SHL: 2022 Playoffs

[Yozhik v tumane]

The playoffs are about to commence!
Who are your favorites to win and so on?

1. Rögle
2. Luleå
3. Skellefteå
4. Frölunda
5. Växjö
6. Färjestad

7. Örebro
8. Leksand
9. Oskarshamn
10. Brynäs

Play-in matchups:
Örebro - Brynäs
Leksand - Oskarshamn

Quarterfinals:
Rögle - Leksand/Oskarshamn/Brynäs
Luleå - Örebro/Leksand/Oskarshamn
Skellefteå - Färjestad
Frölunda - Växjö

Click to read more...

 

[PuckPoise]

The difference between teams in Sweden might not be so big that there are easy playoff opponents, but Rögle getting Oskarshamn with all the other contenders likely having to go through hard-fought series from the get-go could be a huge advantage.

Will be interesting to see what kind of trouble Örebro can create for Luleå, for instance. They are a very solid team and have great goaltending.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

The difference between teams in Sweden might not be so big that there are easy playoff opponents, but Rögle getting Oskarshamn with all the other contenders likely having to go through hard-fought series from the get-go could be a huge advantage.

Will be interesting to see what kind of trouble Örebro can create for Luleå, for instance. They are a very solid team and have great goaltending.

Agreed on all points. I think Örebro is a really tricky matchup, as a Luleå fan: I was hoping we’d get Oskarshamn in the first round. Örebro is frustrating to play against and Enroth can steal games for sure. Expecting the series to drag on.

 

[Aahlstroem]

I really don't know what to expect from Frölunda. It's been yet another infuriating season with a lot of ups and downs.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Well, Oskarshamn staged a huge upset over Rögle tonight. Who saw that coming?

And Luleå got a perfect start against Örebro, it went much better than I expected from a homer perspective. Getting an early lead against Örebro I’ve felt to be important in previous encounters: they’ve been awful playing on goal advantages, becoming passive, withdrawing into a shell, icing pucks and giving Enroth the opportunity to shine allowing the opposition to take a lot of easy shots from the periphery. Luleå forechecked hard, defended the counter attack very well allowing very few good chances, and Örebro stood no chance against Omark’s line. Andreasson got the hat trick, but Omark was just marvelous.

Örebro better get their act together and rebound in a good way Saturday, talking from experience these kinds of losses are a playoff death pill if the players don’t respond immediately. Two routings in a row and you seriously begin questioning life choices.

I really don't know what to expect from Frölunda. It's been yet another infuriating season with a lot of ups and downs.

Really interesting matchup with Växjö then, which have had a similar season in that sense. You haven’t been able to count either team out in the playoffs for almost a decade, I’d say, and both teams have won a lot under their respective coaches and with many of the same players.

I think whichever team wins will get a huge confidence boost to ride into the semifinals, but I’m at the same time expecting the series to become outdrawn and draining. And lots of fun!

 

[Aahlstroem]

Really interesting matchup with Växjö then, which have had a similar season in that sense. You haven’t been able to count either team out in the playoffs for almost a decade, I’d say, and both teams have won a lot under their respective coaches and with many of the same players.

I think whichever team wins will get a huge confidence boost to ride into the semifinals, but I’m at the same time expecting the series to become outdrawn and draining. And lots of fun!

Those "same players" are starting to become a negative for us I'm afraid, as they're not getting any younger. You can see how a couple of them has lost a step and isn't performing like they used to. Over the years we've become less creative in the offensive zone as well, going a bit from high pressure and having fun to high pressure and working the puck into the net. When we're on top of it, it works really well as we manage to come in wave after wave until an opportunity comes. But we're not on top consistently anymore.

But it's going to be fun with a last matchup against Sam Hallam's Växjö.

 

[Eye of Ra]

3-0 to frölunda in the series. all games went to ot. växjö must be pissed off

 

[Aahlstroem]

3-0 to frölunda in the series. all games went to ot. växjö must be pissed off

They should be happy that they managed to get the games to OT, pretty much steamrolled in all three games.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Theodor Lennström is really good

 

[Eye of Ra]

Semifinals:

Luleå - Frölunda
Färjestad - Rögle

Gonna be 2 really good series!

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Semifinals:

Luleå - Frölunda
Färjestad - Rögle

Gonna be 2 really good series!

What a ride these quarterfinals have been. I thought Frölunda - Växjö would be much closer. Not saying the games weren’t close, but it ending up in a sweep I bet few had predicted. Conversely, who thought Oskarshamn would bring Rögle to seven games? I have however been of the mindset that Rögle have been overrated/aren’t as strong as their advanced position in the standings implies: very consistent, they’ve got their system nailed down to a T, but really, what have they added since last year when they went to the finals? They just seemed more terrifying and outplayed teams more convincingly last season, and this isn’t just me saying so because they got rattled by Oskarshamn, it’s been on the back of my mind this season. Still, I expected them to get a really comfortable ride to the finals, as did many others with me. We thought Oskarshamn would be a cakewalk for them, and that they’d receive a worn down Frölunda or Växjö in the semifinals. But at this point, it’s hard not to have Färjestad as overwhelming favorites going into the semifinal matchup, for me at least. Rögle have been exposed and Färjestad is finally living up to the pre-season hype.

Finally, I’m relieved that the Örebro series only went to five games. There wasn’t a single game they should have had based on the overall match picture, but Enroth and that relentless team defense seemed poised to steal game after game, thank goodness we got out of it relatively unscathed.

I know the general idea is that Luleå always finds a way to lose in the playoffs, but I’ll be damned if we haven’t got a better team than Frölunda at this point, knock on wood.

 

[Eye of Ra]

I think the problem with Luleå in playoffs is that they are not physical enough. Its rarely you see a Luleå player make a hit. Playoffs is a different game than regular hockey. Its suprising for me that Bulan Berglund dont want more physical hockey due to what type of player he was and the culture that exists in Luleå.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

I think the problem with Luleå in playoffs is that they are not physical enough. Its rarely you see a Luleå player make a hit. Playoffs is a different game than regular hockey. Its suprising for me that Bulan Berglund dont want more physical hockey due to what type of player he was and the culture that exists in Luleå.

Lack of physicality has been one of many different problems with Luleå in the playoffs, but it’s certainly too simplistic to say it’s the one problem we’ve had.
Last year’s quarterfinals, physicality was no issue for us, although I think it was a revelation for management how effective it could be. The mere threat of Tyrväinen coming down with speed forced turnovers from the opposing defensemen, and guys like Engsund and Gustafsson asserted themselves well in their own end last spring. While Luleå finished ahead of Skellefteå in the standings last year, they were by no means the favorites going into the quarterfinals. Other teams had Luleå figured out in the spring and they set a new club record for longest losing streak, while Skellefteå had improved their team immensely by adding Pär Lindholm and the Melkman. I think Bulan reacted and adapted well to the lousy stretch, and the team realized that physicality indeed was one part of the team composition where we’d been running a bit slim, I think some of the additions for this year were made to address the intensity, namely Shinnimin and Rask.

In 2019, yes, physicality was part of what was missing. Our team was young and smallish. But I’d argue the constant of Luleå’s playoff failures over the last decade has rather been a lack of high-end offensive players. Physicality has been up and down. When Fagervall coached the team we had a ton of big bodies; lumbering, physical grinders, guys like Anton Hedman, Emil Sylvegård, Jonathan Granström, Lennart Petrell, Savilahti-Nagander, and so on. But we’ve rarely had top lines like Frölunda, Skellefteå or Växjö have been able to ice. When Rönnqvist was our coach and the team made the finals, Klasen and Olausson were beyond easy to take out, and we had a head coach who hoped that we could win every game 1-0 by shutting down the neutral zone and boring the opposing players to death.

But about this year… One reason why Luleå aren’t throwing a lot of hits, is they usually own puck possession. If you’re throwing a lot of hits, it usually means you don’t have the puck. Bulan want all-around useful players who are gritty, well-conditioned, hard skating, resilient, and can handle the puck, more so than mix-and-match role players. Örebro tried to hit, grab, hook and drag Luleå into submission, but to no avail against this iteration of the team. They seem plenty tough. There are times where Engsund seems lonely as the one big punishing guy especially in the absence of Tyrväinen, but I think we’ve got toughness and grit in key areas. Namely, our players are hella conditioned, relentless on the forecheck and wins a ton of puck battles.

But yeah, I think a team like Färjestad might have a better blend of talent and size.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Lack of physicality has been one of many different problems with Luleå in the playoffs, but it’s certainly too simplistic to say it’s the one problem we’ve had.
Last year’s quarterfinals, physicality was no issue for us, although I think it was a revelation for management how effective it could be. The mere threat of Tyrväinen coming down with speed forced turnovers from the opposing defensemen, and guys like Engsund and Gustafsson asserted themselves well in their own end last spring. While Luleå finished ahead of Skellefteå in the standings last year, they were by no means the favorites going into the quarterfinals. Other teams had Luleå figured out in the spring and they set a new club record for longest losing streak, while Skellefteå had improved their team immensely by adding Pär Lindholm and the Melkman. I think Bulan reacted and adapted well to the lousy stretch, and the team realized that physicality indeed was one part of the team composition where we’d been running a bit slim, I think some of the additions for this year were made to address the intensity, namely Shinnimin and Rask.

In 2019, yes, physicality was part of what was missing. Our team was young and smallish. But I’d argue the constant of Luleå’s playoff failures over the last decade has rather been a lack of high-end offensive players. Physicality has been up and down. When Fagervall coached the team we had a ton of big bodies; lumbering, physical grinders, guys like Anton Hedman, Emil Sylvegård, Jonathan Granström, Lennart Petrell, Savilahti-Nagander, and so on. But we’ve rarely had top lines like Frölunda, Skellefteå or Växjö have been able to ice. When Rönnqvist was our coach and the team made the finals, Klasen and Olausson were beyond easy to take out, and we had a head coach who hoped that we could win every game 1-0 by shutting down the neutral zone and boring the opposing players to death.

But about this year… One reason why Luleå aren’t throwing a lot of hits, is they usually own puck possession. If you’re throwing a lot of hits, it usually means you don’t have the puck. Bulan want all-around useful players who are gritty, well-conditioned, hard skating, resilient, and can handle the puck, more so than mix-and-match role players. Örebro tried to hit, grab, hook and drag Luleå into submission, but to no avail against this iteration of the team. They seem plenty tough. There are times where Engsund seems lonely as the one big punishing guy especially in the absence of Tyrväinen, but I think we’ve got toughness and grit in key areas. Namely, our players are hella conditioned, relentless on the forecheck and wins a ton of puck battles.

But yeah, I think a team like Färjestad might have a better blend of talent and size.

Luleå is a hardworking team for sure. Im not denying that. But outside of Tyrväinen, Shinnimin, Rask and Engsund there is nobody who deliver checks and play physical. In Frölunda, Färjestad and Rögle everyone on the roster is playing physical in the playoffs. Frölunda/Röge/FBK are physical as a team and combine that with having good skills aswell. Its too much stick on stick in Luleå and too little play on the body. You have to combine that and do both. Im not saying Gustafsson, Connolly, Andreasson etc should throw 20 hard hits each game but 2-3 checks they could do and play more physical with the stick (use the stick to push on opponent bodies).

 

[Aahlstroem]

But about this year… One reason why Luleå aren’t throwing a lot of hits, is they usually own puck possession. If you’re throwing a lot of hits, it usually means you don’t have the puck. Bulan want all-around useful players who are gritty, well-conditioned, hard skating, resilient, and can handle the puck, more so than mix-and-match role players. Örebro tried to hit, grab, hook and drag Luleå into submission, but to no avail against this iteration of the team. They seem plenty tough. There are times where Engsund seems lonely as the one big punishing guy especially in the absence of Tyrväinen, but I think we’ve got toughness and grit in key areas. Namely, our players are hella conditioned, relentless on the forecheck and wins a ton of puck battles.

You'll get the chance to throw hits now then, as puck possession is our thing
I expect this to be a physical series where the teams bring out the best and worse of each other. Our veterans stepped up when the playoffs begun. Lasu is a menace out there, Rosseli is being Rosseli, Friberg seem to finally have recovered from his injury. We'll have to outwork you though, I believe you have a higher level of skill in general. We'll have to erase our defensive hiccups as well, you'll punish us harder than Växjö did.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Speaking of Lasu, im suprised he never played in a WC. He is the ultimate 4C.

I think it would be boring if FBK or Frölunda wins it again, they have so many golds. Rögle fans are too cocky so i dont wish them gold. I hope Luleå takes it even if i think they dont have that extra physicality. But i always liked Luleå and their hockeyculture.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Well i was wrong about Luleå. They have no problem handling Frölundas physical play.

Oscar Engsund and Isac Brännström are 2 very underated players.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Well i was wrong about Luleå. They have no problem handling Frölundas physical play.

Oscar Engsund and Isac Brännström are 2 very underated players.

I saw it already in the Örebro series, we haven’t got as many guys as big and as strong as other teams do, but they sure can handle physical play.

Engsund probably played his best game all season yesterday, his hard work down in the corners and in front of the net prevented Frölunda from getting any clear chances. Lepistö and Gustafsson were brilliant as well, but that almost goes without saying. Gustafsson blocked a ton of shots. Offensively we had very little (albeit a sufficient amount) going for us, but man did the defense ever pull its weight. Yeah, Frölunda were firing a million shots, but how many high-quality opportunities were there? Luleå managed to bat out the majority of rebounds, they never caught Lassinantti out of position, and we cut their passes with stickwork. After the early timeout (I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Bulan use it before the third period before), I felt our defense was finding its groove and it was a surprisingly comfortable experience watching Luleå defend. But we have to handle the puck with more care moving forward.

And I agree, Brännström is a very good, gritty winger.

 

[Aahlstroem]

And we're back in our old patterns. Being easily forced to the outside, finding ourselves in the corners and not really coming up with anything dangerous. It's been the same for pretty much all of Roger's tenure and has become more and more apparent the last three-four seasons. We're lacking the skill to make something out of our puck possession. Our high pressure managed to shake an injury ridden Växjö defence, but against a healthy Luleå defence we stand no chance. We need to be even more fierce and reckless to create some chaos in the O-zone.

In general we're lacking in creativity and puck tempo, we're skating a lot but I wish we could move the puck faster to open up shooting lanes.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

And we're back in our old patterns. Being easily forced to the outside, finding ourselves in the corners and not really coming up with anything dangerous. It's been the same for pretty much all of Roger's tenure and has become more and more apparent the last three-four seasons. We're lacking the skill to make something out of our puck possession. Our high pressure managed to shake an injury ridden Växjö defence, but against a healthy Luleå defence we stand no chance. We need to be even more fierce and reckless to create some chaos in the O-zone.

In general we're lacking in creativity and puck tempo, we're skating a lot but I wish we could move the puck faster to open up shooting lanes.

Good points. I also have the sense creativity is the key ingredient missing, for as much as Frölunda owned the play. Lasch hasn’t really come into his own this series, for instance. I do think Frölunda were driving to the net plenty and were probably just a couple of lucky bounces off rebounds in front of the net from beating Lassinantti (at least during the initial push).

You rarely see Luleå forced that deep into their own end for as long stretches of time as was the case Thursday, and I really hope we’ll see a more open game this afternoon. Luleå seemed to lose almost every offensive zone faceoff and had an unusually hard time winning puck battles while on the attack, just got nothing going. The fourth line seemed the exception, they managed to carry the puck deep and create some havoc once in a while. I had to look it up, but Tyrväinen had less than 45% faceoff wins which is low for him (I also wonder how many he had in each zone), whereas Connolly won just 20% (!) of his faceoffs! That’s simply incredible. Still have a sense Luleå is yet to play their best game, there’s consistently something that’s off. Of course, finding ways to win despite not routinely bringing top efforts from every part is a sign of this team’s strength.

 

[Aahlstroem]

Good points. I also have the sense creativity is the key ingredient missing, for as much as Frölunda owned the play. Lasch hasn’t really come into his own this series, for instance. I do think Frölunda were driving to the net plenty and were probably just a couple of lucky bounces off rebounds in front of the net from beating Lassinantti (at least during the initial push).

You rarely see Luleå forced that deep into their own end for as long stretches of time as was the case Thursday, and I really hope we’ll see a more open game this afternoon. Luleå seemed to lose almost every offensive zone faceoff and had an unusually hard time winning puck battles while on the attack, just got nothing going. The fourth line seemed the exception, they managed to carry the puck deep and create some havoc once in a while. I had to look it up, but Tyrväinen had less than 45% faceoff wins which is low for him (I also wonder how many he had in each zone), whereas Connolly won just 20% (!) of his faceoffs! That’s simply incredible. Still have a sense Luleå is yet to play their best game, there’s consistently something that’s off. Of course, finding ways to win despite not routinely bringing top efforts from every part is a sign of this team’s strength.

True, but this is something I've seen time and time again as a Frölunda supporter. At some point all these unlucky bounces and missed half chances has become a pattern, we're not good at finishing our opportunities.

Lasch hasn't come to his own and Spacek has been pretty much invisible, and when they're not managing to setup other players there's pretty much no-one else who can do it (Söderblom is more of a dangler to get himself into scoring chances and Niederbach isn't trusted by the staff for some reason). I think the "system" that the players are instructed to play by is limiting the individual creativity too much, making us easy to prepare for. We never do anything unexpected. I like to compare this (and the last years rosters) with the one from 2016 where we applied high pressure and let the players (who in general were more skilled) play to their strengths.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Maybe Frölunda needs a new coach. Some new blood. Rönnberg have been there since 2013.

 

[JuicyJofa]

Hey guys, I'm traveling to Stockholm this upcoming Friday and will be staying until Monday. I am renting a car and interested to see an SHL game. Looks like the finals will start on the 30th (Saturday). Any website or advices to buy tickets?

Cheers !

 

[theslatcher]

Hey guys, I'm traveling to Stockholm this upcoming Friday and will be staying until Monday. I am renting a car and interested to see an SHL game. Looks like the finals will start on the 30th (Saturday). Any website or advices to buy tickets?

Cheers !

Well they're not up yet, but they'll either be at Rögle BK 2021/2022 - Tickster (for Rögle) or Redirect (Luleå) depending on if Rögle can comeback from 1-3, which you'd want as the car ride(one-way) would "only" be 5½ hours compared to 10½.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Hey guys, I'm traveling to Stockholm this upcoming Friday and will be staying until Monday. I am renting a car and interested to see an SHL game. Looks like the finals will start on the 30th (Saturday). Any website or advices to buy tickets?

Cheers !

According to their website, Luleå will make tickets for the first round of the finals available Tuesday the 26th at 11 am, Swedish time. I’m not sure how that works, though, since Rögle as far as I know would receive home-ice advantage Saturday if they manage to turn around their fortune and win their series. At any rate, as soon as tickets are made available, I reckon one might want to stay put online in order to secure one.

As it stands today, the most likely matchup will be Luleå-Färjestad and the first game played in Luleå on Saturday.

By air, SAS, Norwegian and RyanAir all operate flights from Stockholm/Arlanda to Luleå. Make sure you comply with all their rules on check-in, luggage and whatnot if you’re flying with RyanAir. The flight is about one hour.

There are also night trains operated from Stockholm to Luleå, or you can ride in the daytime and change trains in Umeå. There are different operators but you can book all trains through SJ. Traveling by train is about 12-14 hours.

I wrote this before catching that you said you’re renting a car. As mentioned, it’s about a 10 hour ride without breaks. It’s likely the most expensive option to travel (though there are Facebook groups where you might find co-passengers willing to split the tab with you) and it’s not particularly scenic once you’ve passed Sundsvall and Höga Kusten: millions and millions of pine trees, the occasional town.