Bamse's Swedish ice-hockey season preview

[Bamse81]

Introduction

Last season was a great one for the Euro Hockey thread. We had a great time in the forum with good discussion and profit aswell. I hope and believe that it will be even better this year.

Last season was the season after the lock out in the NHL so everybody thought that all the stars from north america would leave a vacuum behind them. This never happened since Elitserien is a league of absolute top class. This season will be even better, some of the Swedish stars are returning to play in their native country and also many top players from Finland, Czech Republic and Slovakia will join in on the fun.

Below I have listed some facts and comments on the clubs in Elitserien. I have also ranked them but please note that this is what I think the standings will be after the series, i.e. before the play-offs. We still have some time to go before the season starts and so there will be transfers in some of the clubs. I havent looked much at the pre-season games and they don’t mean much anyway. Last year the best team in the pre-season games was Leksand and they got knocked out of Elitserien!

It’s good info to know that there are a “Big Four” of teams in Elitserien which consist of Färjestad, Linköping, HV71 and Frölunda. Those are also the clubs with the biggest budgets and the best economy (Frölunda could even match some NHL-clubs in this aspect), its a fair assessment that they will be the ones playing the semi-finals next year but some team always disappoint and another team surprises, right? Luleå, Modo and Timrå have recruited nicely and have something interesting going, I hope they can upset the big 4.

Another interesting fact I come to think of is the strength of the teams from Norrland when they play at home. They have massive support there since there are no top division football teams there and so hockey gets all the interest. These teams are Luleå, Skellefteå, MODO, Timrå and Brynäs. Be careful when betting on the derby matches between these teams as much prestige is involved!

To sum it up I think that this season will be the toughest in many years.

Oh, and face-off is on September 18. ;)

[Bamse81]

Re: Bamse's Swedish hockey season preview 1.Färjestads BK

City: Karlstad

Arena: Löfbergs Lila Arena (capacity: 8250)

Comment

If we look at the season of 05/06 Färjestad had huge problems for the first part of the season, the press were disappointed and the fans accused the players of not giving their all. But then something happened when they fired their coach and hired Per-Erik Johnson instead. Färjestad became a winning machine. They had a rough journey in the play-offs, just barely knocking out HV71 in the semi-finals and got to face Frölunda in the battle for the trophy. In the end it was evident that Färjestad was the hungrier of the two and won their well-earned gold.

Despite the success of last season Johnson will not be coaching FBK since they chose not to give him a new contract. He will instead be found in the newcomer Skellefteå. FBK has instead signed a contract with a very merited coach, namely Roger Melin.

In Sweden there are a “big four” of teams: Linköping, Färjestad, Frölunda and HV71, it is very hard to say which one of these who will go all the way but in the end my pick is Färjestad. They might perhaps be just a little too ‘satisfied’ with the victoria from last year, but on the other hand they have managed to keep many of their best. They also have a nice mix of old players with tons of routine, and young players that are eager to show what they’re made of. As far as the offense goes, FBK has only lost a few not so important players and have great new recruits in Esa Pirnes (Blues), Fredrik Olausson (HV71) and Andreas Johansson (Geneva). Important is also that they kept Per Ledin on the team, many feel his temper is a negative thing but thats not my sentiment at all! It’s important to have these sort of players on the team, they simply never give up and hate to lose more than anyone. I also must add that Jörgen Jönsson, perhaps the best player in Elitserien, will still be playing in FBK as he probably will be for the remainder of his career.

In:Andreas Johansson, Geneve-Servette, Janne Niskala, Zug, Esa Pirnes, Blues, Fredrik Olausson, HV71, Atte Pentikäinen, Ässät.

Out: Radek Hamr, Kloten, Per Hållberg, Zug, Pär Bäcker, Djurgården, Pavel Patera, Kladno, Martin Thelander, Södertälje, Johan Olsson, do, Nikos Tselios, Fredrik Eriksson, Malmö, Martin Sevc, Kladno, Rickard Wallin, Lugano.