IIHF.com: One man

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Maybe retired, retired, unretired

Since you’ve been gone

Even in a team sport, one player can be the difference

STOCKHOLM – In a world where a team of twenty is pursuing greatness, bonding as it battles adversity, one man can be the difference.

With a tip of the hat to Don LaFontaine, the late voiceover king who brought us the trailer drama, we can state that the importance of one man in hockey often goes underappreciated. Unless that man is the coach, of course.

But in that case, the one man, the coach, is the one taking the fall because “you can’t change the whole team”. Sometimes, though, the coaches’ complaints about losing a key player to the injury reserve, or having somebody sidelined for other reasons, are more than founded. Sometimes, one man does make a positive difference – even if you only realize it when he’s gone.

See, for example, MODO Örnskölsvik in the Swedish Elitserien this season. Just nine games ago, the team was on top of the standings, and its first line had taken the 1-2-3 spots in the scoring race. Things were good, Örnsköldsvik was the “heart of hockey”, just like the club slogan says.

Fast forward to today, and MODO has dropped to ninth in the standings, just outside the playoffs, in other words, with just two wins in the last nine games.

The 21st game in Stockholm, against Djurgården, was the one where MODO got off to a nightmarish start, giving up a 3-0 lead after just 5:32. However, a loss, even a 7-0 pounding, is something a team can recover from. Losing the leading scorer, the centre of the top line, and the heart and soul of the team stings longer.

In fact, MODO lost even Sundström’s comeback game against Färjestad Karlstad, even if the man himself was his usual self, netting two when MODO lost the game 4-3.

Up in Skellefteå, the local AIK is also hoping that one man can mean so much more than just another warm body on the bench, as they signed former Tre Kronor forward, former NHLer Mikael Renberg to a contract that covers the remaining of the season.

Skellefteå is one point ahead of MODO, and fifth in the standings. Last season, Skellefteå AIK got ousted from the playoffs by HV71 Jönköping in the first round.

Now, with the addition of Renberg, some people are already starting to talk about Skellefteå going all the way.

Even coach Hans Särkijärvi was more than pleased to get the veteran to his team.

“He’s going to mean a lot to us and gives our roster both depth and top skills. He’ll give the team another force,” he told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.

Meanwhile in Timrå, the team has struggled, gone through internal conflicts between coaches and star players, and sent players away (Jonathan Hedström to CSKA Moscow and Toni Mäkiaho to KalPa Kuopio, Finland), but maybe their 3-2 record in the last five games – the team is 8-13-6 for the season – has something to do with the return of Finnish forward Timo Pärssinen, who’s got nine points in the eight games he’s played this season. Pärssinen played only three games in the fall before having to undergo another back surgery that kept him sidelined until five games ago.

In a world where anything is possible – Elitserien – one man can make a difference.

The Elitserien teams’ players that make a difference this far:
Linköping: Jaroslav Hlinka
Frölunda: Niklas Andersson
Rögle: Kenny Jönsson
Färjestad: Jonas Gustavsson
Skellefteå: Niko Dimitrakos
Brynäs: Jacob Markström
MODO: Niklas Sundström
Luleå: Lubos Bartecko
HV71: Johan Davidsson
Timrå: Timo Pärssinen
Djurgården: Marcus Ragnarsson
Södertälje: Björn Bjurling

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