Skellefteå plays the semi-final match against Örebro and wins the must-have 3-0 in the end.
But Jonathan Pudas & Co has yet to prove that they are made with the right wood and have a hockey philosophy and players they can get ahead of.
As in ancient times.
I’ve questioned the team’s ability — or inability — to grow in the playoffs in recent years.
I thought it was about time now, but despite this drop in matches, it looks like Örebro is still in the driver’s seat.
Had they been rewarded for the first period they clearly dominated, this could have ended very differently.
Goalkeeper Linus Söderström appears to be Skellefteå’s great hope for this play-off.
The quote “The offense sells tickets and the defense wins championships” is from legendary American football coach Bear Bryant.
Three-stage rocket
Of course, it cannot be transferred to all team sports directly, but hockey is perhaps the closest.
And Skellefteå has been a role model since SM’s last gold in 2014.
Örebro still feels a little heavier, a little stronger and there are many kilograms and centimeters separating the difference even on paper.
Skellefteå has played roughly the same attacking hockey since their return to the SHL in 2006, where they began their great journey.
Then they became a three-stage rocket.
They had to qualify in the 2006-07 comeback season, but have since gone to the quarter-finals sixteen consecutive seasons.
It would also have been 17th if the playoffs had not been canceled due to Covid 2020, when they finished 4th in the regular season.
And since the 2008-2009 season, Skellefteå has won the regular season five times and has been no worse than sixth.
No other SHL team could boast of such consistency and minimalism for so many years.
But what stands out is that they’ve been to seven SM Finals but have “only” won twice.
It’s clearly below average for series that have reached SM gold.
It’s about 50 percent.
Skellefteå stands for almost half, or 28 per cent.
However, I will never forget SM’s two consecutive gold medals in 2013 and 2014.
Not because she was particularly memorable, but because Skellefteå was completely superior.
It is very difficult to get around
The first time they beat Lulea 4-0 in matches and only conceded a total of three goals.
And in 2014, they almost embarrassedly edged out when they beat Färjestad with four straight goals and a 20-3 aggregate score.
Worst disguise I’ve ever seen in an SM final.
In two finals, he conceded six goals in eight matches.
Hence it is a sign that they played better defensively, or they never loaned the ball, I would leave it unpaid.
However, they lost a total of only three games in the two playoff games.
Skellefteå today does not have this effect.
Above all, the opponent is tougher and it is still Örebro who has the ground advantage in the series of matches as they are still on the positive side when I add period after period.
Therefore, I think the next match at the Behrn Arena on Good Friday will be very important.
A new must-match for Skellefteå.
If Örebro gets a 3-1 there, we’re talking about a much tougher drawback.
But the fact that only three teams have overturned 2-0 playoff deficits before I take it lightly, because it only applies to best-of-seven series.
Skellefteå still counts in this category.
But I went to two classic finals in SC where it went 2-0 and where it was a best of five.
Partly it is the classic SC final in 1993 when Luleå led 2-0 in the matches against Brynäs, but where the visiting team won the SC gold.
And the following year the same thing happened, when Peter Forsberg led Modu to a 2-0 lead against Malmö, but where Skåne turned around and won.
finally:
After all, Leo Carlson has been brilliantly good at this playoff and can create situations all on his own with a natural aversion that makes him pattern-breaking and hard to read.
He is so good and so mature that I wonder if he will stay in Swedish hockey next season.
Then he was not even drafted, but will only be selected this summer.
Not in the first place, as this place has already been lost to Canadian prodigy Conor Bedard, but soon after.
This means that the NHL club drafting him can choose to lock him in early.
Add that fellow Series and eventual King Linus Oberg is on his way to Frölunda, as Sportbladet already revealed in January, and Niklas Eriksson could have big holes to fill in his new job as sporting director.