Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Joel Lundqvist, Henrik's twin strikes back.




Joel has not had as much press outside of Sweden as his twin brother Henrik has, not even in Sweden for that matter. But he is a solid player who I think will eventually play in the NHL, if that is his wish. He works really hardö digging in the corners, finishing his checks, playing with agression. He has come up big in some key moments, not least on Saturday when his goal in overtime tied the series.

He has to rally the troops today. Frölunda is down 3 - 2 in games to Färjestad and they play on Färjestad's home ice tonight. Färjestad has a bigger hockey rink in terms of crowd capacity that Frölunda does, despite the fact that Frälunda plays in a more populous city. The fans turn out for hockey in Färjestad (Karlstad) and that arena is loud. But I would not count Frölunda out just yet. Färjestad has appeared to want it more than Frälunda most matches though, they come out like a firestorm in the first period and Salo has been brilliant keeping the team in the games. But Frölunda cannot keep playing from behind as they constantly seem to be doing, it is just that much harder to win.

Färjestad has been a bit careless recently, they ran Salo last night and taunted him all game in an attempt to take him out of his game. Salo has been brilliant and he thrives on this sort of competition so I do not think their strategy will work. It might just serve to provide the kind of wake up call the Indians need. I do know that if we win to night and there is a game seven for Frölunda on home ice, there will be few betting against the home team.