The first fight for the SHL was the Ohlsson gang against the Jönsson league.
Skellefteå against Växjö.
And the main issue of Hockey Day Two lived up to the hype.
I’m sure one of the gangs will win SM gold in the end.
In the film universe, Jönsson League was based on the Danish song “Olsenbanden”, or Olsen Gang as it was called in Swedish.
And those who remember the 1980s know the huge success story films became in Sweden, just as they were in Denmark.
So when Jörgen Jönsson stepped forward as captain at Färjestad in a series with Peter Nordström and Pelle Prestberg a few years later, the title was a given.
The Jönssonliga hockey team has dominated Swedish hockey for nearly a decade.
Now Jörgen Jönsson has created a new league as coach of Växjö.
Exciting start as head coach with assistant coaches Fredrik Helgren and Niklas Rahm
So far in the season, he and Robert Olsson of Skellefteå are the main contenders for the Coach of the Year title.
They went up in a table where only the third Frolland is still in contact.
Which is why Monday’s series finale was such a hoot.
Skellefteå is looking for its 14th consecutive win against it, against the team it lost last time out.
It’s been more than two months since Vasterbotinar’s last loss, when Växjö won 3-1 at Skellefteå Kraft Arena on 25 October.
At the same time, how Skellefteå’s attack will be put to the test against the smartest defensive line in the series.
I’m not arguing that Växjö is boring in any way, as only Oscar Müller & Co have scored more goals this season so far.
Jörgen Jönsson has found the perfect balance, the same way he has as a player.
Attackers are just as good as attackers.
Now, Skellefteå got caught in Växjö’s middle zone trap in the first period.
Although 0-0, which is a great period, but perhaps more from the perspective of educational coaching than the audience who wants to see goals.
The second period continued the war of minds, though Skellefteå dominated forward and got a 10-0 lead halfway through the period without feeling an immediate threat.
But it was still 0-0 between the two smartest teams in the series.
The match simply needed a goal, to relieve the bows and the sling.
And when the first goal of the game finally came, it was one of the most unknown names on the ice who stepped forward.
Backen Måns Forsjfäll was completely clean in front of Växjö’s goal and scored 1-0.
Skellefteå’s 93rd goal of the season, but Måns Forsfjäll’s first.
This says a lot.
Perhaps not even potential scorers were on the tactical board.
Maybe that’s why.
But the goal made an impact, as Växjö had to open up and it was 2-0 straight away, when Joakim Lindström got a puck after a return from Emil Larmi and could see the puck bounced into an empty box.
Then it also came 3-0 when Barr Lindholm fielded the puck into an empty box.
A treat for a packed home arena, which has seen Skellefteå skip to the top of the table and now just two wins away from Färjestad’s SHL record sixteen straight wins from the 2001-02 season.
A season in which Jürgen Johnson captained the Varmlanders and won his third of SM’s total of five medals.
Yes, he has seven gold medals in total after being an assistant coach on the winning Färjestad teams in 2012 and Växjö in 2018.
They promise too.
Will there be an eighth before spring?
Yes, it’s not impossible because I see Växjö as Skellefteå’s main rival and that they managed to hold on for a long time this evening despite losing four places due to injuries and illness.
But there is no doubt that Skellefteå and Växjö are the two best teams in the SHL at the moment.
In other ways, Hockey Monday was just as crowd hit as usual.
Sold in Jönköping as Linköping won the E4 derby against HV71, winning 3-0 this time.
There is no denying that Peter Jacobson has been successful as a sporting director at Ostgotarna since being kicked out of Färjestad.
Defending champions who beat Rögle at the Löfbergs Arena, after Joakim Nygård scored his second goal and it was 3-2 in overtime.
In Malmö alone the number of spectators was meager at 6,959 in the stands, although that could be considered good by Malmö standards.
Now it was another home loss as Frölunda won 3-2 and Skåne became more reliant on the bottom.