To understand one’s contemporaries one must know history.
You don’t need a long memory to know why Djurgården is where you are.
Just four years ago, the club was a pioneer in Swedish hockey.
A huge third-period effort against Södertälje a week ago wasn’t enough to salvage Djurgården’s miserable autumn image.
With the departure of team leader Marcus Krüger, Djurgården has become very fragile.
Five defeats in their last six games, tonight being 3-6 against Kalmar.
Djurgården, who started the season with three wins, are now very close to the qualification mark in Hockeyallsvenskan.
It would have almost looked bad last fall if goaltender Karl Lindbom hadn’t made up for the flaws and deficiencies in the game.
Joachim Fagervall was sent off as Djurgården finished third in the Allsvenskan table.
Now the population of Stockholm is eleven years old.
Johan Garbenlöf has a relatively empty squad at his disposal, but he has never made Djurgården work as a strong team. The question is how do Djurgården – and his advisory board – see Garbenlöf’s future?
As is often the case in clubs in crisis, the individual coach is not the only problem, only the face.
Efficiency has been drained
It’s only been four years since Djurgården played in an SC final and was a pioneer in Swedish ice hockey.
Now the same club is struggling for both games, points and table position in Allsvenskan.
I find the main reason why Djurgården lost their leader status in Sweden is due to the appalling leadership issue in the Swedish top flight.
Djurgården’s competencies have been exhausted in recent years. Key senior staff have either chosen to leave or are not allowed to stay.
2018: Thomas Johansson
2019: Stefan Niemann
2021: Robert Olson
2022: Joachim Eriksson
In the spring of 2019, Djurgården was perhaps the hottest club in Swedish hockey. Despite having weak financial strength (arena problem) compared to many competitors, Stockholm Pride was still there and fighting at the top. They have done this through smart signings and an intelligent and well-thought-out playing system. They were at the forefront of basic statistics and played entertaining hockey.
Dare to question things
Second place in the table in 2018, then to the semi-finals against Skellefteå. The year after the final against Frölunda, which they admittedly lost.
Joachim Eriksson is rated as one of the best and most accomplished sports managers of all time in the country, and Thomas Johansson was by his side until 2018.
Then Leksand’s current sporting director disappeared through the back door in rather strange ways. There is no doubt that Ericsson steered the ship and was the main architect behind the new Djurgården. But it is quite clear that Johansson was an excellent friend who could contribute efficiently and also someone who could question things.
After the 2019 final, full-backs coach Stefan Niemann, another person of great quality and integrity, also disappeared. He is now the running backs coach at SHL second team Örebro.
Djurgården finished sixth the following year when the playoffs were canceled due to the pandemic.
Robert Olsson, after a difficult start when he replaced Hans Sarkjärvi, has developed Djurgården in the same way that Eriksson/Johansson calculated when he got the job.
Smith’s hiring was devastating
And when everyone thought that Olsson (spring 2021) would extend, Joachim Eriksson finally chose a different path. Ohlsson went to Skellefteå, who finished third and second respectively during his year at Västerbotten and played in the SC final this spring. Even this season they seem to be a great team.
No one can deny Joachim Eriksson what he did in rebuilding Djurgården from a newcomer in the SHL to a top team. But when the powerful and capable names (Johansson, Nyman, Olsson) disappeared one by one, Eriksson finally lost himself in his superiority. The most devastating mistake was hiring Barry Smith as the new head coach.
After that incident, Eriksson chose to leave, or felt forced to leave.
Since then, Djurgården has continued to sink like a stone, and is now in more or less free fall.
I recently compiled KG Stoppel’s signings since he took over as sporting director – and it’s not been a fancier to read and is part of the reason you’re where you are now.
It is not possible to make any number of mistakes without resulting in a severe downward spiral.
It’s still early in the season. But the loss to newcomers Kalmar was Djurgården’s fifth in the last six matches and they only have two points remaining against Västerwijk in the qualifying round.
On Wednesday, a fragile Djurgården will be out in the first derby of the season against AIK.