Weekly Recap: Skellefteå Lift The Cup

Champs

With a 3-1 series lead and heading back to home ice, Skellefteå had a chance to close out the series and win the Le Mat trophy last Monday evening. 

Despite being heavily outshot throughout the game, Rögle stood tall and put forth a solid effort. However, they couldn't stop the onslaught of shots and two ended up in the back of their net. Andreas Johnson opened the scoring about halfway through the second period on the powerplay and Max Lindholm would secure the victory with an empty net goal late in the game. Those would be the only two goals scored and Skellefteå would come away with the 2-0 victory in front of the hometown crowd and be crowned Swedish Champions for the first time in a decade. 

- It feels absolutely fantastic. I won my first gold as an away team in Skellefteå and I'm very happy to win in Skellefteå now. But this is the boys' trip, but it's fun to be in a hockey team like this, said Skellefteå's coach Robert Ohlsson.

Despite the final loss, Rögle has to be happy with their performance this off season. They made it to the final round by sweeping the top two seeds in the playoffs, something no one was expecting from a team that finished 9th in the regular season. However, that success it doesn't help to dull the pain of the final loss.

- I'm disappointed. We've had a hell of an energy throughout the playoffs, but I don't know where it is. Maybe we're putting energy into the wrong things. It's maybe our worst game in the entire playoffs. Busy when it's such an important match, Rögle's Simon Ryfors said

Skellefteå's Linus Södertsröm was awarded the Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the post season. He posted an impressive 11-3 record in the playoffs with a 1.52 GAA a .944 SV% and recorded 3 shutouts. 

NHL Contracts

With the 2023/24 season now officially in the books it was a busy week off the ice for a lot of teams and players. There were a number of players this week who have signed with NHL clubs and will be testing the waters in North America over the coming months. 

Frölundas Otto Stenberg and Skellefteås Simon Robertsson have both signed entry level contracts with The St. Louis Blues. The Blues have also signed Örebros Samuel Johannesson to a two year deal and Växjös Marcus Sylvegård to a one year deal. 

Rögles Adam Engström and Brynäs´ Noel Nordh have both also signed entry level contracts with Montréal and Arizona respectively. 

Lateral Moves

There were multiple players moving teams within the league this week. Nicola Pasic has moved from Luleå to Malmö. Joonas Lyytinen is leaving Timrå to join Leksand. Alexander Hellnemo swaps Rögle for Skellefteå. 

Sebastian Strandberg announced this week that he is leaving Linköping and will be joining the Växjö Lakers. The 31 year old forward has been with Linköping for the past two seasons and hasn't missed a single game. 

- I am very happy and excited to represent Växjö Lakers for the next two years. I'm looking forward to putting on the Växjö jersey and going into the Vida Arena. It has always been incredibly tough away games against Växjö Lakers, so it feels really good that I will be on the right side now, says Strandberg 

Players Leaving

With the off season now officially underway, that also means that players will be looking beyond Sweden for new opportunities on the ice. 

Erik Borg is leaving Frölunda and joining Ilves in Finland. Tobias Reider is leaving Växjö and joining EHC Munchen in Germany. Carl Dahlström is leaving Färjestad and joining HC Lugano in Switzerland. Olli Nikupeteri is leaving Luleå and joining Kärpät in Finland. Taylor Leier is departing Linköping and joining the Straubing Tigers in Germany. Rögle is losing a trio of players as Petr Kvaca and Valteri Viljanen have announced their departure from the club, although it's unclear where they will be heading.

The third of the trio comes as no surprise to Rögle fans, although it is a big loss for their roster. Adam Tambellini announced earlier in the season that he would be heading to Switzerland to play for HC Davos next season. The 29 year old Canadian came to Rögle in 2020 and quickly became one of the leagues best players. 

New Players

The off season isn't all about departures, however, as multiple teams have signed players to new contracts from outside the league. 

Frölunda is bringing in a trio of players as they have signed Tobias Normann from AIK in Hockey Allsvenskan, Dominik Egli from HC Davos and Filip Cederqvist from the Laval Rockets. 

MoDo has signed Alexander True from the Charlotte Checkers. Brynäs has signed Erik Källgren from the Utica Comets. And Luleå has signed Anton Levtchi from Tappara.