Time to dry your tears and see the light at the end of the tunnel, Brinass.
Because there is only one way to go.
Straight way back to SHL.
It’s the next day in Gävle as one of Swedish hockey’s strongest bastions is waking up to a new everyday life.
To top it all off, Thursday’s springtime warmth is gone, clouds are gathering, the temperature has dropped and light rain is on the way.
Even the weather reflects the new reality.
For Brynäs and all of their fans, it matters less.
There are only night lions.
But wasn’t that exactly what Brinas needed?
steel bath.
And despite all the dark ideas of the day, it’s hockey that the club has slipped into.
It’s not Mordor.
Modo is tough and Hägglunds Arena stands although they have remained in the hockey Allsvenskan since 2016.
In Umeå, Bjorkloven are hotter than ever, even though they haven’t played in the SHL since 2001.
Djurgården has blossomed towards the end of the season and is filling the stands at Hovet in its quest to return to the straight.
It’s only been a year since Animal Farms stood there crying after losing the playoffs against Timra.
He landed softly thanks to the parachute
So there is tomorrow and if there is any team that should be able to replicate what HV71 and Timrå have already done and come back on the first try, it’s Brynäs
And something tells me Djurgården will also succeed, even if they don’t make a core series as good as the previous returnees.
But conditions couldn’t be better for a team falling apart.
They landed quietly and financially numb with a parachute worth seven million kronor from the SHL, giving them a better advantage over the others.
It’s just a matter of finding someone who can manage the money.
A coach and sports director who knows what they are doing.
I can’t pretend the Brynäs suffered that last winter, as I couldn’t in my wildest imagination see them in a negative qualification.
Mikko Manner took Brynäs to the round of 16 in his first winter at the club and they didn’t lose out to any big names.
Instead, it was filled with the two Finnish Olympic champions and world champion Hannes Bjorninen and defender Niklas Friemann.
Add a full-back as successful signing Samuel Johannesson from Rögle. North America’s Yohannes Kinwall and Czech defender David Sklinica.
Plus returning Johan Larsson and Anders Lindback.
No one can claim it was a qualified team that Brennas put on the ice last fall.
It was rather a dream team compared to the tough years since the SM final in 2017.
However, things went well.
And it was not in the qualifiers against Malmö that Brenas lost.
We will start winning again
He started long before that with a disastrously weak finish to the regular season.
With thirteen laps to go, Brynäs had ten points on the HV71, but had lost the entire lead.
But this is really history.
Now Brynäs has to look forward, and I know very much that they will be the favorites when Allsvenskan hockey starts in the fall.
They will raise the profile of the league, which has grown in recent years and is called for some reason the most entertaining in Sweden.
They would draw large crowds while touring the country.
And they will win hockey games again.
Otherwise, I thought Brynäs would get out of hand this time too, after all the negative qualifying.
They’ve managed it five times before and only nearly collapsed once.
In the qualifying series in 2008, they were below the mark with two rounds remaining, but finished 3-0 against Leixand thrashed and 7-0 away against Vasteras in the final round.
At the time Malmö was the biggest loser, despite beating Brenas both indoors and outdoors.
But Brinas did not have nine lives.
They just had sex.
Yes, maybe now is the time after all the miracles I’ve seen with Brynäs over the years.
Turning against Lulea and 0-2 in the final SM matches in 1993.
and 1-2 in matches against big favorites Modo with the Sedin Brothers, which he turned 3-2 in the SM Final in 1999.
Or Jacob Silfverberg’s display in the SC final against Skellefteå in 2012, the last time Brynäs won SC gold.
Then I got involved and drew gold in one of the best match series I’ve seen with Silfverberg, Calle Järnkrok and Johan Larsson.
It’s also the last three golden years and always as the underdog.
But that doesn’t really reflect the fact that Brynäs basically danced the tightrope throughout the 2000s.
Then you finally fall off.
