Even on the ice, full in the stands and floating heels in the Avicii Arena.
Hockey in Stockholm can still throw a party.
But the similarities between Djurgården and AIK end there.
In the table, they are worlds apart.
Djurgården is still the big brother and won his second Stockholm derby of the season 3-2 in front of 13,097 spectators in the stands.
The new Swedish audience record for the 2022/23 hockey season is 45 over the first derby in early November (13052).
And already on Thursday it’s a new festive night when AIK has a home game.
I’ll be surprised if Djurgården doesn’t win again.
They seem to have found their home now since Johann Garbenlöf has taken over in the booth and feel much more organized than when Joachim Wagerfall was in the booth.
They are beginning to resemble iron stoves again.
This derby they were in the driver’s seat all the way through, despite AIK coming back and drawing twice.
But when Wiktor Nilsson shot 3-2 midway through the first half and with difficulty and precision at the end of the intermediate period, it was start to finish for AIK.
Early 4-2 for Ole was not entirely decisive.
The referees looked at this goal, as the cage was out of position as the puck crossed the goal line, but eventually allowed the goal.
I am grateful for that.
There have been a lot of controlled boundary shots on goal in Swedish hockey this winter.
Then Daniil Brodin increased it to 5-2 and showed that the team has an advantage that AIK lacks.
She could have exploded more in the end, but she stayed 5-2.
This is roughly the difference between the two teams at the moment.
Djurgården has certainly woken up and is the better team it should be, although it is certainly too late to win the series.
This train has left.
Modo is tough at the top and doesn’t concede a single point unnecessarily.
Now Ångermanlanders won their 16th game in a row after 4-1 at home against Västerås and equaled Timrås’ record in Allsvenskan.
If they beat Östersund on Thursday, they will be alone in that.
Modo who had fourteen points against Djurgården is second and averages 2.54 extra points a game.
If they maintain the average, they will end up with 132 points and break Björklöven’s points record in Allsvenskan (121) from 2019-20.
At the same time, Djurgården and Björklöven ended up in their own league behind there.
One point separates the two teams, but there is a ten-point jump to fourth place Södertälje.
SSK had a really black December and was thrashed by Moura 6-1 this evening.
Beck Karlskoga surprisingly missed points at home against Östersund after 0-0 at full time and winning only after a penalty shootout.
This means that the tension at the top is almost non-existent now.
It’s one in the bottom half, where AIK is firmly involved in the battle for the bottom.
They are just above the qualifying mark with three points over closer Tingsryd below.
This makes AIK hockey’s biggest disappointment with Västerås.
Västerås fired sporting director Patrick Zetterberg, who had to make the goal because Västermannlanders aren’t the number one team everyone thought he was.
At AIK, sports director Christopher Malm has just made his first panic move and brought in old coach icon Roger Millen as an advisor to Anton Blomqvist.
It doesn’t have to be wrong, but it’s not something that quickly shakes up a team’s life.
And I think AIK had a poor development of their young talent, who I thought would step up and take the team to the top half that everyone expected.
But nothing happened on this front.
AIK’s score away is also a disaster, as they have yet to take one out of three indicators.
This derby was also included in the grim stats, as Djurgården was the home team.
On Thursday, he turned around, AIK plays in black again and is the home team, as the team was noticeably stronger.
But I don’t think even that helps.