Welcome back to Allsvenskan, arsewipes!

The season is finally underwaty with the first round of matches out of the way. The opening game for former top league team, Rögle, was supposed to be a mere formality as they were hosting Boras. That was a formalty that whacked them straight in the balls! RBK did well to rally back from 0-3 and take the game to extra time where they ended up losing 5-6. Needless to say, their return to Allsvenskan has been greeted in way they did not expect. The other new-commers, Tingsryd, lost 3-1 at local rivals Växjö.

Other notable results was that a new-look Leksand completely thrashed their opening opponents and derby rivals, Mora. An incredible second period saw them score five times and finally take the game 7-1. Almtuna also showed little mercy as relegation favourites Sundsvall was sent to intensive care after losing 6-1at home. A strong looking Västerås team also showed class at they romped home 5-0 against Bofors.

Pre-season starts in Leksand

After what seems as a short summer break, the hockey season is once again upon us with pre-season games getting under way across Sweden. Leksand is taking on Lillehammer of Norway this evening and the game can  be seen on Conny's TV with a 6pm (CET) start. Norway? Bah! Well, in all fairness it would most likely beat the Sweden v Scotland football friendly hands down in terms of entertainment value. Pesonen v Zlatan... Kollar v Svensson... I don't really need to say more, now do I?

Björklöven - the final verdict

The ridiculously long lasting saga on the Björklöven story has finally reached the end. A few weeks back, the Swedish Hockey Association came to the conclusion that their first decision regarding the future of the Umeå club would have to stand; they were forcibly relegated due to economical problems and although the club has come through them, the relegation still has to stand.

The Björklöven board of course took this through to appeal and the final verdict came the other day: The relegation stands. And rightly so. 

Although the club managed to survive, the economical dealings of last year was extremely irresponsible. It must have been clear after the first month or two of last season that the budget was blown out of the water. Instead of consolidating and  cutting costs, they did the opposite. With already big debts on board, an increasing wage bill and dwindling crowds, there was only one way it would all finish. It seems the board made the most of it while it lasted by making sure back room staff got more than their fair share of the spoils before the proverbial shit would hit  the fan.

 Onwards and upwards!

I don't envy the new board, but they should be both glad and proud they have managed to get the club through this and to the other side. A couple of years in a lower division might be what they need to rebuild everything from the inside out. They'll be back soon enough - enjoy division 1 while it lasts.

World Cup intermission

No one has failed to notice the World Cup in football is on at the moment. I had promised not to write anything about it - there are enough football blogs anyway - but I have been swayed by what happened last night when Spain took on Portugal in the knock out stages.

This is not about the game. This is about my wife. And the teams.

Following the national anthems when the camera shows the close-ups of players singing along - or not as may be the case, Mrs Puckin' Hell, being forced to watch the games unless I disappear down the pub and free up the TV for her, sat up and said 'Spain and Portugal in football seems to be a bit like Sweden and Finland in ice hockey, with Portugal being like Finland' I was well impressed by her sudden knowledge of the sport. 'Not a bad comparison. They are neighbours and the rivalry is massive between the two countries. And as Finland, Portugal is usually at the wrong end of the scoreline.' I addeed. 'Aha...' she said 'I just meant that the Spaniards are quite good looking, whereas the Portuguese are a right ugly bunch.'.

There you go.

She's Finnish by the way...

Part MMCXXVII of the Björklöven saga

Some fuckers just don't know when to give up. And for that, Björklöven should be eternally grateful. The club has officially  managed to avoid being wound up and will continue to exist in its current shape. The question is now Where?

As the club seized trading at the end of the season, Sundsvall was given their spot and was told they'd be playing in Allsvenskan the coming year. Sunsvall has of course been setting themselves a different budget and has been working to a completely different framework than had they not been promoted. It would not be fair or right in this late stage to backtrack and tell them to play in Division 1. This has of course had ramifications throughout the hockey league and it is hard to see where Björklöven will fit in.

There are a few obvious alternatives, all with their pros and cons;

• Björklöven is told they can stay in Allsvenskan. The division is extended by one team and more rounds will be played. This will create a scheduling nightmare (the first round has already been drawn) as well as an imbalanced division with an odd number of teams. This will then need to be rectified for next season and there will be another relegation spot.
• The club is relegated to division one. The above problems will be shifted downwards one division.
• The club is told to start from the bottom of the system. This will in effect kill the club off. The arena, owned by Umea municipality, will be too big to host regional division 4 games and the club will have to find another home. Getting back to a position where they would fill their old arena would take many years.

No doubt the Swedish Icehockey Association will find the most complicated and impractical solution to the problem. I am waiting in anticipation.

But how did this happen. The club was run down completely by the board and incredible amounts were paid out to staff and players in salaries even when it was known within the club that there was no more money to take from. Apparently, the wage bill was 1.4M SEK/month. Even though this is limited to 7.5 months of the year, it adds up to an awful lot of money for this level of hockey. I can see why KHL were flirting with them earlier in the season - at least they are up to speed in how to do it in the board room.

Completely pucked!

So you knobbers think I'm dead, huh? If only! I must admit of a certain greyish-whiteish paleness, but years of London life generally has that effect on your skin tone. In all fairness, I am currently somewhat of a zombie during the waken hours and could easily be mistaken for dead or at least soon-to-be-dead, but that it all down to work and other things I have a feeling I might get back to in the coming months. Can't be bothered now though.

Anyway, I'll sporadically be posting during the summer but the frequency of the posts will be cut for obvious reasons. I'm not going to indulge too much in silly-season speculation unless there is actually a good reason for it. I suspect there will be a bunch of posts coming either today or during the next few days as I have kept away for a while.

The undeath of a hockey team

First it was AIK who undeaded themselves by getting promoted to Elitserien, now it seems an outside chance that Björklöven might join the same exclusive club. No, they're not getting promoted. They're trying to undead themselves as well - and by all means, they don't seem too far off achieving it. Puckin' Hell had along with everyone else assumed that Björklöven was not only dead, but buried and slightly decomposed by now. Well, we were all wrong it seems. To paraphrase Mark Twain, it seems the reports of Björklöven's death has been somewhat exaggerated.

 

Apparently, the club has until May 12th to get their finances in order and businessmen, benefactors, companies and the public has managed to get a large proportion of the money needed for survival. In a last ditch attempt, the club is now issuing share options to get the last money. I will join the rest of all hockey lovers to wish them every success in this campaign.

Something is rotten in the state of Sweden

Silly season is under way, but I still find myself depressed and downbeat thinking about hockey, so I have stayed away from the blog and all my bookmarked websites for a while. Needless to say, it is impossible to cleanse my world completely from it, as the whacking of a black rubber thingee on frozen water is a fully integrated part of my everyday life. Try and aviod it, and you get caught out with a tackle from behind that knocks you out for twenty. That is just what has happened.

I attended a friends wedding and as the brother of the bride is as much of a hockey fanatic as I am we obviously got into a conversation about the upcoming world championships and the season just gone. He's got it all sorted. Albeit he's Slovakian and usually only have an outside chance of seeing any medals on the international scene (I know, they still manage to beat Sweden every time, so I should keep stumm), his domestic side has defended their title. Košice beat local rivals Bratislava and you could see the excitement and joy in his face as he described the finals in detail.

After he finished he looked at me and told me he'd followed Leksand's results over the web. What is wrong with this Swedish ice hockey? How many years in a row have you won your division - 3? 4? And they still don't let you up? That seems completely fucked mate! I have never heard of a similar system anywhere. Why don't they change it?

As we downed another Sambuca, I nodded in agreement. Yeah, it is fucked. Then was going to explain what went wrong, and after a few seconds I found myself talking about economy, TV money, the struggles of several of the teams in the second tier to stay alive, and that's when it hit me like a face-slap from an over ripe herring. Talking about Swedish domestic ice hockey invariably develops into a discussion of figures and numbers. To talk Swedish ice hockey, you really need a university degree in advanced economics. And as any map will show you, Leksand, Umeå, Almtuna and Västerås is a very long way from Oxford, Cambridge or Yale.

In fact, it has indeed proven way too far away from Umeå, as Björklöven has seized to exist. The Swedish Champions from 1987 has been declared bankrupt. Björklöven fostered players such as Ulf Dahlén and Calle Johansson and I regarded them as one of the original 'Big' clubs with tradition and culture not many can match. It is truly an indication of how bad the state of Swedish ice hockey really is when a club like Björklöven disappears.

As I said, my friend has got it sorted. When he talks ice hockey, it is simply about what happens on the ice. That's the game I grew up with. That's the game I love! Could we have it back please Mr Loob?