A clear victory in an important meeting with Malmö.
But Brynäs has a palve problem that needs solving.
And from the outside, it doesn’t look simple.
Miko Manner Perhaps he was as satisfied as his Malmö teammate, Thomas Kollar, was dissatisfied when they summed up the first game after the national team break.
Brynäs looked energetic, but in all honesty got a good assist from a Malmö side who didn’t feel ready at all when the puck was released.
Two quick (and unnecessary) expulsions from the visitors, Brynäs capitalized on both and then the home team was in the driver’s seat for almost the entire match.
It was 4-0 at the end and it was the same margin of victory as when Malmö beat Brennas 8-4 at home in early October.
After that victory, the slide began for a Malmö team who started the season with flying colors and tonight’s efforts did not show that a turnaround was imminent.
Now real action awaits against the HV71 in Jönköping on Saturday.
Then the divorce is inevitable
The most amazing thing before the match was that Miko Manner chose to cheat his compatriot first with a thousand. But for everyone who followed Brynäs for some time during the fall, it wasn’t entirely inconsequential.
Palve is a player who vacillates between top-tier offensive action making stupid decisions and being a pure security risk in his area. It’s heaven or hell when he’s playing. Since he came to Brinas, the positive scales have been heavier than the negative.
His offensive rise and production meant that things that were less good were overlooked. Last season Finn won the Indoor Scoring League and the season before that he scored the goal that saved Brenas in the SHL.
But this season, the negative balance outweighed it, and today’s poke is a consequence of that.
A situation like this, of course, can go either way.
Either you tighten your fists, or divorce is inevitable.
Given that Johan Larsson limped out in the third period, he could open up for Palve early on Saturday.
And Manner said (of course) all the right things: that Palve took the jab in the best way, that he trains hard and that Manner sees him in Brynäs in the future, too.
But when such an established and highly paid player is criticized from the team in such an important match, it is, of course, very nice. The fact that it also happens right after the break, when the last effort may not have been decisive, makes it even more impressive.
The question is whether there is a long-term future in Brenas for Balf.
Getting the technical Finn into the right role and position was like squeezing a triangular piece into a square hole for Mikko Manner.
When the season began, it was felt that Palve had been promised a central place in one of the senior squads.
In any other way, it cannot be explained that Greg Scott, but above all Johan Larsson, was moved over the edge to make room for Balf.
Since Larsson was placed in his natural starting center position after a few rounds, Mikko Manner tried everything to get the most out of Palve in the lineup.
So he started as a second-string center, then was moved down as third, then played outfield forward in the second-string and before the Nationals broke as a kind of fourth-string between young Bergerson and Kvist.
Are there SHL teams that might consider taking Palve?
So what happens now?
The first two Brennas centers dedicated to Johan Larsson (for sure) and Hans Bjornenen (probably) are not a bold analysis.
Behind these two men with international experience, third place, Linus Holland, is probably having the best season of his career. There is no natural place for Balfe, who throughout his career has been a center – and has made no secret of the fact that this is where he wants to play and where he plays most of all.
But Oula Palve is a highly paid player, probably more than 200,000 kroner a month. He has 1.5 years left on his contract, which he extended last season.
Sure, players are in short supply and many SHL teams are frantically chasing them, but how much are they willing to pay for Palve?
HV71 is of course an alternative. They are looking for a position for one of the first two chains, and in the tight market that exists, placing Palve in Brynäs is of course something Kent Norberg is betting on.
In Finland, there are certainly a number of clubs interested.
Then another question is whether Brynäs wants to let go.
If that happens, a replacement must be brought in, and as I said, the market is, to say the least, unstable…
Brynäs already possesses a numerically superior attacking line-up and Palve was definitely thought of as a player in the top six forwards.
There are a lot of unanswered questions in this deal – but no definitive or easy answers.