A hockey game in the Champions League once looked so good.
on paper.
But despite several years of investment and several Swedish titles, the championship refuses to take off.
Today it feels like starring Mickey Mouse.
I can start by informing you that it was CHL quarterfinals day yesterday, when I think it sank both the Lucia and WC football trains.
Not to mention Djurgården-Vita Hästen in Allsvenskan hockey.
That match drew 4,357 spectators on a sweltering Tuesday evening in Hovet.
At the same time, hot Frölunda met equally hot Skellefteå in the CHL quarterfinals.
Audience number: 2963
By comparison, 2,108 watched the first quarter-final match in Skelleftea.
I’m not surprised.
This is a tournament that ended up in the backyard instantly, and which fans refused to buy.
I don’t know why and there was nothing wrong with the idea, but a business has to work to survive.
Create an interest. sold.
usually.
The project was stillborn
But the CHL was swinging year after year, without waking up the public and above all not in the Swedish stands.
Despite Frölunda stacking titles on top of each other and Rögle winning last year.
Yes, Swedish teams have won seven of the eight possible titles since the start of the 2014-2015 season.
However, the project looks as dead as it did when it started eight years ago.
The matches here at home are as many spectators as a pre-season training match.
Last Thursday, 9,310 spectators came to Scandinavia to see Frölunda’s meeting with Oskarshamn, which is not recognized as one of the largest crowds in the SHL.
But when the time came for the all-Swedish CHL quarterfinal match against the hot Skellefteå, the match took place in Frölundaborg.
It would have resonated so desolately if you went to the vast Scandinavia.
It is not entirely logical that apathy in the SHL attracts more than three times more spectators than a playoff match where the best team in Europe is crowned.
But this heroism never managed to stir up feelings or passion.
He just died.
Swedish fans think it’s good that their team is out and can focus on the series game full time.
Many teams show their say in the tournament by resting players and bringing the B teams to games in the regular season.
Do not raise the prestige of the tournament either.
No, it is incomprehensible that this championship lasted as long as it lasted.
You can feel sorry for the clubs
There were good crowd figures in Germany and Switzerland during the tournament’s first year, but even there, crowd interest fell almost to Swedish levels.
On Tuesday evening, Lulea’s quarter-final match against Finnish team Jokoret drew 1,223 spectators. Incidentally, Lulea won 3-1 and reached the semi-finals if anyone was wondering.
I feel a bit sorry for the clubs who still bet and face more than half empty stands.
I watched Frölunda-Skellefteå from the sofa on TV this evening.
Mostly to give it a chance and support a few select TV viewers like me.
And to be honest, it wasn’t a bad match.
The players took it very seriously, it was hard and intense and Roger Runeberg was as upset as he was every time one of his players got a second.
And the audience can be heard there in the stands, if you listen carefully.
Frölunda won 3-2 and Skellefteås drew 1-0 at home. The match went to penalties before Ryan Lash and Max Friberg decided on penalties. Frölunda made it to the semi-finals and Skellefteå could fully invest in setting a club record 13th consecutive SHL win.
But it was miles away if these two met in the SM quarterfinals.
It’s a bit backwards, teams have been vying for the biggest title in the CHL and everyone knows the huge prestige of the Football Champions League.
But hockey is not football and the tournament has never been more than cheap plagiarism.
What is most devastating is that so few take it seriously and even less care.
Then I’m not talking about the general public, but about the fans themselves.
Time to get rid of the crap?
Yes, it soon appears to be the only option.
Living on artificial respiration has never been a recipe for success.
