Now Skellefteå is stepping back and allowing CMore into the dressing room after matches.
The decision came already on Sunday.
– The coach was feeling, but Skellefteå corrected himself before we had to, says SHL Communications Director Joanna Alba.
This past Saturday in Ängelholm, the CMore production team with expert Johan Tornberg got Gentry to do environmental interviews in Skellefteå’s dressing room.
Tornberg wanted to talk to Jonathan Johnson, the hero of the match, but he was not allowed to do so in the locker room. Instead, the interview took place in the lane of the ice rink.
locked himself up
It was the team and the administrative staff who made the decision to reduce the number of outfield players in the inner room and focus fully on the playoffs.
– We’re in the process of clearing up a few things and have been quite open in the past. We’ve had families in the dressing room and so on,” said Robert Olesson, technical director of Skellefteå AIK, about the closed door of the dressing room.
– Now we don’t have a notification, we don’t comment and we don’t say anything. We’ve also texted girlfriends and wives that it’s about eating, sleeping, and hockey. Olson explains that they received the information via apps.
CMore owns the television rights to SHL until 2030 and is said to be paying five billion kronor to spread SHL on TV sofas.
Already the day after the match in Ängelholm, Skellefteå’s closed door was brought up for discussion within CMore, SHL and Skellefteå AIK.
Don’t exercise
Joanna Alba, Director of Communications at SHL, explains the decision.
– It was an asynchronous decision in Skellefteå and they corrected themselves before we could correct them. CMore has the right to do interviews in the dressing room and they use that right when they have a larger production model. It’s often on Thursdays and Saturdays and in the main matches, says Alba and continues:
– The coach was feeling, but like I said – we didn’t have to do anything, Skellefteå corrected himself before hearing from us, says Alba.