The purpose of this blog is to give our international visitors a helping hand in and around Elitserien. Therefore the blog is entirely written in English and aimed towards an international audience. If you wish to contact the staff, use red@hockeyligan.se!
2012-05-11 15:48:00 | Okategoriserat
Last month Brynäs clinched the Swedish title for the first time since 1999. One of Brynäs key players throughout the whole season was the 26-year-old American Ryan Gunderson.
The defenseman from Bensalem simply had a great season. 34 points in 55 games in the regular season and three goals in the playoffs. Ryan Gunderson, you didn´t just win gold in your first season in Elitserien, your stats are really impressive as well?
- It's crazy, some guys play for 20 years without winning and I win in my first year. The whole thing was really cool and now I´m just trying to enjoy it as much as I can. It was great to be a part of Brynäs and I will never forget it, Gunderson says to Hockeyligan.se and continues:
- My plan was to continue to improve and to produce offensively. It took some time to adjust to Elitserien, but after scoring my first goal I felt I had settled in. Mentally that first goal was really important and after that it went well. But I also have to mention it helps pretty much to have teammates like those I had this season.
Brynäs - Swedish Champions 2012. Photo: Tobias Josefsson
And after winning you celebrate, tell me about your last weeks?
- For a week or two it was pretty wild (laughter), but now it´s back to reality. It took a few days to realize how big it was in Gävle (hometown of Brynäs) and then most of the guys came over to Las Vegas.
I presume as an American you were the leader in Vegas?
- No, I certainly wasn´t the leader. I would say Widing (Daniel) and Andersén (Niclas) were the two frontmen. They were the ones booking the trip as well.
Your trip to Vegas got some news attention as well, I have to ask how early it was booked?
- It was booked a while back, but we also had an insurance policy, so if we didn´t make it far in the playoffs we had the option to cancel the trip. But the plan worked out well for us and I think it also gave us a boost.
Which was better, to celebrate together with all the fans in Gävle or with just the team in Las Vegas?
- The one in Gävle. It was really cool to share it with the fans and you almost feel like a rock star.
Gunderson, Silfverberg and Järnkrok. Photo: Jan Bulér/ Pic-Agency.com
Why do you think your team won in the end?
- We were really tight as a team. Jakob Silfverberg delivered every night and obviously our two goalkeepers Niklas Svedberg and "Honken" (Johan Holmqvist) were really good as well.
Any other key player?
- Calle Järnkrok is an awesome player. I also want to mention Simon Bertilsson. He doesn´t get so much credit but he had a strong season as well.
Which team was the toughest team to beat in the playoffs?
- We had trouble with Frölunda already during the regular season and in the playoffs we really had to struggle before we got the momentum against them, so therefore I have to say Frölunda.
Ryan Gunderson in action. Photo: Jan Bulér, Pic-Agency.com
Prior to the last season your coach Tommy Jonsson and all players in Brynäs were very clear about your goal, that is to clinch the title. This surprised many people in Sweden, what´s your opinion in this matter?
- It was really good for us and I don´t see why you should set the expectations any lower than that.
What do you think about your team for the upcoming season?
- You can´t find a new guy like Jakob Silfverberg, but both our new guys Sebastian Enterfeldt and Johan Harju are really good players.
I guess I don´t need to ask about Brynäs goal for the next season?
- (laughter) I guess not. What´s the point of just hoping you make it to the playoffs.
2012-04-20 00:31:00 | Okategoriserat
Hockeyligan.se would like to congratulate to Brynäs IF that clinched the clubs first gold since 1999 on Thursday. Thanks to 2-0 at home against Skellefteå, the team from Gävle won the series 4-2 and got to celebrate the achivement of being Swedish Champions for the 13:th time in their history.
2012-04-09 22:42:00 | Okategoriserat
Skellefteå has reached the finals for the second consecutive season. The team from Västerbotten won an exciting series against AIK, the first series in the playoffs that went all the way to seven games. Skellefteå won 5-3 at home in the decider and will face Brynäs in the finals.
On the other end, Roger Melin, that has brought AIK to the semis two seasons in a row, will now move on in his coaching career and return to his former club Linköping. It's yet to be decided who'll replace Melin in AIK.
2012-04-04 09:54:00 | Brynäs IF
For the first time since 1999, Brynäs IF from Gävle has clinched the finals in the playoffs! After a 4-2 win in game 5, the 4-1 series win was written to the history books.
Brynäs penalty killing against Färjestad was superb, not one single goal against was allowed. After the first overtime win for reigning champions Färjestad, Brynäs won four straight games. In all of these games, Jakob Silfverberg scored points - and when he does so in the playoffs, Brynäs wins.
Brynäs also scored the first goal in all five games against Färjestad, and is without doubt a worthy candidate to being Swedish champions this spring.
2012-04-02 10:57:00 | Brynäs IF
Andreas Dackell, team captain of Brynäs IF, if forced to end his active career following a knee injury. He's been troubled by the injury during the whole season but yet tried a comeback in the playoffs, a comeback that didn't succeded.
"It feels strange of course. Hockey is something I've been playing all my life, but everything has a limit", Andreas Dackell told the clubs website. "It hurts a lot and simply doesn't work to play games anymore".
The 39-year old Dackell will now be supporting his teammates rinkside.
2012-04-02 09:47:00 | Djurgårdens IF
After 35 straight seasons in the highest league - reaching 12 finals and winning 6 titles - Djurgårdens IF will be playing in HockeyAllsvenskan next season, the division below Elitserien. Saturdays loss to Leksand, 0-2, means that the capitals are seven points behind behind Rögle on second place with two game days remaining of Kvalserien - a mathematical impossibility.
"There will probably be a complete darkness the upcoming week but we'll of course have to regroup and start to plan for a quick return", coach Charles Berglund told the clubs website.
"I’ve not been involved it in personally but I know that the club has been working with the hypothesis that relegation could turn into reality, and that's what we're going to work with so that we can have a good summer and get a team together that can return as quickly as possible", Berglund continued.
With two game days remaining of Kvalserien, Timrå and Rögle have the possibility to collect their tickets to Elitserien on Thursday. Timrå IK needs one single point against Leksand while Rögle needs three against Örebro.
2012-03-21 23:00:00 | Teams
Brynäs vs Färjestad and Skellefteå vs AIK. Those are the semi final series starting on Monday.
It all came down to the last 27 seconds of the thrid period in Scandinavium in Göteborg when Brynäs's Jonathan Granström equalized and forced overtime in the sixth game. Earlier that period, Fredrik Pettersson had missed a penalty when the home side was ahead, 3 goals to 1. But Brynäs fought back and when Jakob Silfverberg's shot bounced off the back on goalkeeper Frederik Andersen and across the line 04:23 into the overtime, the team from Gävle could celebrate a 4-2-victory in the series.
The home fans in Karlstad only got to see two goals in the sixth game in Färjestad's series against HV71, but the first one decided the entire series. Hannes Hyvönen's shot deflected Marcus Paulsson and found its way into the back of the net behind Daniel Larsson already in the first period. In a physical and heated game, HV71 created a lot of opportunity's to equalize but Färjestad's goalkeeper Cristopher Nihlstorp denied them 30 times. And when he didn't, Jason Krog's wristshot hit the bar AND post. Defending champions Färjestad are through to the semi finals and celebrated with the fans after the game, holding up a banner saying "Vi är Färjestad" - "We are Färjestad".
Quarter finals:
Luleå - AIK 1-4
HV71 - Färjestad 2-4
Brynäs - Frölunda 4-2
Skellefteå - MODO 4-2
Semi finals:
Skellefteå - AIK
Brynäs - Färjestad
2012-03-19 13:45:00 | Teams
AIK to the semi finals
Winner of Elitserien with 100 points. But the playoff is something that Luleå certainly will try to forget as soon as possible. AIK stunned the team from Norrbotten and won four straight games after losing the first one, making it 4-1 in the series. Thanks to a 3-0-victory yesterday, AIK advanced to the semi finals as the first team - just like last year, when they beat HV71 in four straight games. The club is now entering a phase of training and rest ahead of the semi finals starting next week.
"We've raised our game every night during this series. Today (yesterday), we played a fantastic game. It feels really nice to be in the semi finals", AIK:s goalkeeper Viktor Fasth told the clubs website.
AIK:s Viktor Fasth in action against Luleå. Photo: Fredrik Sundvall, Pic-Agency.com.
A rollercoaster for the fans, to say the least. And a series with two great goalkeepers in Joacim Eriksson (Skellefteå) and Mikael Tellqvist (MODO). Skellefteå kickstarted with two victories and an impressive win, 4-0, away from home in the second game. People were talking about four straight victories, but thanks to two overtime-wins MODO equalized and made it 2-2. The team coached by former NHL-defender Ulf Samuelsson had the lead in yesterdays fight quarter final as well, but Skellefteå managed to turn it around and won 2-1 to make it 3-2 in the series.
Match point Skellefteå in Örnsköldsvik tomorrow.
Jimmie Ericsson, Skellefteå's captain, scored the winning goal yesterday. Photo: Foto Bert Söderström. Pic-Agency.com.
It started off with three very tight and close games and everyone expected the same scenario in Göteborg on Saturday. Everyone but Jakob Silfverberg. Brynäs producing forward had a fantastic night in Scandinavium and lead, together with goalkeeper Niklas Svedberg, his Brynäs to a 5-0-victory, the greatest so far in the playoffs.
Frölunda is pushed into a corner and need to win three straight games in order to avoid an early vacation. Next stop: Gävle, tonight.
Everyone wanted to talk with Jakob Silfverberg after the game in Scandinavium on Saturday. In the backgrounds: Frölunda's captain Joel Lundqvist. Photo: Per Friske, Pic-Agency Sweden.
The clash of the titans has been as interesting and hard to predict as pretty much everyone expected. Färjestad started in the best possible way by winning two straight games and forced an overtime-winner from HV71:s Jesse Joenssu in the third game, a goal that could prove crucial when it's time to summarize. Instead of 0-3, HV71 made it 1-2 and equalized Saturday evening after turning 2-3 to 5-3 in Karlstad. Next rond: tonight.
HV71:s Jason Krog celebrates a goal against Färjestad. Photo: Simone Syversson Pic Agency.com.
2012-03-15 15:28:00 | Djurgårdens IF
Tha playoffs are underway and that means hockey every night here in Sweden. The teams are in action each two days, and to add yet another dish to the buffet we're excited to announce that Kvalserien starts tonight!
Djurgårdens IF and Timrå IK will face four teams from HockeyAllsvenskan in a series of ten games in which the two best teams will play in Elitserien 2012/2013. Those four teams are Örebro (winner of HockeyAllsvenskan), Leksand (runner up), Karlskoga (third) and Rögle (quailed through a playoff).
Earlier this week, we spoke to Djurgården's forward Jonas Almtorp, who has played in Kvalserien twice with Södertälje before, and he's ready for a battle:
"We expect tight and tough games. It's going to be a hockey war in ten games", Almtorp said.
Check out the complete schedule for Kvalserien here. Now, as they sing in a famous song, let's get ready to rumble!
2012-03-07 13:18:00 | Teams
The Le Mat-trophy. Photo: Tobias Josefsson
Elitserien 2011/2012 is over and eight teams now remain in the playoffs, or "SM-slutspelet" as we say in Sweden. CANAL+ broadcasted the process in which teams 1-3 in the standings got to choose their oppositions in the quarter finals and here are some reactions from the head coaches:
Jonas Rönnqvist, Luleå, chose AIK:
"I can honestly say that I personally think it was extremely hard to choose. But we thought AIK was best because of the travels, it was easier than the other options. In addition, we have amazing fans down in Stockholm that deserves a chance to follow a great quarter final series".
Anders Forsberg, Skellefteå, chose MODO:
"We have great stats against MODO and the travels to Örnsköldsvik are convenient. It's going to be a great battle of Norrland and we really look forward to it. It has been close games against MODO and it’s going to be seven games, we’re prepared for that."
Ulf Dahlén, HV71, chose Färjestad:
"It’s very tough to choose, but we finished 3:rd and will play the team that finished 6:th. To win the playoffs you need to beat every team and we see it as a great challenge to start against the defending champions."
Tommy Jonsson, Brynäs, is facing Frölunda:
"Exciting. Frölunda is a great team that plays a nice hockey. We have great support from the fans down in Göteborg as well so that's very inspiring. Why we have lost 4 games against them this season is something I won't analyze here, but that's history now. We're entering a new period, a new world."
In the other end of the table, Djurgården had a tough night. The team from Stockholm lost to HV71 and will have to survive Kvalserien, a series of six teams fighting for two spots in Elitserien 2012/2013, to save the season. CANAL+ asked head coach Tony Zabel how he felt:
"In some way you feel terrible. We've lost a game in which it was all up to us. The key now is to keep calm and continue to work, look into the future and see that we're going to make this."
2012-03-07 00:10:00 | Teams
An emotional evening with both tears of joy and tears of sadness is over, just like Elitserien 2011/2012 is. It was a close race all the way until the end but the headlines of the day are that MODO secured the last playoff-spot, while Linköping managed to avoid Kvalserien, where Djurgården will go.
Linköping did so thanks to Pär Arlbrandt’s equalizer, 4-4, just 1:12 from time in the game against MODO in Örnsköldsvik. Djurgården lost to HV71, 1-2, and will therefore play together with Timrå in Kvalserien, a league of six teams that'll fight for two spots in Elitserien 2012/2013.
Växjö lost to Luleå, 1-4, meaning that their season is finished, just like Linköping's. Luleå on the other hand added 3 points to 97 to make it 100.
After the games, CANAL+ broadcasted the process in which the head coaches of teams 1-3 in the standings got to choose their opponents in the quarter finals. Here are the results:
Luleå – AIK (series starts Saturday)
Skellefteå – MODO (series starts Saturday)
HV71 – Färjestad (series starts Sunday)
Brynäs – Frölunda (series starts Sunday)
The quarter finals are decided in best-of-seven series. Reed more about them in here tomorrow!
2012-03-02 17:22:00 | Luleå HF
With two game days remaining, meaning a lot for the standings especially in the bottom, Luleå Hockey secured the victory in Elitserien 2011/2012 by beating AIK 1-0 at overtime yesterday.
The team from Norrbotten have a million reasons to celebrate as they'll receive a price check of 1 million Swedish crones for the achievement.
It's the second time in the history of Elitserien that Luleå wins, the first one was 1995/1996.
Season Winning team
2011/2012 Luleå HF
2010/2011 HV71
2009/2010 HV71
2008/2009 Färjestad BK
2007/2008 HV71
2006/2007 Färjestad BK
2005/2006 HV71
2004/2005 Frölunda HC
2003/2004 HV71
2002/2003 Västra Frölunda HC
2001/2002 Färjestads BK
2000/2001 Djurgårdens IF
1999/2000 Djurgårdens IF
1998/1999 MODO Hockey
1997/1998 Djurgårdens IF
1996/1997 Leksands IF
1995/1996 Luleå HF
1994/1995 Djurgårdens IF
1993/1994 Leksands IF
1992/1993 Västerås IK
1991/1992 Färjestads BK
1990/1991 Djurgårdens IF
1989/1990 Färjestad BK
1988/1989 Djurgårdens IF
1987/1988 Djurgårdens IF
1986/1987 Färjestads BK
1985/1986 Färjestads BK
1984/1985 Djurgårdens IF
1983/1984 AIK
1982/1983 Färjestads BK
1981/1982 Färjestads BK
1980/1981 Skellefteå AIK
1979/1980 Leksands IF
1978/1979 MoDo AIK
1977/1978 Brynäs IF
1976/1977 Brynäs IF
1975/1976 Brynäs IF
2012-02-29 10:00:00 | Teams
We're recovering from an exciting day yesterday when Djurgården beat Linköping after a penalty shootout and took the extra point in Johanneshov, 2-1. The game was crucial in the fight to avoid Kvalserien (relegation playoffs) and it wasn't really a surprise that the spectators in Johenneshov in Stockholm got to see two cautious teams that did not want to give away anything.
Robin Figren opened the score late in the second period, and Mathias Tjärnqvist killed a long goalless streak when he made it 1-1 in power play in the third. Djurgården's David Printz hit the post in overtime before Pontus Åberg and Mario Kempe converted their penalties while only Pär Arlbrandt did for Linköping.
Defending champions Färjestad secured their spot in the playoffs thanks to a 3-2-victory to Växjö Lakers at home. The team from Karlstad has been in great form lately and has gone from fighting for the playoffs to fight for a top 4-spot, meaning home advantage in a potential seventh game in the quarter final series.
AIK as well most likely secured their spot in the playoff thanks to a 4-2 win at Brynäs in Gävle. It's not mathematically safe just yet but everything points in that direction since the capitals are nine points ahead of Växjö Lakers below outside of the playoffs with three games remaining. In addition, AIK:s goal difference is way better.
Luleå climbed one step further toward winning Elitserien by beating Timrå 7 goals to 2 at home. One of the issues in Luleå this season has been the inefficiency in front of goal in some games, so it's safe to say that the team from Norrbotten got themselves a great confidence boost yesterday.
2012-02-27 10:00:00 | AIK
Foto: Sami Grahn / Pic-Agency.com
Ahead of the game against Timrå yesterday, Elitserien's leading scorer Richard Gynge had not scored for eleven games in a row. So he decided to score not once, not twice, not a hattrick, not four times - but five times. An achievement that no one has managed in Elitserien this season.
Check out the five goals here!
2012-02-23 15:51:00 | Players
Thursday night usually means Hockey. Tonight is no exception and we're preparing for five games starting at 19:00 swedish time. Each one of them means a lot for the standings, but especially Djurgården vs Växjö Lakers, a direct battle to avoid Kvalserien and to reach the playoffs.
Växjö Lakers's reporter Jonas Gustavsson spoke to Brad Moran ahead of the game and you can see the full interview here. In English, of course!
In further news, Luleå Hockey announced the other day that the Finnish forward Toni Kovisto, who joined the club from Frölunda earlier this season, has extended his deal for two more seasons.
Defending champions Färjestad have equally signed two year extensions with forward Patrik Lundh and defenceman Anton Grundel.
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