The HV71 is the SHL Gold’s favorite according to SHL coaches.
But the season started off with a rough upswing against last spring’s Lulia.
Welcome to SHL, HV71.
You have a lot to learn.
Yes, described shocked when HV71 Together with Frölunda it was introduced as. The golden favourite, when the 14 coaches from the SHL left their golden tips during this week’s opening meeting.
They each got three votes.
Lulia only got one.
That’s why Smolland felt extra heat on premiere night.
They were.
And for a while, they held up well against Lulea and created some solid chances to go forward, including a shot off the crossbar by Sam Vinault.
But in the second they were completely bypassed.
The score was 16-3 in shots and 2-0 in goals and this match was over.
You must get better
HV71 then had four minutes in a row in strong play, after Isac Brännström’s baton rose in the face of linebacker Eric Martinsson.
But the game of numerical superiority that was perhaps Sweden’s best hockey game during last spring’s Alsvenskan hockey playoffs – an impressive 44 percent – was not up against the team that had the strongest box game in the SHL last year.
In the third inning, Smålands wasn’t even close to contact, but Isac Brännström instead managed to send in Johnny Ortio’s right cross 3-0. Brännström, who took SM gold with the HV71, the last time they won was in 2017.
However, Ortio was the better player overall in this match. Which says a lot.
Now, I’m not saying that HV71’s golden opportunities don’t exist and that three of the SHL’s 14 coaches would be wrong.
Sports director Kent “Nupen” Norberg has yet to sign, and at least one defender must be added to the squad. In addition, it takes time for all the new acquisitions to overlap with each other.
A lot happens during the season and on paper the HV71 seems so powerful that I just threw them myself at the top half of the table.
It will become better.
You must get better.
But on this night they looked like newcomers as they are.
Bigger shock than golden advice
At the same time, Luleås lagmaskin impressed, even without such stars as Linus Omark and Sami Lepistö.
Here it should be filled, too, even if sporting director Stefan Nilsson misses some of the big names.
And speaking of coaches’ votes and gold favorites, they also guessed which two teams they thought would qualify.
Here, HV71 gets no vote at all, while Luleå surprisingly gets one.
For me, it was a bigger shock than three high voltage gold tips.
I’d like to take a closer look at that coaching license.
Yes, Färjestad also got a vote as one of two qualified teams, so it’s clear there are two SHL coaches who think the last team of the spring will have to fight for their existence a year later.
Färjestad, who by the way did not get a single golden head.
But they loved Luleå and walked out and were instantly impressed at the premiere.
It was a safe 3-1 home match against Leeksand in front of the all-sold Löfbergs Arena.
I don’t think this season will be the same roller coaster in Karlstad as it was last year, when the Varmlanders finished sixth in the regular season before exploding in the playoffs.
They only looked a yo-yo against the lackluster Lexand.
Skellefteå’s jacket lift justified the name.
Jimmy Erickson’s shirt was hanging on a regular hanger and he himself had to hang it with a kind of clothesline hanging from the ceiling.
It wasn’t the prettiest shirt lift I’ve seen, but it had its charm.
But it is indisputable that he was one of the greatest to have risen to the surface.
Jimmy almost came with a golden guarantee when he was at his best.
But the party died when a visit to Malmö was responsible for the big bang on the tour and they won 5-2 against the all-sold-out Skellefteå Kraft Arena.
Eligible Scania tops the table.
did not expect that.