Playoffs!
w00t w00t!! The playoffs are here! Tonight we start the second season, a three round tournament where through the best of seven games we find out who can slog through to be the Swedish champion. This year it is especially exciting because of all the great Swedish stars we have here. Peter Forsberg, Daniel Alfredson, Markus Näslund, Brendan Morrison, José Theodore, as well as some of the stars to be born: Henrik Lundqvist, Martin Plüss, and who knows who.
The favorite is definitely Frölunda according to the coaches, media and the polls I have seen. But you never know, a hot goalie can take you all the way. (I know that is a cliché but I have sen it happen, most recently Guy Herbert at Anaheim.) This year I would look out for Mika Kiprusov and Fredrik Norrena from Timrå and Linköping respectively, they have both been very good and have good defenses that play in front of them.
Defense still play less of a role on the large ice surface here in Europe. The left wing lock tends to get nullified by the wider ice surface. If you carry the puck through the zone with speed, you often can get into the offensive zone and there is lots of back and forth because they do not use the so-called redline offsides or two line pass. This makes the game exciting, and with the infusion of Candian players and with Swedes getting chippier, we should see some good battles out there. Sheldon Souray and Zedeno Chara from Färjestad are both heavy hitters who are not afraid to mix it up. Watch out for their team as well.
The favorite is definitely Frölunda according to the coaches, media and the polls I have seen. But you never know, a hot goalie can take you all the way. (I know that is a cliché but I have sen it happen, most recently Guy Herbert at Anaheim.) This year I would look out for Mika Kiprusov and Fredrik Norrena from Timrå and Linköping respectively, they have both been very good and have good defenses that play in front of them.
Defense still play less of a role on the large ice surface here in Europe. The left wing lock tends to get nullified by the wider ice surface. If you carry the puck through the zone with speed, you often can get into the offensive zone and there is lots of back and forth because they do not use the so-called redline offsides or two line pass. This makes the game exciting, and with the infusion of Candian players and with Swedes getting chippier, we should see some good battles out there. Sheldon Souray and Zedeno Chara from Färjestad are both heavy hitters who are not afraid to mix it up. Watch out for their team as well.
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