It’s the first game as SHL coach for Johan Hedberg.
And he does it in Lexand, against Lexand, and in the arena he wanted to live in as a little boy.
It’s also the first hockey season without father Lars Liuhan.
– We buried my father last Friday. “If he had been able to, he probably would have gone to the game tonight and cheered me on,” says Johan Hedberg.
The SHL starts tonight and it’s very special for the coach.
Johan Hedberg, the new coach of Örebro. He made his SHL debut and did so on the road against Leksands IF, the club that raised him and for whom he guarded goal for several seasons in the Elite Series and also sat on the board for just under three years.
-It will be special and wonderful. I moved to Leksand when I was four or five and started playing ice hockey when I was six or seven on the Leksand youth team, and Leksand has always meant a lot to me. When I was young, I wanted to live in the doctor’s room at Lexandes Stadium, I thought it was a suitable room at the time. Near the ice, Johan Hedberg says and continues:
-I played my last match with Lexand at the Old Ice Stadium, and at that time Lexand had its own booth where the away team is today, so I wouldn’t go to the wrong booth anyway.
“Vast emptiness”
Tonight’s match is special for Johan Hedberg for several reasons.
On August 24, Father Lars collapsed in central Leksand. His heart stopped beating and he died instantly. The funeral was held on Friday at Leksand Church, 500 meters from Tejera Square.
– It’s been a whirlwind these past few weeks, among other things, the funeral. I have to say it would have been better if it happened before the season. There is so much to do and so much emptiness after being a father. He was a fun person and always supported me. I offered to get tickets to the SHL premiere, but his balance was a little bad at the end and I’m not sure he’ll make it to the arena. But he definitely saw it on TV and encouraged me. He was interested in Lexand, but no matter what club I played or coached at, he became interested in him too.
-He was always by my side and led me everywhere. My dad was a good hockey dad, kept the standard right and never pushed me. He always hugged me and was positive. “I have a lot to thank him for,” says Johan Hedberg.
