It’s time for Hockeyallsvenskan “product”
the sun.
On Friday “Little Elitserien” begins.
A week after kicking off the SHL, an annual gathering in which the typical Swedish ice hockey guy shows his most boring side, it’s time again.
This time, Hockeyallsvenskan (sometimes she says HA, but then there is a risk of confusion with the Hasslarp motorcycle gang), the Swedish press invited an urban wine hotel surrounded by the Järva krog traffic station in Solna.
During the time when players, coaches, and more C profiles ate dinner on white tablecloths, we in the press group had to deal with a chicken wrap so small that some neglected their food.
How fun it was to mingle with colleagues again, Ross, Svenson, Bowden, Ike and the gang I only saw three times a week, nine months a year.
It is important that you unite as a group, you know.
When the telecast of the dazzling opening meeting began, everything was back to normal.
A prosecutor from the bookmaker talked about the odds
We watched a procession of forced ice hockey donkeys in tight chinos and coaches so demure that you’d think they were leading an investigation for Military Intelligence and not the Swedish second-league ice hockey team.
The new trick (which would never be used again) was that the coaches had to use a piece of paper to answer a phrase in green or red.
That, say, Kjell-Åke Andersson (how cute we still have an ice hockey coach in our country called Kjell-Åke) in Östersund not thinking Östersund is leaving wasn’t something that made us rush to phone booths to improvise. Texts to central editorial offices.
One of the betting company’s personalities was talking about the possibilities and was quite open about his hope for a level playing field and good profitability for the company, which actually means he hopes that as many people as possible will gamble with their money this winter.
The players were quite discreet, but it’s always nice to hear Leuven captain Gnesta-Goga, Fredrik Anderson, really speak just as he sounds.
The pleasant surprise was that Victor Hertzberg’s mtna sounded like a young Johnny Holm.
After the TV broadcast, we starved for shots of ginger set and low blood sugar, I asked Matna Sports Director Tony Martinson, who quit playing two years ago, when he thought about quitting.
I’m going to play umeo in the table tennis league
With sympathetic AIK coach Anton Blomqvist of Osby, I’ve shared some memories and experiences of brave youngsters on the dance floors Grottebacken, Björksäter and Balders hage, Per Kenta tells me he now intends to try playing Umeå BTK in the Table Tennis League and TAIF coach Fredrik Glader managed to help a thumbs up and forefinger to show how close he is to Dackehallen.
She was, as usual, very nice.
On Friday, it will be even more dangerous when the series, which has previously been seen as the best Allsvenskan hockey game ever, begins.
10 of the 14 teams in the series have played in the first division in Sweden at some time, and in total Allsvenskan hockey teams have won a total of 33 SM gold medals, compared to the SHL’s 46 teams.
In the 1988/1989 season, AIK, Djurgården, Björklöven, MoDo, Södertälje and Västerås all played for Elitserien.
If the Allsvenskan hockey organization succeeds in raising the value of the “product” to more reasonable levels, the time has come.
How long will it take allsvenskan hockey fans and TV consumers to fatten up the fat SHL deal with more expensive C subscriptions?
The last series shook last spring
In “Little Elitserien”, Djurgården entered as a Heaven’s favorite, and everyone expected them to take the step straight into SHL, “make the HV” as people say, but in the playoffs, Björklöven was still the likely winner of the series by the majority.
You probably remember how far HV71 really rocked in the final series against Löven last spring.
Småland lost two matches at home in Jönköping and won two matches in Umeå after sudden death, the sixth match in the fifth period after Björklöven had several chances to decide and take the final of Chapter Seven in Småland, a match I wonder if HV players were able to play.
That’s how close it is, anyway.
The last time Djurgården was in Hockeyallsvenskan, it was a two-year stay, but progress was only guaranteed in the final round of the now-cancelled qualifying series.
Now they want to get back as quickly as possible to avoid falling into the trench that has become Hockeyallsvenskan for AIK, SSK, Björklöven, Västerås, MoDo and Tingsryd.
Flirting.
In the way, there are obstacles in the form of ambitious arch rivals, burnt western bottoms and heels that might be too tough for some with a bacon mindset, and we’ve seen that before.
– The goal is to get as far as possible, As some ice hockey philosopher aptly said.