Just when I didn’t think it could get any worse for Djurgården, it happened.
The 2-0 loss to newcomer Nybro at home in Hovet was a blow to the solar plexus of the entire association.
And what happens now with Djurgården’s Garpengate?
Oh my god yeah, I’m just saying.
Have I ever seen Djurgården pale?
I do not think so.
In the middle of the turmoil and with a chance to emerge from the morass, it turned out the other way when defender Edvin Hammarlund came out for a team high with 4.57 left and Nybro’s Eero Savelahti slotted in a rebound to settle the game.
With 1.38 remaining, Alexei Inali made it 2-0 for Småland and extinguished all hope,
What everyone thought would be a move up the table for Djurgården, ended up staying put and hanging just above the qualifying mark.
If Johan Garbenlöf survives this, he must be the Houdini of hockey.
I can’t see any other way out for Djurgården now after all this turmoil.
Something has to happen.
Suddenly the team captain came out
Fans showed what they thought before the match when they held up a banner with the text:
“Our demands are as high as your wages – show that Wednesday was the turning point!”
They pointed to the last match against BIK Karlskoga in which Zoo turned in a 4-3 win with a score of 1-3, but where Sportbladet revealed that a lot had happened behind the scenes.
Even before the match against Nybro, it was heaven for any conspiracy theorist, when Markus Krüger was suddenly left out of the squad.
A captain who made up his mind in extra time against Karlskoga as recently as Wednesday which quickly came back into focus again, when Sportbladet was able to learn that he clashed with coach Johan Garbenlöf in the second break there in Nobelhallen.
Two days later he was out of the team.
– We discovered a crack in the foot yesterday, so we will be out for a few weeks, Krüger himself answered Sportbladet’s question before the match.
My curiosity only increased.
Rarely do I hear a player speak so carefully about an injury.
They are usually treated as state secrets especially in the NHL, where Krueger played nine seasons.
Now he’s so specific that I wonder if that’s the only glitch that kept him out of the game.
Blowing hard around the lead in Djurgården
Or he was being completely honest and wanted to put an end to all the speculation.
But in the storm that is Djurgården, nothing flies under the radar.
He belongs to a top club that has won more SM gold than any other club.
I heard early on that Johan Garbenlöf had no players with him.
Then we talk about the leading names in the team.
That was already before the derby against AIK, but then Djurgården came out and won convincingly.
And when the talk about the presence or absence of Garben became relevant again after the loss to Alamtuna, they turned around and beat Beck Karlskoga.
Despite the match that took place in the locker room.
HV71 and 0-8’s demonstration against Malmö was not straightforward.
What drove Thomas Montaigne away?
On the contrary.
But losing at home to Nibro?
No, now it’s all about managing Djurgården.
Crisis team is just the first name.
But the more interesting question is whether Djurgården might not be much better from center of the table.
They finished fourth in the Allsvenskan Hockey Championship last year, with a notably popular team and with the SHL’s $6 million umbrella to add to the player budget.
It was finally enough for a seventh and decisive final match against Modo, and I said it before:
If goalie Karl Lindbom had not been injured in the semi-final against Bjorkloven, I am convinced that Djurgården would have been playing in the SHL this winter.
But when the train left, Stockholm’s entire talent bank disappeared.
This is perhaps the saddest chapter.
Lindbom has been successful at Färjestad, Jonathan Lekkerimäki has scored at Örebro, Noah Östlund is at home for defending champions Växjö, and an injured Liam Öhgren is awaiting his debut at leaders Färjestad.
Four of Sweden’s greatest hockey talents disappeared on one board.
There are still veteran players like Krueger, Linus Klaassen, John Norman and Daniel Brodin, but that’s where the best before has ended and they are playing out the final contracts of their careers.
Older players are more susceptible to injury than younger players.
Krueger is already on the injured list and John Norman was forced to step down against Nibro.
And the darkness is complete.
finally:
The only thing keeping the SHL in line in Djurgården is the crowd.
There were 5,963 spectators in Hovet this evening.
It is admirable and, at the same time, a bit sad that most of them have to go home disappointed.
once again.