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Sometimes a restart is necessary.
What Färjestad showed tonight looked like one.
Also very symbolic which chain was the one that started the team.
How it has blown wood in Karlstad this fall. But not in the positive way that Färjestad has spoiled the audience.
Of course, only one triple and a total of seven points in eight games is not approved. The game has also been on par with the meager harvest of points.
At the same time, it is not the first time in recent years that Färjestad is off to a rocky start. Two seasons ago, they were ten in the table after nine rounds with just eleven points.
Most people know how that season ended: Färjestad won the SHL.
My analysis is that Färjestad entered this season with incorrect input values. It has been rolling for a few years.
Four, first and second in the table during Johan Pennerborn’s three seasons as head coach. Plus, he’s gotten there with the most entertaining game of the series before a jubilant audience. Sometimes it almost felt too good to be true. While teams like Frölunda and Luleå have risen to the top with great discipline, high work ethic and a safe basic game, Färjestad has dropped everything that happens on offense.
I walked in with a skewed self image
Most expected Färjestad to be a top team this season as well. – not least in Färjestad itself.
When Per Åslund spread out late, Jesse Virtanen returned and Joakim Nygård jumped in for the fall, a false sense of security was reinforced that this should continue as before.
Now Nygård quickly disappeared with injury and Rydahl shortly after for the same reason. A couple of injuries need to be resolved by a high-level team, even in key players.
But when the skewed self-image was already there, the injuries of two key players became another factor in the wrong balance.
Also this fall there have been too many expulsions. By the way, did you know that when Färjestad won the 18/19 series, it was the team that had the most two minutes against them? It must be almost unique.
The defense has been criticized even during successful years.
When sharp power play and high efficiency were suddenly a thing of the past, there was nothing that could make up for the flaws. The ugly got a chance to be seen too.
The brown chain showed the way
If you enter the season as skewed as Färjestad did, it is important to hit the reset button.
Restart. Prioritize what is really important. The little things.
It is therefore significant that it is the brown chain with Widerström, Bäck and Jakobsson who with their hard work lead the team. A clear sign of what it takes to get Färjestad out of the little pit that was initially dug.
Skill and creativity are enough on this team, but in SHL 2020’s grace year, skill isn’t worth much unless the hard work with and without the disc is followed to the letter and done collectively.
The development of Oskar Bäck makes me think of the names Steens a few years ago and Gustaf Rydahl last season. Finally, play with the advantage that I previously lacked.
A competitive psyche we haven’t seen before
The challenge of reversing the negative trend and starting over couldn’t have been much greater for Färjestad – the hottest team of the fall: Frölunda.
This rival meeting in the West is always one of the highlights of the basic series. Usually in front of a crowded stadium. This is not the year of grace in 2020, but on ice it looked largely as it usually does.
Intense and a bit grumpy.
The chain mentioned above was what gave Färjestad the leadership. Jakobsson won the Jens Olsson record, recorded for Bäck who with a certain flow got a second chance and got the record.
A result that stood out in the third period when Michael Lindqvist made it 2-0 before Jakobsson was powerful when he just drove in 3-0.
The first chain with Rydahl, Lindqvist and Åslund seemed (at least sometimes) like a first chain. Arvid Holm continues to offer great matches.
Victor Ejdsell is still scoreless, but he must have played his best game of the season. Jonathon Blum seems to have clearly sobbed.
Tonight there was a psyche of competition that we had not seen before.
At the same time: delivering it to Frölunda on a Saturday night in Karlstad is one thing. Following it up with similar efforts now that the series is entering a slightly more intense combat is something else.
On Thursday, Örebro is waiting.
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