NHL stars and icons on Björn Hellkvist and Modo

“Probably as good as packing him”

fromAnton JohanssonPer Bjurman

published: April 17, 2020 at 1 p.m. 8.20

Photo: Erik Mårtensson / TT / TT NEWS OFFICE

The wind blows in Mode.

Several important players have left and coach Björn Hellkvist has said it would be a “tickle” to take over Leksand.

– I can say that if you have a contract, you should try to complete it, unless you get kicked out, says Henrik Sedin, 39.

Björn Hellkvist has been open to the fact that he is interested in taking over Leksand since the SHL club contacted the Modo coach.

– Of course Leksand tickles. Before it tickled and now it doesn’t tickle less. But you must settle for all the parts. I hope so and I see Leksand as a wonderful new challenge. But I would like to point out that it is up to Leksand and Modo to agree, Hellkvist told Sportbladet.

Hellkvist’s statement has sparked emotions in Örnsköldsvik and Sportbladet asked some club profiles how they feel.

– It’s hard to have an opinion on the coach’s question when you don’t have all the facts and you know how people reason, says Henrik Sedin, a former NHL star, and continues:

– But I can say that if you have a contract, you should try to complete it, unless you get kicked out. I think so.

“Don’t think that he will be there”

Victor Hedman, 29, follows the situation from his home in Tampa Bay.

– Of course I have my opinions and thoughts, but let Modo, Leksand and Björn himself express themselves on that particular subject, he says.

Fashion icon Magnus Wernblom, 47:

– Probably a strange story everything that has happened in this case. I don’t know, I don’t think he’s there if you say so. Probably as good as packing him. I don’t think I can stay in Övik. But that’s what you always wanted, otherwise you wouldn’t have. He’s played it pretty smart, he says.

Can’t stay because of what he said?

– Yes, it does get weird somehow. You have to say that anyway.

Hedman is optimistic

In addition to Hellkvist-gate, Modo has suffered a serious player leak. Jonathan Johnson, Adam Tambellini and Mattias Norlinder, to name a few, have left the club.

– Given what is happening in the world right now, hockey is quite small, but it is clear that it is sad that it has become what it has become for Modo. After all, they have lost almost the entire team. It is hard, says Henrik Sedin.

– In general, I can say that it was difficult to see what happened. Modo is my club and it’s not fun to sit here and watch half the team disappear. But then, when you’re as good as they have been this season, if you don’t go up, it will be very difficult to retain the top players, says Victor Hedman.

He continues:

– At the same time, I still think they made good signings now in the end. As a Modoit, you are optimistic and I think they will build something good at home.

“Unlikely”

Also Magnus Wernblom and former main player and former board member Anders Hedberg, 69, believe, like Hedman, that it is natural that Modo has lost many players, given the team’s season.

– It is not fun to lose so many players, but at the same time they are the rules of the game now, says Wernblom.

Can Modo build a team as powerful as last season?

– Yes, they have no budget difference before. They have one of the biggest budgets in allsvenskan, so they should be able to do it. If other Swedish teams can, then they should be able to, says Wernblom.

Hedberg, however, is not as optimistic.

– They had been together for a long time and Björn had been there for three years. They had as a team along with the coaches. Spitting a team with the same continuity and talent until November and December is unlikely. I have hope for that, but it seems unlikely. So Modo is financially better than many others in Swan hockey general, perhaps the best, and that helps with recruiting, he says.

published: April 17, 2020 at 1 p.m. 8.20