Both Rögle, Leksand and Modo won on Saturday.
Which is the SHL’s biggest crisis team right now and what do they need to do?
Hockeynews’ panel with Mattias Persson and Henrik Sjöberg has their say.
Who are the SHL’s biggest crisis teams right now and what do they need to do to take off?
Mattias Persson, reporter & columnist:
– For me it is without a doubt the HV71. Both Modo and Leksand play so well game-wise that they will both rise in the table and at the same time Rögle has taken seven out of nine possible points in the last three games. It is never positive when it storms around an association and there has been quite a lot of that stuff in HV71 recently. First all the injuries, then a general manager who leaves after just six months, and then a game that can’t be trusted.
– No, there is no doubt that HV71 needs to be improved. Right now, you are missing a real top center who can drive this team, as Tanner Kero has hardly turned out to be what was hoped for. Rem Pitlick is very expensive, but I hear there are plenty of steals in HV71 and would no doubt have tried to get him here. Players who have played with him before and whom I have spoken to claim that it is really high quality and that is exactly what the HV71 needs at the moment.
Henrik Sjöberg, editor-in-chief:
– If we start at the other end, I am the least worried about Rögle. It’s hard not to have last year’s season fresh in your mind, when a terrible regular season ended with Rögle getting a chance to play for the gold. Serious injuries have affected the team and it will probably work out in Ängelholm this year as well. Leksand has a tough goalkeeping situation right now, but Gidlöf might be able to get a brace here now before Tjomme finds the right name on the market. Anders Lindbäck has started to rub off again down in the Vienna Capitals (contract one month) and dominated in the SHL when he had Challe Berglund as coach in Timrå back in the days – it would have been a rough twist if he showed up in Gävle wearing a Leksandsträya.. .
– I can’t say that the situation is worse for Modo or HV71, both teams have had a start to the season that shows that it will be a long and painful regular season for the team’s fans and in the end it can certainly be these two teams that fight for an SHL place before next season.
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