Johan Lindbom is the biggest player in rock music
HV71 catches the last straw and kicks Timmy Samuelsson and Frederick Stillman.
It’s not a hoot.
However, it is the alternative.
The last thing Johan Lindbom did as a coach was to get fired by HV71.
Now he’s back in the booth to do the impossible.
In November 2018, club icon Johan Lindbom received a kick from HV71 after a hard fall.
He knows how you feel.
He left the booth and instead became club manager at Kristianstad for two years, before returning to the same role at HV71 last season.
Now he’s back as a coach after nearly five years.
I have to say that this is the biggest bang on about this rock.
I would have expected, instead, that another icon of the club would take over.
Per Gustafsson who did a good job at HC Dalen.
But the old big comeback comes as a helper instead.
In any case, you can not complain about the heart of the club.
Johan Lindbom scored the decisive goal in the SC final against Brynäs in 1995, when Småland won its first and most spectacular SHL gold.
HV71 finished eighth in the regular season and last in the quarterfinals, the only time a low-ranked team has gone all this distance.
Now he must take a similar miracle ride if he is to save HV71 from qualifying.
Perhaps most notable on this team was Billy Gustafsson, who won the scoring fullback in the playoffs with his seven goals and five assists.
Since then he has won 3 SM medals and stopped after the last time in 2010.
Now he and Johan Lindbom face an almost impossible task like this at the end of the season.
Could this late change in training get HV71 to go off?
no I do not think so.
It seems that this change came too late and the distance to the qualifying line is too great.
There are eight points to Brynäs in the current situation and there are heavy points to take.
New acquisitions were not hungry
That’s an average of 0.57 points per round.
That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s circumstantial for a team that has woefully averaged just 1.05 points per game so far.
In addition, Brynäs have eight home games left to play in their 14 start, while Småländers have just six.
No, a miracle is required if HV71 is to avoid qualifying against Malmö.
What Johan Lindbom and the new coaching staff can do is prepare a qualifying match against Malmö.
That should be the main goal and set up the training schedule to be at our best when the first quarter puck is released on March 14th.
Not spending all your energy trying to catch up with the team in front.
This season has already been lost and failed.
Kent “Nubben” Norberg has bought and replenished player supplies and I don’t even dare guess what that would cost.
But if we add in the SHL teams’ salary costs when the season is over, I can guarantee HV71 is an excellent team.
There were big names, yes, good names on paper and I never thought Smålands would end up in that position.
But the new acquisitions were not hungry enough.
It’s been very old and there are far too many players who only seem to be playing their final seasons of their careers.
Anyway, Tommy Samuelson and Frederick Stillman just couldn’t take off.
No real smack happened the entire season.
There was not the slightest tendency towards breaking the trend.
So they must go.
The only strange thing is that the board of directors made the decision, not the sporting director.
It smells of despair from long ago.