Skellefteå has scared away the quarter-final bogey and has all it takes for a gold medal.
Rögle’s season is over.
If you want to be mean, you can call it a fiasco – or seek and find explanations.
No, Rogl’s chance of victory lies in Friday’s meeting in Skelleftea, where they led 2-0 for a long time, but conceded three goals in a row.
Of course it was in terms of goals after two periods, but in the end Skellefteå was stronger, wider and more skilful.
And unlike when the two teams last met in Ängelholm, Skelleftea also scored with Linus Soderström.
When Oscar Müller kicked a 3-1 penalty early in the third period, when Rogl was fully charged, that was the beginning of the end.
Müller also made it 4-1 with 11 minutes remaining, but by then the air was already out of this match.
Captain Müller leads his team in the best possible way.
Rögle’s best playoff series with Sandin, Ferguson and Edström didn’t work out at all and then very little happened going forward.
Not least when he lost three top names (Zaar, Tambellini and Shane).
“We are the best green and white team,” Katina Arena once again exclaimed as the puck fell. Even if Wednesday’s sound stage didn’t materialize, it was, as usual, really good pressure for Angelholm.
In the end, they stood up and applauded their team. Even though it’s 1-5 on the board. It is called a high playoff class.
Lindholm is a giant in Skellefteå
A less successful tackle by Rifalk x 2 made it 0-1. Joachim Lindström’s 41st playoff goal, now only Hakan Loeb and Jurgen Johnson are ahead of him.
Rough start, then add a power play that didn’t work at all twice again at the end of the period.
But once Rögle arrived with speed and timing, it became dangerous.
Linus Sjodin hit a free pass before Lindström’s goal.
Marco Casper got a good position, Ludwig Larsson drove Casper’s pass to the post.
Sometimes it seems that BAR Lindholm is everywhere on the ice, no matter what the play is like. What good it does for Skellefteå, not least on the box play.
When Skellefteå took first place on the power play, he immediately shrunk. A Jonathan Bodas shot was missed by Linus Lindstrom and the puck found its way behind Rifalk.
But then there’s another Rögle power play (Skellefteå’s direct ejection) and it immediately narrows.
Oscar Stål Lyrenäs pounded the disc in.
Despite Lyrenäs’ goal, the power play was an important factor in bringing the green-white team down.
Without Zaar, Tambellini and a full-back who can push the pace and provide unexpected passes, it would be very strange and entirely dependent on someone (like Lyrenäs) getting a lucky hit.
Skellefteå has everything to go all the way.
Skellefteå was the SHL’s best team for large portions of the regular season. A year ago, the third in the series was knocked out straight in the quarter-finals and now Skelleftea is again knocked out badly in the first round. It was very close to losing in game five, and then I think Robert Olson’s team had another huge loss in the quarterfinals.
Has too much weight been lifted off Västerbottinian’s shoulders now?
Yes, it is not impossible.
Skellefteå is the first team ready for the semi-finals and if we look at the team structure, they will definitely have everything to go through. .
Rögle is not there.
Series winner and last season’s CHL champion. in the end
9th in the series and a quarter-finalist this year.
At a glance, it is of course easy to call Rögle’s season a failure.
Looking beyond the cold numbers, there are a few factors that allow the title to be approved, despite a modest series core.
If we start team building. When most other clubs threw themselves at all available KHL players, Rögle went his own way.
He lost more than he gained
In retrospect, this was a mistake and they didn’t have the downside that many competitors had.
Compared to two years ago, Rögle has lost after all names Ted Brethen, Matthias Sjögren, Leon Bristedt, Moritz Seider, Lukas Ekstol-Johnson, Niklas Hansson and Simon Rivers. I don’t think the alternatives have come close to filling those gaps.
Chris Abbott who had great touch with the young players but failed to build enough confidence, skill and experience around them.
The balance between young players and really good players just wasn’t there.
If we also add injuries to this cocktail, Rögle having this match with no names like Daniel Zaar, Riley Sheen, Erlend Lesund and most recently Adam Tambellini, there are certainly explanations for the season ending today.
Not least today, it has also become apparent how thin Rögle’s front line-up can be when three top names are missing.
The Rögle returns – but this isn’t the Rögle we’ve been used to in recent seasons.
But failure?
of course not.