EHM The Blue Line

Tasku wrote:What do you think, Systemfel, and other Swedes? Do you have too many foreigners or is it fine as it is?

On most teams it's fine, but I don't like seeing a team like Mora having 10 foreigners on the roster.

Frölunda has 7 on the roster, but I don't mind, since their all quality guys. Two of those guys were signed at the signing deadline.

Complete foreigner list for the SEL
Brynäs: 6 (3 FIN, 1 LAT, 1 NOR, 1 USA)
Djurgården: 5 (3 FIN, 2 NOR)
Frölunda: 7 (5 FIN, 1 SUI, 1 CAN)
Färjestad: 5 (3 CZE, 1 USA/GRE, 1 FIN)
HV71: 2 (2 FIN)
Leksand: 12 (6 CZE, 1 CAN, 1 CAN/GBR, 1 RUS)
Linköping: 7 (6 FIN, 1 CAN)
Luleå: 7 (1 AUT, 2 CZE, 2 SVK, 2 FIN)
MoDo: 8 (3 SVK, 1 CAN/ITA, 1 CZE, 2 DEN, 1 FIN)
Mora: 10 (1 SVK, 5 FIN, 2 CAN, 1 CAN/SWE, 1 NOR)
Södertälje: 8 (1 CAN, 1 SLO, 1 AUT, 1 FIN, 2 SVK, 1 NOR, 1 CZE)
Timrå: 11 (2 CZE, 5 FIN, 1 CAN, 1 USA, 2 DEN)

I see Finns are the most common foreigner in Sweden.

In Finland the Czechs are the most common foreigner. Canadians a close second, I suppose.

Tasku wrote:I see Finns are the most common foreigner in Sweden.

Yes, especially in Frölunda and HV71 (but so many this time around for HV).

We love our Finns. Except for Erik Kakko.

Woohoo! Frölunda has taken the lead in the series against Brynäs. 1-4 was the final score.

The game was played in Gävle, Brynäs' hometown, and I went 800 kilometres (500 miles?) by car to watch this excellent game.

Slovak League PlayOffs

Nitra (1) - Skalica (8) 4-5ot, 5-1

In first match Nitra leads 3-1 a but then tied Skalica to 4-4 and in overtime Skalica scores for win in this match. I second match Nitra win very easy

Kosice (2) - Slovan Bratislava (7) 4-3, 3-0

I was on first match, on 0:59 in first period Slovan leads 2-0 a but then we start playing very good and scores three times, Slovan tied on 3-3 a but we score again a win (In Slovan is playing Dennis Afinogenov brother of Maxim Afinogenov who is playing in Buffalo). Second match I watch on TV, we play good and Slovan very poor

Zvolen (3) - Zilina (6) 1-2so

Surprise for us, Zilina wins after shot-out

Trencin (4) - Poprad (5) 1-2

Same as Zilina

Same photos:

There's some good photos there

It looks like a really smart arena. But why no logo at centre ice?

Systemfel - 500 miles?! You must be devoted fan!

Tell me, Fortune, is Dukla as strong as they were in the lockout season?

archibalduk wrote:It looks like a really smart arena. But why no logo at centre ice?

I dont know Maybe they paint there logo next season

Systemfel wrote:Tell me, Fortune, is Dukla as strong as they were in the lockout season?

No, same good players goes away (Meszaros - Ottawa), last season when lockout was they have excellent first line Gaborik - Demitra - Hossa and they produced many points, but this team now arent playing very good.

This might be sort of an Offtopic question, but i'll go ahead anyways. Does any of the european leagues organize an all-star event? Like with the same idea than the nhl's. SM-Liiga used to do that couple of times few years back, but its been a while since the last time.

The SEL had a few all-star events in the beginning of the century. It was the Northern All-Stars vs. the Southern All-Stars. Pretty fun to watch. In '02, I think, there was an SEL All-Stars team that played Luleå, for some reason.

We have All-Star game between Slovak league and Czech League

Oh, that a nice thing. Would be cool to have same kind of game between SM-Liiga and SEL, tho both teams would consist from mostly finnish players anyway ;pp.

Just because of that, I'm gonna name an all-star roster for the SEL, hang on.

Lines

Niklas Andersson - Jonas Johnson - Tomi Kallio
The very best line in the SEL belongs to Frölunda. Andersson's an all-around player who plays on the PK. He has great passing skills and can also finish plays off. Johnson, who also plays on the PK, is a pretty slow skater, but the tremendous playmaker and leader has an accurate wrister coming down on the goalie. Kallio's the league's best sniper, winning the Håkan Loob Trophy for most goals scored. He skates like the wind and his wristshot is, listen to this, one of the best in the world.

Fredrik Bremberg - Andreas Karlsson - Magnus Kahnberg
Djurgården's Bremberg, who finished second in assist scoring only behind Niklas Andersson, is a finesse player with terrific playmaking abilities. Karlsson, who plays for HV 71, scored the most points during the regular season (26G, 28A for 54 pts). He's a lanky playmaker who can be used in all game situations. Kahnberg plays for Frölunda and is also a finesse player. The lanky right-handed winger has great technical skills and a great shot. His skating is only average, though.

Lubos Bartecko - Jonas Nordquist - Mikael Renberg
Bartecko is a very strong two-way forward with great skating. He can do anything, and plays all forward positions with dash. Nordquist is another lanky centerman with solid technical skills and a good passing game. Renberg played in the NHL for quite some time, and you can tell. He's the SEL's no. 1 powerforward. All players on this line play in Luleå, although Bartecko plays on the 2nd unit there.

Tony Mårtensson - Jörgen Jönsson - Björn Melin
Linköping centerman Mårtensson is effective on the wing as well, and displays fine playmaking abilities, leading his club in scoring this season. Jönsson is normally captain of the Swedish national team. He's a great playmaker and logs tons of ice-time on the PK. Melin, who plays for HV 71 on a line with Karlsson, is a skilled energy player with a right-handed shot. He loves coming down his off-wing and challenge d-men, much like Ovechkin and Kovalchuk. He's not afraid to get in the rough going, either.

Defense Parings

Per Gustafsson - Fredrik Olausson
This is an HV 71 veteran paring, with tons of experience. (This hurts to say ) But even though they're really slow, they're great two-way defenseman with solid playmaking skills.

Ronnie Sundin - Magnus Johansson
These guys were essential when Frölunda won the championship back in 2003. They had played together for six years when Johansson left the team to play in Switzerland. Johansson wanted to return to Sweden in 2004, and that started a bidding war between Frölunda and his hometown team Linköping. He chose the latter. Sundin's mainly a defensive d-man, but has evulated his offensive skills over the years. Johansson's the perfect power-play quarterback, and even though not very big, he's a force in his own zone.

Josef Boumedienne - Thomas Rhodin
Boumedienne's Södertälje's best defenseman and captain. He's great offensively and delivers fine out-let passes from his own zone. He also has quite the mean streak and sometimes throws dirty hits from behind. Rhodin is also a great two-way d-man, though his focus is mainly on the offense. He's got a booming slapshot from the point and throws good hip-checks when he gets a chance.

In goal they would have Karol Krizan (MoDo), Fredrik Norrena (Linköping) and Johan Holmqvist (Brynäs).

Okay, today two more quarter finals in the SEL were played. 1st-seeded HV 71 took on Mora at home; 3-2 OT win for HV, Stefan Pettersson scored the game-winner as well as a hat-trick in the game. HV now leads 2-0.

Frölunda squared off against Brynäs in the Scandinavium (the arena) where they took a 1-0 lead two minutes and 55 seconds into the second period. Brynäs tied it up eleven minutes and 17 seconds later though. The third period was scoreless, and one and a half minute into OT, Canadian pivot Jason Krog, who was signed just prior to the signing deadline on January 31st, scored the game-winner.

Tomorrow Färjestad faces MoDo at home and Luleå heads to Linköping.

Kosice wins both matches away against Slovan Bratislava and go to semi-finals

SEL Quarter Finals
1. HV 71 - 8. Mora | 2-0
2. Frölunda - 7. Brynäs | 2-0
3. Linköping - 5. Luleå | 1-1
4. Färjestad - 6. MoDo | 2-0

Färjestad crushed MoDo totally at home, winning a blasting 7-0 victory. The game between Linköping and Luleå was once again very even and tight. Linköping won 3-1 since captain Magnus Johansson scored an empty-netter in the end of the game.

Tonight HV 71 travels to Mora, and my team, Frölunda, heads back to Gävle (this time without me ) for the third games in those series.

Cool, keep us posted...

Slovak T-Com extra league - quater finals

EDIT!

Nitra (1) Skalica (8) | 2-2
Kosice (2) Slovan (7) | 4-0 final result
Zvolen (3) Zilina (6) | 0-4 final result (big surprise)
Trencin (4) Poprad (5)| 0-4 final result (big surprise)

Kosice in semifinals

So, Frölunda ousted Brynäs in four games, winning the last tilt 4-1. They will most probably face Linköping, who's taken a 2-1 lead against Luleå. Yes, it's far from over, but Linköping looks incredibly strong right now...

Regular season winner HV 71 won game 4 against Mora with 5-1. They now have a solid 3-1 lead and another home game on Saturday afternoon.

Tomorrow:
Färjestad - MoDo | 2-1
Linköping - Luleå | 2-1

Yay, regular season of SM-Liiga is over, and the final table is as follow

O +/- P
Kärpät 56 75 122
HIFK 56 44 108
HPK 56 38 102
Tappara 56 28 102
Ässät 56 22 97
Ilves 56 5 92
---------------------------
SaiPa 56 19 87
Blues 56 17 84
JYP 56 9 83
TPS 56 -16 72
---------------------------
Jokerit 56 -41 69
Pelicans 56 -46 67
Lukko 56 -29 59
KalPa 56 -125 32

One of the biggest teams in finland, Jokerit didnt make it to the playoffs, and this ofcourse is a shock to the teams fans. Then again on the other hand all of the other teams fans find it quite funny, including me.

Today are the first playoff games being played, the so called "pity playoffs". Teams playing in the games are SaiPa vs. TPS and Blues vs. JYP. Series are best out of 3. The real playoff games start on thursday.

Btw, sorry for the sloppy table.

The system is a bit confusing mix of best of three, best of seven and best of five and they keep changing it, always looking for the most exciting formula, or something.

I would prefer if they kept it simple: best of three for the "pitty playoffs" (Qualifying Round by it's official name, I guess) and best of seven for the rest. It makes no sense they drop the number of games for the finals!

Anyways, TPS - another big team - was knocked out of the playoffs by SaiPa by two straight wins - a small team from Lappeenranta in the South Eastern corner of Finland.

JYP and Blues are still playing for the last spot in the top 8.

JYP took the first win over Blues by score 3 to 4 in Saturday, but Blues was able to tie the series on Sunday by beating JYP at their own arena 2-1. Esa Pirnes scored and Steve Kariya assisted the winning goal on the later half of the last minute.

By Tuesday we'll know which one of the two will make it further.

Go BLUES!!

Edit: Piccies!

Okay, only one SEL quarter final is still alive, as Färjestad ousted MoDo in five games and HV 71 sent Mora packing, 4-1.

The series between Linköping and Luleå is still alive, but Linköping has a 3-2 lead and will be looking to put it away tomorrow in Luleå.

If Linköping wins, the semi finals will go like this:
HV 71 - Färjestad
Frölunda - Linköping

Linköping and Frölunda usually take their wins against eachother in their own builing, so it's gonna be interesting.

If Luleå wins, HV will take them on and Frölunda would square off against Färjestad...

Linköping just ousted Luleå, winning the game 6 away.

The semi finals will therefore be played between 1st-seeded HV 71 and 4th-seeded Färjestad, and 2nd-seeded Frölunda will take on 3rd-seeded Linköping

The series start on Saturday afternoon...

Let's Go Frölunda!

Espoo Blues just won the other pity playoffs series 2-1 against JYP, so the quarter final couples are as follow

Kärpät - Blues
HIFK - SaiPa
HPK - Ilves
Tappara - Ässät

Go Kärpät! I cheer for them since my dad's from Oulu and he cheers for them

Make those Blues sign the blues!