Swedish league set for play-offs

© Björn Söderström

After the 10th and final round of the Swedish Elitserien league this weekend Polisen claimed the 3rd position before the play-offs begins. Polisen took the lead but saw Hellas reducing to 1-1 through centre-forward Claes Jutner. Polisen responded by winning the first period 3-1 and then kept a steady pace. Unfortunately being up by 6 - 4 Polisen still allowed Hellas back in the game to a 6 - 6 set in the final period. Here Polisen got a man-up and took the time-out to plan and set everything up. The 3-on-3 tactic almost worked with the bounce off the post to see centre-forward Hans Öberg claiming the rebound and score 7 - 6. Hellas kept on fighting but with only one minute left, leftie Kim Hansson came forward, scoring his 3rd goal of the game and ending it at 8-6 to his team.  Jose Vega had a lot of saves in the Polisen goal a lot coming from far outside due to the zone defence of Polisen. Young Hellas talent Denis Cumurija was forced to withdraw early on in the 4th period due to an elbow strike, almost busting his jaw totally and could not continue for the rest of the game.

Polisen - Hellas 8 - 6 (3-1, 1-1, 2-2, 2-2)
Polisen scorers: Kim Hansson 3(pictured), Hans Öberg 1, Johan Lundén 1, Vedran Preloznik 1, Mattias Renholm 1, Oskar Thiel 1

Hellas scorers: Alexandros Vlastos 2, Athansios Panagoulias 1, Denis Cumurija 1, Claes Jutner 1, Ola Jutner 1.

Polisen - Linköping 12 - 9 (4-0, 3-0, 3-3, 2-6)
Polisen scorers: Richard Ericson 3 (pictured), Hans Öberg 2, Johan Lundén 2, Kim Hansson 1 (pictured), Mark Conrad 1, Vicente Tirado 1, Vedran Preloznik 1, Oskar Thiel 1

Linköping scorers: Joel Bergléz 2, Niklas Greberg 2, Georg Zdolsek 1, Hans Zdolsek 1, Henrik Palm 1, Silvije Cvijetic 1, Carl Simon Ellingsen 1.


Photograph: Matteo Vegetti.

The game started with a tough defensive play from Polisen keeping the Linköping shooters under pressure and seeing goalkeeper Mehdi Malek keeping the '0' for two entire periods with even one penalty save, too. Linköping didn't manage to score until the 3rd quarter through centre-forward Niklas Greberg to gain the score 8-1 for Polisen. In the final period of the game Linköping loosened up and made a lot of goals coming from their shooters and winning the final period with an incredible 6-2 but still seeing Polisen winning the game by 12-9. Goals were made by several players on both teams creating a variety of goals in the game. Centre-back Richard Ericson was seen netting 3 shots for his team as high-scorer and Joel Bergléz alongside Niklas Greberg scoring 2 each for their team.

The Swedish Elitserien is now finished after 10 rounds and the top four teams are advancing to the play-offs. The 5th and 6th places will have to play qualifications against the top 2 teams from 2nd tier Allsvenskan for spots in next years Elitserien.

1. Järfälla          10     10     0     0     227-80     20 pts
2. Linköping     10     7     0     3     150-105      14
3. Polisen          10     6     0     4     123-115       12
4. Hellas            10     4     0     6     100-127       8
5. Karlstad        10     3     0     7     107-214        6
6. SKK               10     0     0     10     98-164       0

Top 10 scorers:
Sahlberg, Mattias       Järfälla           38
Hanserkers, Anton     Järfälla           32
Sahlberg, Andreas     Järfälla            26
Nilsson, David            Järfälla            26
Gulwer, Loke             Karlstad            25
Hansson, Kim            Polisen             25
Zdolsek, Hans           Linköping         24
Nord, Niklas              Järfälla              24
Palm, Henrik             Linköping         23
Cederqvist, Daniel    SKK                   23
Isaksson, Mathias      Hellas              23