Blood on the ice splattered in the penalty box and nasty bangs.
I was expecting something similar when the quarter-final match between Djurgården and Beck Karlskoga started.
Old time hockey.
The Värmlanders attempted to drive over Djurgården, but were eventually run over.
It was 4-1 to Djurgården when the smoke cleared and there was no doubt as to which team had dominated the match.
BIK Karlskoga knew their chance lay with an old classic tactic handed down through the ages.
grishocky.
I will not try to hide that I think it has its charms, as long as it stays within reasonable limits.
Beck Karlskoga is the last remnant of what was once Swedish field hockey, with teams such as Kiruna, Surahammar, Vagersta, Monkfors and Grams.
For example but not limited to.
Clubs that nurtured the kinds of players who didn’t bow to anyone and were as tough on the ice as they were gentle off the sideline.
Classic examples are Fagersta-bred Thomas Sandström and Ulf Samuelsson, defender Thommie Bergman from Munkfors and not least Börje Salming.
He brought them all into the NHL at a time when Europeans were nowhere near as welcoming as they are today.
Now I have to say that today’s BIK Karlskoga combing is much smoother than the mill gangs of the time, but by today’s standards it’s enough to stand up.
And if you look at Allsvenskan hockey’s relegation league through time, there are four former BIK Karlskoga players in the top ten.
Daniel Wiesner first, Henrik Bjorklund fifth, Mikael “Dagen” Ericsson seventh and Karl Berglund ninth.
The first three are still active, but in completely different roles.
I have not seen anywhere else
Wisner is the best referee in Olsvenskan hockey and is on his way to the highest levels, Henrik Bjorklund is at Färjestad and Daggen is an expert commentator at CMore.
Then you can go.
Now it was tight on the spot in the first quarter, it was Niklas Holmgren gurgling after every goalie, tight on every close and a break hockey I haven’t seen anywhere else yet.
Neither in the SHL nor in the playoffs.
Without sounding too wild, I have to say that I enjoyed every second of it.
But just in terms of play Djurgården was double digits bigger.
Better at everything and showed they found form like this at the end of the season, finishing the regular season with ten wins in their last 13 games.
However, it took Emil Berglund a little bit of fluency to break the deadlock, when he drove the ball onto the post with his skates.
The disc bounced, hit the blade, and slid into the chest.
Had it gone straight in, the kick would probably have been prevented, but whether or not it was fair is debatable.
That was after going 17-4 shots in the first period.
But when everyone was waiting for 2-0, David Lilja scored 1-1 for Beck Karlskoga
It was a shock to the energetic Hovett when the goal came on power play four minutes into the second.
But the answer came quickly, with Djurgården gaining a numerical advantage immediately afterwards.
The biggest risk: more injuries
It took fifteen seconds before Marcus Kruger headed home a header from Niklas Danielsson and only 48 seconds later equalised.
And when Wiktor Nilsson luckily made it 3-1 by skating an opponent midway through the match, I felt it settled. BIK Karlskoga had some chances to make it 3-2 last period, including in a long five-on-three game, but it ended with Fredrik Forsberg scoring 4-1 into an empty net.
Now there were two injuries too, as BIK Karlskoga lost its best player Henrik Larsson already in the first period.
He was shoved into the plexite and had a bad cut over one eye, without it being ugly in any way.
In the second half, Djurgarden’s back collided with Daniel Glad’s back.
It looked really bad out there for a while, but Said was pushed off the ice on his feet, but he was clearly in pain.
This is perhaps the biggest threat to a team advancing from the quarter-finals.
More damage.
The feeling was otherwise that the pressure on Djurgården has increased even more now that Brynäs is on its way to Hockey Allsvenskan next season.
It would be difficult to make the same financial investment in year two if they were to stay and the parachute disappeared from the SHL.
In this case, Brynäs, just as HV71 and Timrå did before as well as Djurgården this winter, will bet everything to return immediately.
In the second quarter-final, Mora won 4-2 against Södertälje.
Johan Hedberg clearly made the right decision, taking SSK’s fifth ahead of BIK Karlskoga’s sixth. At least after this game.
Mo’s coach Anton Häkkinen became the ultimate hero of the match when he scored 1-0, 2-0 and played to 3-0 early in the second half.
Södertälje never recovered from it.