Farjestads BK is no stranger to the SM-Final. Since 1990, the team has played in the championship for the Le Mat Trophy 11 times and has won the trophy 8 times since the team’s inception in 1932. Yesterday the Karlstad team brought home the gold for the ninth time, defeating a young Skelleftea team 4-1 in game five of the final. The only game of the series that Skelleftea managed to pull a W was game two on their home ice. Farjestad defeated Skelleftea in 3 out of 5 of their regular season meetings.
In yesterday’s do or die game for Skelleftea, Mikko Lehtonen the younger scored the lonely SAIK goal late in the third period when the team was already down 3-0. SAIK who had the two top goal scorers in the league for the regular season (Lehtonen with 30 goals and winner of the Hakan Loob Trophy for most goals, and Joakim Lindstrom with 28 goals), could not pull the punches when needed to defeat the number two ranked team.
Red Wings prospect Dick Axelsson who continuously shined in the regular season tallied 10 points in 14 games for the Le Mat Trophy winners, including an assist in the final game that solidified FBK’s victory. Surprise surprise, another Wings draft pick Mikael Johansson had 13 points in 14 post-season games, tied only with teammate and international team veteran, Rickard Wallin. All three players played for the team when they won their last Elitserien championship in 2008-2009.
Top Farjestad draft prospect Jonas Brodin, ranked number four among European skaters at the mid-term ranking bumped up to number three during Farjestad’s playoff performance. Although the young defenseman was only playing an average of 11 minutes per game, his play was obviously making an impression on draft scouts.
The Guldhjälmen (Gold Helmet) for the league's MVP was awarded to Linkoping veteran captain, Magnus Johansson. Johansson was also presented with the Goldpucken (you can figure this one out) equivalent to the NHL's Hart Trophy for the top player in Sweden (not just the SEL). Johansson remained undrafted but is certainly no stranger to World Championship and Olympic play. The 37 year old captain has been playing with the club since 2004-2005 and has led Linkoping to the playoffs every year since. The defeseman tallied 38 points in the regular season and 7 points in 7 games played in the 2011 playoffs.
The Årets Rookie (Rookie of the Year, obviously) was awarded to Nashville Predators prospect Mattias Ekholm. Ekholm was selected over top draft prospect Adam Larsson and well-known Brynas teammate Calle Jarnkrok. The rookie defensman played an average of 24 minutes a game in the post-season, tallied four assists, and 23 assists in the regular season. He had seven goals and five assists in his first 14 games with Brynas.
As for the Kvalserien which wrapped up last Friday, the two teams to come out on top were MODO Hockey (välkommen tillbaka!) who finished second and Växjö Lakers HC who won the round robin tournament for the first time after competing the last three years to play in the Elitserien for the first time. Former SEL team Sodertalje finished 3rd and will be competing to come back to the Elitserien next season in the HockeyAllSvenskan.
