Brennas should be back as soon as possible, Bjorklofen should get the job done soon, and Djurgården could change coaches in fourteen minutes.
The questions are many, and the wonder is enormous, but there is one event that stands out.
“Nippan.”
In other words.
Drag me back across the Bulander.
Damn, what a season awaits, what players and clubs stand in the game and scratch their hooves.
The last few years of Allsvenskan ice hockey have been a pure treat to follow closely, and I’ve seen things that I never in my wildest imagination dared to hope for.
The Allsvenskan ice hockey final between AIK and Tingsryd, Leksand’s resurrection from the dead, Oskarshamn’s progress, HV71’s demotion, Djurgården’s and Brynä’s, Björklöven’s seemingly endless quest for ice hockey reincarnation, and of course the final match.
The seventh decisive final in OFEC on the eve of the Walburg Fair.
May fire.
Allsvenskan has always been more chaotic
As strange as it may be spiritually uplifting, SHL’s massive TV deal made the series more interesting, and in many parts won over more and more people than the SM playoffs themselves.
Maybe that was never the ambition, and certainly that’s saying something, if anything.
Investigation underway?
The SHL is pumping in money and pumping in money, not least player salaries and various talent, and yet it is the preference for the second league that is growing.
When SHL starts it’s always clean, the two anthems left and right, one worse than the other.
White tablecloths in restaurants and crystal chandeliers on the ceiling in the form of media cubes are worth more than the budget deficit of the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation.
In the series below, considered purgatory by all SHL clubs, it looks different.
The Allsvenskan tournament has always been more chaotic, cruel and uninhibited for better or worse.
This year is no different though with old greats like SSK, AIK, Djurgården, Brynäs and Björklöven here.
When I feel a little brave in Swedish ice hockey, which is often the case, I usually console myself with the knowledge that most teams with ambitions to move to the SHL will fail, and that it’s rarely a team like it. The SHL “want” to be up.
The most refreshing newcomer in years
This year, Sweden’s most attractive ice hockey series also received a great addition in the form of Nybro.
The village, which was originally just a rest stop for travelers between Växjö and Kalmar, with its old classic club, is of course a nightmare for the SHL, but here at least there is some culture and proud ice hockey history to dunk your face on.
Nybro played in the Swedish top league in the late 1960s, and they nurtured players like “Buna” Johansson and Fredrik Olausson, but the most important thing of all is that Nybro are a glowering block of glass when it comes to a genuine interest in ice hockey.
The first on-ice show — the first practice, not the game — was packed out earlier last fall, and the old Victoriahallen may become Sweden’s ice hockey hall where there’s usually a note on the door this winter.
After 14 seasons, the club is back in the Allsvenskan Championship and in my opinion, Nybro is the most refreshing newcomer and addition to the Swedish ice hockey franchise in years.
Then I still include the landing of Brynäs and Djurgården and their entry into Allsvenskan.
I’m very anxious
For Nybro, it must have been quite remarkable to avoid another season in the endlessly mismanaged Hokieta, and it only took several days after promotion before they entered the player market like chained turkeys.
The team is interesting, but that’s really secondary because everything around it is so interesting.
Only a newcomer with the area behind him and a genuine interest in ice hockey and ice hockey history at heart can rip, rip and awaken the desire to discover in this way, and it will be very exciting to see Nibro play ice hockey again at this level.
Yes, I am so excited that I will go there now to watch the first show at home against the opponents from Tingsried.
Unfortunately, neither Sverker Torstensson nor Des Morrone will play.
Both appear to be off.
