It's Crunch Time

After a years hard work preparing for the "bounce right back up" it's time now for Malmö Redhawks to reap the reward of all the effort. Despite it being only a year since the disappointment of relegation the players under the guidance of Coach Lars Bergström have given the best possible answer to those who doubted. Tonight Malmö Redhawks start on the final step to hopeful promotion back up to the Swedish Elitserien.

Rögle are the opponents in tonight's opener. The neighbours will feel somewhat lucky to be in the Kvalserien at all. A poor run of results in the last weeks of the regular season saw them slip away from the leaders and closer to the chasing teams. Rögle were not sure of their participation in the Kvalserien until the last day of the season when it required not only a win for them but other results to go in their favour. Of more immediate concern to them though is Rögles recent run of results against the Redhawks. Games earlier this season were evenly matched but as the season progressed Malmö took more and more control of the games and won the last three pretty comfortably.

So Malmö will be hopeful of getting off to a positive start. Other games to look out for will be the rematches against Skellefteå. The Redhawks will be hoping that the results from this season can be reversed to resemble more like last years Kvalserien result, Malmö won 11-2. Revenge is certainly on the agenda in that one. But unlike games against the top four from the Allsvenskan, Malmö will not know so much about the two teams who finished bottom of the Elitserien, Leksand and Södertalje. Leksand came to Malmö last season when the situation of the two clubs was the reverse of this season. Södertalje boast a number of class players amongst its ranks. Both clubs, however, have had a terrible time in the Elitserien and have not played well in general. Malmö will certainly not feel overawed playing either of these teams and will be hopeful that the positive run of results in the last twelve games of the season will continue against these two out of form teams.

The full schedule of games is listed below. All the games can be followed on malmoredhawks.com or on your mobile phone through Sportszapp. Details of which games can be seen on television will be announced at a later date.


Wednesday 2006-03-15 19:00 Malmö Redhawks - Rögle BK
Friday 2006-03-17 19:00 Bofors IK - Malmö Redhawks
Monday 2006-03-20 19:00 Malmö Redhawks - Skellefteå AIK
Wednesday 2006-03-22 19:00 Leksands IF - Malmö Redhawks
Friday 2006-03-24 19:00 Malmö Redhawks - Södertälje SK
Tuesday 2006-03-28 19:00 Rögle BK - Malmö Redhawks
Thursday 2006-03-30 19:00 Malmö Redhawks - Bofors IK
Monday 2006-04-03 19:00 Skellefteå AIK - Malmö Redhawks
Wednesday 2006-04-05 19:00 Malmö Redhawks - Leksands IF
Monday 2006-04-10 19:00 Södertälje SK - Malmö Redhawks


In Brief
Due to circumstances beyond my control it's been a while since the last update. So here is some of the most recent news in brief.

• Our Olympic heroes have returned. Alexanders Semjonovs can be proud of his contribution to the Latvian effort. Kim Martin brought great pride to the club turning in some star performances to help ensure that the Swedish women's team came home with silver. A remarkable achievement considering it was the first ever final in an Olympics or world championships that did not involve both Canada and the USA. Well done to all concerned.
  
• Kim Martin was pencilled in to appear for the men's team in the last regular game of the season against Bofors. The first woman in ice hockey history to do so. Sadly though in the hours before the puck dropping her university in the USA pulled the plug and withdrew permission. Kim starts in college next year and the school did not want to risk her amateur status. Disappointment all round then but particularly for Kim herself and the large crowd that turned up for the game.
  
• Markus Matthiasson has been named the Redhawk of the year by the official supporters club RS96..
  
• Miska Kangasniemi, experienced Malmö defence player, has returned to his family in Finland. Miska has not played for some time due to injury. He is contracted to play in Finland next season with JYP.
  
• Redhawks Auction. On March 9th the red jerseys worn by the Redhawks this season were finally auctioned off. The winners have been contacted by mobile phone. More details later especially regarding further auctions to come.
  
• NEW CONTRACTS ? It is always pleasing to see players come through the ranks. Three of those players who have performed admirably all season have recently signed new contracts. Patrik Hersley has signed up for one more year as has Johan Björk. Carl Söderbergh has signed for a further two years. Öberg and Söderbergh have an escape clause in their contracts should Malmö not get promoted to the Elitserien.