHL Play-offs.

As for Linköping, I joked on Twitter that they began the game as if they had got confused as to when it started! Being three goals down after 3:06 is calamitous enough, but all three goals were caused by their own errors, as Jesper Myrenberg should have saved the first one and the other two came from poor giveaways in their own zone. Although the terrible start and ultimate loss will sting, they should take some pride from the way in which they fought their way back into the game.

That especially applies to Myrenberg. He is under a lot of pressure with Marcus Högberg being ruled out for the series and to concede such a soft opening goal after 33 seconds would have seen a lesser professional crumble completely. The way he recovered from the first three minutes should give him some much needed confidence.

Frölunda 1 – 2 Leksand (OT)

The other Quarter Final also needed Overtime to produce a winner. In this case it was the away team that came away with the victory, although the scenes at the end might have confused you at first given the size and volume of the Leksand travelling support at the Scandinavium.

Max Veronneau is making a habit out of scoring late winners for Leksand and he did it again to give his team a 1-0 series lead. It was a tight game throughout and always felt like one goal would decide the outcome. Veronneau did amazingly well to get his shot off whilst falling under pressure to beat Lars Johansson.

Game Two on Sunday already feels like a huge game for Frölunda. It’s not impossible to win a best-of-seven series after losing the first two games at home, but they will have a mountain to climb if they fail to level the series before heading to Leksand.

Oskarshamn 4 – 2 HV71

In the Relegation series, Oskarshamn were also in must-win territory last night. 2-1 down in the series, they had to win at the Be-Ge Hockey Center to avoid being 3-1 down with two of the potential three remaining games being played at Husqvarna Garden.

They did just that and once again the spotlight was on forward Viktor Lodin. He has been the outstanding player over the first four games of the series and he proved the difference by setting up Austin Wagner to make it 2-2 and then scoring Oskarshamn’s third and fourth (the latter into an empty net).

If Lodin was the hero of the game, unfortunately we have to make HV71’s Åke Stakkestad the zero of the game.

Less than three minutes after his team had conceded the 2-2 equaliser short-handed, he took a needless slashing penalty to put his teammates back under pressure. They bailed him out by killing the penalty, only for Stakkestad to take another penalty within seconds of coming out of the box, this time for interference, from which Lodin gave his team the lead on the subsequent powerplay.

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