The transfer circus continues

A sure sign that spring is closing in. is the sudden influx of player movement in Leksand. This time there are strong rumours that they have signed Jussi Pesonen from Ilves if the Finnish SM-liiga. This year, compared to previous ones, Leksand has badly needed to make some adjustments before being able to  seriously compete with the teams dropping down from Elitserien. Not only is Allsvenskan looking weaker this year compared to previous years, but the bottom of Elitserien looks stronger than in a long time, possibly with the exception of Rögle who seem to be in free fall with internal fighting between board and supporters and rumoured dressing room unrest.

Pesonen is maybe not exactly the type of player that Leksand would need - a puck holding center might be the first thing to look out for. But if my sources are correct, the attempts to sign one has not been bearing fruit. The prospect of playing in a second tier Swedish team might not be appealing to the best players around.

Let's get you into something more... white and blue

Pesonen in that case looks like a solid recruitment. 40 points in 39 games for s team that is rock bottom in Finland. This makes him fourth best points scorer in SM-liiga as well as the fourth best goalscorer with his 18 goals. There is no reason to believe he will not add a fair few more to his tally in the Allsvenskan and Kvalserien. I believe this will prove a good signing and imagine most of the teams in Elitserien are disappointed they missed this opportunity. I would like to say Tervetuloa Taalainmaan, Jussi.

A defender is also expected to join the ranks before the transfer deadline on the 31st.

Da? Niet? Whatever...

KHL AIKSupporerts of AIK are heading to the ballots tonight, voting for a possible future in the KHL or if the club should remain in the confines of the Swedish hockey league. It's a hot topic within the Swedish hockey community and has divided the fans opinions, transcending club allegiances. The only main issue is that members seem to be a bit confused as to what they are actually voting for. There are no economical forcasts made public, nor details of how this is supposed to work practically. It seems the AIK board has already adapted to the Russian ways...

It is no secret the KHL wants to expand - it was written in a document as the league was formed - but they have been rejected German and Austrian teams. The only other letter of intent that has ever been signed is by Czech team HC Energie Karlovy Vary. This has however failed to materialise due to the economic downturn. Negotiations are also underway with another Czech team, Hradec Karlove HC.

I'll go with laughing-boy!

But even if AIK's members would vote in favour of joining the Russian league there are several objects in the way to doing so. A big one is that the likelihood of the Swedish Hockey Association allowing them to do so is minimal. To leave the association is unprecedented and possibly impossible as the KHL are affiliated under IIHF and IIHF would most certainly back the national association in this case, leaving KHL forced to refuse AIK entry and abilty to participate in any competition.

Also, KHL have in their statement regarding AIK signing the letter of intent, stated that AIK would be welcome to participate from 2010-2011, provided AIK observes all the terms and conditions, and meets all KHL admission criteria. I have yet to find any information as to what the admission criteria is.

Personally I think this is a bit of a non-event as I can't see how AIK would be allowed to join in the ranks of  KHL teams. I would hope it acts as a wake up call for the Swedish league to sort out its problems and restructure the current system to become more competitive. As for AIK, I can see them wanting to do this to cover their bases in case they fail to advance to Elitserien. The last few seasons has shown the club will face a long, slow death unless they get promoted. However, I don't think they'd fare that much better in a Russian league.

Västerås cutting costs

Västerås IK has seemingly started cutting costs as the team looks unlikely to qualify for the play-offs. VIK is currently 17 points off the all important 7th position, and with only 14 games left of the league, a miracle would be needed to grab a play-off spot. This has become a season to quickly forget as the team was aiming for a top three position. They have now released Carl Corazzini who only got eight games in the black and yellow jersey and somewhat disappointingly only scored one goal. Their other North American player, Christian Larivee remains with the team, at least for the time being.

...and don't come back!

Timo Leionen, who was expected to be the first choice goalkeeper in Leksand also seem destined to be shown the door. Canadian netminder Tom Lawson has been signed from KHL outfit Sibir Novisibirsk as a backup for Joacim Eriksson. This means the team has now filled the quota of two non-EU players.

Laraque wants to return to AIK

Montreal Canadiens' Georges Laraque has been told he can leave the NHL outfit. The physical forward has had a torrid time over the last few seasons, only scoring 20 points in 129 games the last four seasons. Laraque spent  part of the lock-out season 2004/05 in AIK and became somewhat of a cult player as he helped the club advance from division 1 to Allsvenskan, scoring 17 points in the 13 games while at the club.

As AIK's economical issues are well published - although the immediate threat of bankruptcy has been death with - there seems the club will not have the money required to pay him. Laraque however has said he'd be willing to return to the club and play for free, leaving AIK to take care of his expenses. This should be well within their reach and I expect to see Laraque make a move to Solna before the close of the transfer window.

Laraque doing what he does best

Many fans have sated they'd be looking forward to the possibility of seeing two heavyweights in Leksand's Jan-Luc Grand-Pierre and Laraque squaring up to each other in Kvalserien. Even though it is a possibility, I'd suggest it is only a remote one as the two are cousins.

Meanwhile Södertälje SK, at the bottom of Elitserien, has made a coup and strengthened their squad by signing Finnish goaltender Riku Hellenius from Tampa Bay. This might prove a very important signing come the battle to stay in the top league.

Eriksson rewrites history books

Leksand's goaltender Joacim Eriksson has done a magnificent job since arriving from Brynäs before the start of the season. The 19 year old has in fact done his job so well he has broken Ed Belfour's record of most shutouts in a season - Eriksson's tally now stands at eight clean sheets following two consecutive shutouts. He is also the top goaltender in the league with 93.15% saves.

What's Mora after all???

Mora is, apparently a child with many faces. If you say 'Mora' around the world, it can mean many different things.

We find that it is often a town. There are a few, one in Spain, one in Portugal and one in Cameroon. Mora Canton is in Costa Rica, in India we find a Mora outside Mumbai and a Mora Industrial Estate, an industrial area in the Prem Nagar Export Zone. In Paraguay we have Fernando de la Mora which is the only fully fledged city as far as I can tell. Back in Spain we find a Mora de Rubielos.

In New Mexico, we have a Mora, a Mora County as well as Mora River. And in Minnesota we have a Mora, with Dala Horse and all.

Also lots of prominent people were called Mora. F. Luis Mora was an artist and illustrator, Ferenc Mora an Hungarian writer Georges was some entrepreneur from Germany. Father/son set up of Jim E and Jim L were head coaches around different NFL teams while plain Jim Mora was a broadcaster in New Zeeland. Jo Mora was an artist in Uruguay, Melvin played baseball in Venezuela and Mirka was another artist.

In Spain, we find José Francisco Mora Altava, known as Pepe Mora playing football (proper football, not American thingee). In America's Next Top Model, we notice that Naima Mora won the fourth series while old Nestor was a Colombian cyclist. Philippe made films, Sergio was boxing and Tiriel was mainly acting. There were two famous Victor Mora's - one was a comic book autor, while the other was a Colombian long distance runner.

Could you be more specific please?

Then we must not forget the fish Mora. In aviation MORA means Minimum Off Route Altitude and in Costa Rica it is a type of blackberry juice drink. There are also several units of Mora; it could either be a unit of sound used in phonology or a unit of about 600 soldiers in the Spartan Army. In Mora you can also buy Music online from Sony. In Polish mythology, we find Mora are the souls of living people that leave the body during the night. A little bit freaky, but hey... Why not!

We also have the plant Mora in the Fabaceae family. The flagship of William the Conqueror's fleet was also named Mora, and a villain in Power Rangers is also named Mora.

In Sweden you will find Mora stenar where ancient kings were elected. you'll also find Mora municipality, the home of the Mora knife and the Mora clock as well as the home of Mora IK ice hockey club.

Later tonight we will however find out what it really means and what it is made of.

Canadian on his way to Växjö?

A little bird whispered to me that Växjö has been in contact with a player from the Toronto area. Any deal is far from done, but inquiries have been made.

Is this him?

No small rinks in Sweden - for now

The Swedish hockey league has decided against adapting the rinks in Sweden to North American standard.v The reasons they quoted were the cost implications, loss of crowd capacity and the risk of the style of hockey getting very defensive. The league had asked all top clubs for their opinions, and none wanted to change the rink size.

A fully agree to this and hope these plans will be shelved for the forseeable future.

Percy is out of pocket once more after already building a small rink.

Has Mora got the nerve?

It is one again time for the battle of Siljan. Mora is visiting Leksand, not only casing a automatic qualification spot  for Kvalserien, but also to win this prestigious derby. After being the in-form team, with only two losses in 15 games, Harald Lückner's men have recently started stuttering. Two defeats on the trot has put them three points behind the all important third place.

A win at Ejendals Arena would certainly get them back on track again.

The stats are however against the guests; in the last ten visits, there has only been three wins recorded. Although the last outing in Leksand, earlier this season, ended in a resounding 6-2 win for the team from the northern shores. And when it comes to these derbies, you might as well just chuck your stat books out the window and enjoy the game. A fierce competition is not only expected, but a given when these two teams meet.

 'Pardon me Sir. I am terribly sorry for bumping in to you like that.'

The first game Leksand ever played as a club was actually against Mora. MIK had a successful team and agreed to play against this newly formed Leksand outfit. After three periods, the result was 8-0 to LIF and the Mora players, not wanting to be embarrassed by these newcomers, asked if they could play a fourth period so they could reduce the defeat. This was agreed to and the game continued. At 11-0, the game was finally abandoned.

The rivalry has continued during they years and a sell out crowd is expected in Leksand for tomorrow's game.

Big night in Stockholm

Tonight is a big night in the Swedish capital. I know the national opera is putting on The Barber of Seville, but it's not the reason for the importance of this evening. Nor is it the much awaited appearance of Brit post-punk band The XX. It's not even the much acclaimed exhibition of Pre Revolutionary Film Poster Art in Iran that is setting the capital alight. Strangely enough it is the visit of a mediocre hockey team from the deep forests of Dalarna that is making people leave the comfort of their sofas in Stockholm, this city of cities - centre of the known Universe and epicentre of Culture and Refinement etc etc.

Missed the Film? Don't worry - the poster is better.

Johanneshov is once again going to have a bumper crowd. when Leksand comes to visit. This will bring much needed money into the coffers of AIK - and if the tradition from the last couple of years is to be upheld, three points to the team. One can only wonder why AIK only manages to be 8th(!) in the attendance table when the team is challenging for a place in the top league. It is rather shameful when you see Bofors drawing bigger crowds than AIK.

The Solna outfit has this year a disappointing attendance average of 2.343. The biggest game of the year so far has been the earlier game versus Leksand where 6.028 came to watch. Compare this to 1.036 (Oskarshamn) and 1.054 (Almtuna) which are their lowest figures, you see this is in fact an important night in Stockholm.

Reasons listed for not going to watch the games has been as many as the empty seats in section A3. The most prevalent being '...but there is sooo much to do in Stockholm.' Yes, of course, you can't miss the exhilarating 'Tvättstugan' exhibition or go to see 'Kimono Fusion' to learn about the changing role of this important traditional Japanese costume. With this as competition and with a catchment area covering only an aproximate amount of 1.5 million people, you can see the struggle faced by 'We are everywhere'-AIK.

Seconds after this shot, the crowd went completely mental as AIK scored.

I sadly can't join them, but will once again be seated in front of the computer, spending money on a shit broadcast, listening to some overrated once-managed-to-hit-a-puck expert while watching two - at the best - mediocre teams. But then again, there isn't too much else to do in London tonight.

Tony Virta - the missing playmaker?

So Leksand has signed veteran forward Tony Virta from HPK. As this blog has been hoping, a center has finally been acquired. However, is Tony Virta, a 37 year old Finn, with a chequered history the right solution? And if I understand it correctly, he prefers to play on the wings even though he is capable of playing in the middle. As always, we'll have to wait and see. Of course it is not a long term solution, and when looking at his stats, you can at least see he's had a good season in SM liiga with 18 points from 34 games (14 assists) - not sensational but still not bad, not at least considering HPK is 10th. He's second in the internal +/- table with a respectable +8 and is also second in the team in regards to ice time per game, which is an average of 17:30. Not too bad for a vintage player.

I hope he has a sensitive wrist and can at least cover a small part of the massive gap left by the departure of Challe Karlberg and Kevin Doell.

The 'new' #15.

What is good is that LIF has actually had scouts watching this player (we have signed players purely on 'recommendations' before). Hopefully this means he won't be another Grosek or Golubovsky...

Leksand - a Södertälje clone?

Leksands IF has just revealed they are adding Stefan Nyman to their back room staff. Now the team from Dalarna has two former Södertälje SK coaches on their payroll - Nyman worked with Leif Strömberg previously, successfully navigating SSK through Kvalserien 2007 as well as 2009. The two teams are once again looking hot candidates to meet in the competition to qualify for the top league. Nyman was offered the role as head coach for SSK before this season, but declined the offer.

Ernie and Bert - back together again

Nyman's exact role is debated. Aftonbladet claim he will work with scouting the opposition while others thinks he might be taking over as assistant from Christer Olsson, or possibly having all three on the bench. One thing does however look certain, Leksand is trying to clone itself into a Södertälje from previous years. The only good thing you can say about their track record is that they managed to hang onto their spot in Elitserien. What it looked like on the rink is best forgotten.

Malmö + IK Pantern = True

Malmö are in talks to start a collaboration with local rivals IK Pantern. Talks are planned, but nothing has yet been decided. I would hazard a guess that the Redhawks fringe players might get regular ice time while Pantern will get access to some players that they might not be able to afford otherwise.

Skåne allstars

 

One day they want to go to KHL, the next they'd like to play in a European league. There has even been a mention of joining the Danish league(???). Well, if the talks are successful, they are at least one step closer to Division 1 (regionalised tier 3) something they narrowly missed out on last year. A word of warning for IK Pantern though, any discarded Redhawks players should be treated as hazardous waste - do not touch with a barge pole. Just watch out, soon they'll try to dump Carl Söderberg on you.

Andersson chucks his toys out of the pram

Peter Andersson, coach at Örebro Hockey after being chased out from Malmö last lseason, has done it again. Yeah, he's still rubbish - but where's the news in that? No, this time he's once and for all proven just what a spoilt knob-head he is.

Following Almtuna's deciding 3-2 goal last week, Andersson thought in his infinite wisdom, that he'd demonstrate 'how unfairly we get treated by the referees' by chucking a water bottle at the linesman. Needless to say, he was sent to the dressing room and is awaiting a verdict of further suspension from the disciplinary committee.

Now, who's the baby?

He's now firmly joined the other two mentally unstable coaches in the league - Växjö's Janne Karlsson and Leksand's Leif Strömberg. However, in all fairness, it should be mentioned that he has agreed to pay compensation for the broken water bottle.

Transfer deadline closing in

There are a few interesting weeks ahead as the Swedish transfer deadline approaches. Here's a list of the top teams from Allsvenskan and the prospects of any additions to their squads:

• Leksands IF
  Always in the top regarding rumours and speculation. The club has just released defender Niklas Andersson. With Jan Huokko having been forced into retirement earlier in the season and Petter Ullman sidelined for the foreseeable future there might be room for additions in defence. The void left by Jamie Johnson taking his chances across the pond and the retirement of his 'replacement' Andreas Johansson has yet to be filled. Rumours are more or less realistic, ranging from former player Niklas 'Pajen' Persson to Jan Hrdina, Kris Beech and last years' success, Kevin Doell.
• Växjö Lakers
  There has already been some news from the Lakers. The club has signed goaltender Johan Tahlberg from Västerås, and it seems Cristopher Liljewall is joining the squad on a permanent basis. Rumours also place Niklas Andersson, just released from Leksand, at the club.
• Mora IK
  Mora is nowadays not know as a club making spectacular signings. But the squad looks thin at the moment, and with on-loan forward Thomas Enström heading to Björklöven, I would hazard a guess Janne Simons has a replacement lined up.
• AIK
  With the ongoing economical difficulties in the club, I don't expect much to be happening in terms of signings.
• Malmö Redhawks
  The club has just recruited a goaltender to cover for sacked Jani Hurme, Johan Svensson has joined from Kumla Hockey. Defender Teemu Kesä is being treated for what could be a long-term injury and might need replacement. Andre Lakos has apparently been offered to the club, but unless Percy Nilsson opens his wallet, the club will not be able to afford him. I suspect we will at least see a defender joining the team before February.

Among the other contenders I expect less movements or at least less prospects of any major signings,  there are however rumours that Patrik Lundh might be on his way to elitserien from Bofors.

Transfer deadline is January 31st..

What can you say?

Borrowed/stolen from the brilliant Puckarinen blog...

To shoot or not to shoot - that is the question

I'm back after a well needed break. Not that anyone actually missed me or anything.

I've been taking a look at the stats of the league leaders, Leksands IF. When studying them closer, one or two things stand out - such as their league position.

My biggest gripe with how the team is playing is quickly revealed in the stats; Leksand used to be an attacking team - not any more. From the 33 games played so far this season, LIF has only shot more than their opponents have in 8(!) games. Considering the team has won 23 of these games, I guess there are no grounds for complaints. Feck off - I'm about to get started! I think you can safely say that there can't be many teams that has shot less and won more. Jocke Eriksson has been the difference in most of these games. Now his stats are impressive.

Bloody show-off!

So what's the problem? Well, for starters, Leksand has got a wage bill most likely 50% higher than any of the opponents in Allsvenskan. Some players might not be worth all that money, but there is still enough quality in the team to dominate most of the opponents. It's not like Leksand supporters are alone in thinking they'd rather pay to watch a good game of hockey with some attacking flair rather than seeing good players being restricted to the degree where they are being glued to their own blue line by the coach. Ok, our players are not the best in the world, but I have a sneaky feeling Strömberg would give the same orders to Ovechkin. That man hates hockey and I'd like to see him given a life ban from Ejendals Arena.

At least Almtuna has figured out how to deal with his negative tactics. Good on them (record so far: GP: 3, W: 2, L: 1, GD: 8-3, SoG: 111-54). The problem is I think we'll be just as exposed in Kvalserien as well. In that competition it is not advisable to let the opponents have 40 odd shots on target. Not that I think we'll be able to change that aspect of our game with that man still in charge.

Needless to say, I'll happily be proven wrong on any of the points made above.