They worked together at Timrå and ran a toy store together.
Now Kent “Nobin” Norberg and Schaal Berglund are reunited in HV71.
– hits himself in the chest and says that he gave me a job back, Shali jokes.
On Thursday, Charles “Shallie” Berglund was introduced as HV71’s new assistant coach.
The 57-year-old will replace Johan Auckermann on the coaching staff and on Friday completed his first ice session in Jönköping.
– I was on the ice anyway. Tommy (Samuelson, head coach) ran the training. I was mostly walking around trying to get a sense of the faces and numbers of the players in real life.
Chali says he knows the club well from before thanks to all the times he’s been on the scene as a player, coach and expert on TV and radio.
As a player, he won a double WC gold and an Olympic gold. As a coach, he has coached Modo, Djurgården and Timra in the SHL before.
Temporarily lives with the athletic director
He knows HV71 sporting director Kent “Nubben” Norberg well from before. The fact is that the duo – in the company of Emil Berglund, son of Schalle, a striker in Djurgården – run a toy store together in Sundsvall.
– Yes, and now he hits himself in the chest and says that he gave me a job again, Shali laughs.
Another laugh is heard in the background.
– He’s lying next to me on the sofa. I’m staying at his house now. He was the one who took me to Temera and according to his own statement, he was the one who made sure that I became a coach in Modo too – but I don’t believe it too much. This time I had a hard time saying no because he is the sporting director.
when do I call you?
– It was a few days ago but on behalf of the board and manager of the club if I understand correctly. It would be easy to make that connection because we are friends. Kent also said, “No, I’m not going to take that into account, because it would just be a mess.” But they pushed it too far and then he had to deal with the nonsense, Shali laughs.
The HV71 needs to improve on that
He comes close to laughing, but of course he realizes the seriousness that awaits him. HV71 is a high-stakes newcomer who didn’t get it right in the first half of the season and sits second in the standings.
What does he need to get better?
– Perhaps the mental part is partly. Dealing with the position you are in. Another piece is playing with power and killing. With better numbers in both forms of play, you’ll have six, seven, maybe eight more points. Then you slept well instead. Then there’s always a lot of other things to improve, but above all the things you can point out that we’ve talked about together on the coaching staff.
Can you contribute to private teams?
– I can definitely do that. But it’s not like I’m going to go in and direct her right away. But we do everything together.
In a five-on-five match, he thinks things have been looking good lately.
The best thing about recent matches is how the players behave on the field, with a lot of energy and interest. They really want to play hockey and that’s a really positive thing.
“It’s up to us coaches to get it out.”
On Saturday, the first match awaits in the booth: Färjestad away in Karlstad.
It will be important to play hockey to win and not to come home to win. Get out on the ice and have fun. There is a lot of ability and knowledge in the team. It is up to us as coaches to get it out. So Färjestad is a very skilled team, there’s no doubt about that. Their attack is very powerful, so we have to watch out for that.
Finally, how long will you live with “The Nub”?
– We will arrange it. But since I came down last night (Thursday) it was a good idea to go here. Chali Berglund winds up solving it next week when it’s a little quieter with matches.