Champions Hockey League winners, Frölunda Indians have seen an amazing month for top scorer Ryan Lasch. A return to form sees the American score 15 points (3G+12G) in just eight matches, making him the month's top scorer and taking him back up to first in Total Points. Swedish top draft prospect Samuel Fagemo also scored a Point Per Game, including 4 goals. And winning six matches out of eight meetings puts them in a great position to repeat the CHL/ SHL double they managed in 2015/6, the year that Lasch last won Total Points.

Färjestad BK are also a club find themselves at the top of the league because of a fantastic team effort, this time in front of goal. Top scoring defenseman in the league is their Finnish back, Jesse Virtanen who lies in an impressive sixth place overall. Amazingly, even those he has 30 assists on the season he does not top the league in that category. He lies in third in the SHL on assists behind the league's top two scorers, Frölunda's Ryan Lasch and Linköping's Derek Roy. Virtanen's teammates, 20 year old Boston Bruins drafted Oskar Steen and 26 year Joakim Nygård are also well placed on Total Points with the three of them separated by just three points. Meanwhile Nygård is league's top goal scorer with 20 on the season, alongwith Djurgården's Emil Bemström who was drafted in 2017 by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The first weekend in March has come and gone leaving just five matches left in the regular season for men's hockey here in Sweden.

For the first time since December there is daylight between the top ten teams as the battle for playoff places hots up and there is now 28 points between first and twelfth.

The Top Three

Three teams are at the top with only six points between them - Luleå HF, Färjestad BK and Frölunda Indians.

Luleå HF have won nine matches in a row and rarely allow more than one goal against them allowing keeper, Joel Lassinantti (above) rise to the top of the netminder's competition with 93.15 SVS%. Their top scorer, Assistant Captain, Niklas Olausson may is only 18th on Total Points so if they can remain at the top this will count as be the ultimate team victory. If they hold on they will be the first team in the Swedish hockey history to win the women's and men's league in the same season.

MODO Hockey - Linköping HC

These two teams met in the semifinal last year when Linköping came out victorious 2-1 in matches. But when the two team's met in Örnsköldsvik last Tuesday it was the home team that were favourites to win in front of the 800 fans who came to see the game.

But it was Linköping who scored first, putting the pressure on the home team with two quick goals at the start of the second period. Former MODO player and American Olympic Gold medalist, Sidney Morin scored an assist on the 0-2 goal which was netted by Sweden's own Olympic bronze medalist, Pernilla Winberg. The home team never found their way into the game, so that when their top scorer and former Toronto Furies' forward, Michela Cava got her name on the scoresheet it was too little too late. Linköping took the game 1-3.

In Match 2 MODO scored first and it was Cava who got the assist on 6.2 ft (190 cm) French forward, Lore Baudrit's goal after just 3:15. But Linköping did not let go and the game was level at 2-2 with just under half the match remaining. When Morin scored her third assist of the match on another Winberg goal, the home team had shifted the momentum of the game to their advantage with 4-2. The visitors chased and it was no other than Cava who scored with just 1:30 minutes left in the game to bring it to 4-3. But there would not be anymore goals and the guests went down in the series 2-0.

For the second year in a row MODO found themselves in a must win third match of the series playing away in Linköping's Stångebrohallen. It was a tense and high quality game marked by excellent defense and goalkeeping at both ends. And even with Linköping taking a 1-0 lead through Buffalo Beauts' drafted Kennedy Marchment in the first period it did not change the atmosphere. The opening two periods were marked by nine penalties including three Illegal Hits. But that did not include when Linköping defender, Emilia Ramboldt and MODO captain, Olivia Carlsson exchanged blows in front for the Linköping bench. It was only when Linköping scored their second at 6:49 in the final period that the tension eased and the home team's final place seemed secured. The top scorer in the league's 11 year history, Denise Altmann was the one who found the net on a breakaway. But MODO's young Czech goalkeeper, Klara Peslarova was livid and confronted the referees believing she had been interfered with on the play. But the goal stood and as time ticked away it was Linköping who cemented the victory with two more goals.

The score of 4-0 does not really do justice to MODO's fighting spirit, which exploded with five minutes to go when 90% of the players of the ice were involved in a brawl in front of Linköping netminder, Eveliina Sounpää. Both Linköping's Stacey Brooke and MODO's Paula Bergström picked up a 2 PIM for Fighting and 20 PIM for Game Misconduct. When the siren went the loss was too much for Peslarova who broke down in tears at the bench and then attempted to smash her stick to pieces in rage. At the other end of the ice Linköping took a desevered 3 - 0 match victory and will face Luleå again in the championship decider series.

Luleå HF v HV71

HV71 were the only team in the top five of the SDHL who did not manage to beat Luleå in the regular season. But they showed no fear for the current champions and refused to lie down in any of the three games.

In the first match in Luleå the home team went ahead 3-0 in the first 16 minutes but the visitors refused to capitulate. Scoring a goal in each period they levelled with Luleå with 4:12 left on the clock. An upset seemed possible as the game went into overtime, but with the home team on the Power Play, Finnish Olympian, Noora Tulus scored the game winner goal. With her assist on Tulus' goal, fellow Finnish bronze medalist, Ronja Savolainen became the third Luleå player to score a Gordie Howe hattrick this year.

In the second game in Jönköping, HV took their confidence from that game with them and for first time in the series lead the champions 2-1 at the beginning of the third period. The final 20 minutes of the game produced four goals. First, Luleå HF served up a double punch l as they netted twice in 47 seconds to take the lead, 2-3.

With just under 10 minutes to go, last year's top forward, Finn, Michelle Karvinen found the net to take the champions, 2-4 ahead. But three minutes later she would be sent to the penalty box for Roughing and Lina Ljungbolm, the 17 year old taken in by HV71 just for the playoffs scored her second goal of the game and third of the series with under five minutes to go. But it would not be a hometown victory and Luleå again won a close fought game, 3-4.

The third game started like the first with Luleå HF putting in four goals past the home team in just over 16 minutes of play, two of which were scored the power play. But HV never lost sight of their goal and produced a disciplined second period, giving away only one penalty and scoring two goals to go into the third period only 2-4 down.

But discipline would again be HV71's undoing as Noora Tulus netted her second power play goal of the match after only 1:33 of the final period played. Luleå would later finish off the game with an empty net goal to take the match 2-6 and the series 3-0.

Luleå's forwards, Emma Nordin and Michelle Karvinen now lead the postseason scoring with 13 points each.

Last weekend saw the deciding matches in the semifinals of this year's SDHL played out in Jönköping and Linköping. Despite being a best of five series, both were completed in "straight sets" with 3-0 victories to last year's finalists Luleå/ MSSK and Linköping HC over HV71 and MODO Hockey respectively. These two will meet again when the series starts on 16 March to decide who will be crowned SDHL champions 2018/9.

See my next articles coming up soon for a match by match review of the semis.

Semifinals

The best-of-five matches will start this week and will see Second v Third and First v Fifth from the regular season:

MODO Hockey v Linköping HC

Luleå HF v HV71

1. MODO v Linköping

The first out on Tuesday 26 February will be a repeat of one of last year’s semifinals, but this time MODO will come in as favourites over last year’s finalists, Linköping.

The club from Örnsköldsvik have brought in two French international players from IF Björklöven to help them in the final push to gold. So look out for 27 year olds, Betty Jouanny and Lore Baudrit, to make it a French trio with Marion Allemoz already at the club.

Jouanny is 5’2” (158 cm) and has played in Sweden for six years, but Baudrit is 6’2” (190 cm) and is in her first season in Sweden after playing for Montreal Canadiennes last year. She scored an incredible 50 points in just 15 games in DamEttan (the division below the SDHL) this year and has already been on loan at MODO to cover injuries. The French forward could well be the difference between the two clubs in this semifinal.

Last year American Olympic gold medalist Sidney Morin came back from Pyeongchang success only to be on the losing team at MODO. Last autumn she moved to rivals Linköping HC and has become the league’s second highest scoring defender. There’s no doubt that she will want to be on the winning side this year and will play her part with important roles at both ends of the ice.

Her powerful shot from the blue line will be essential to create both goals and rebounds in front of net for last year’s runners up.

But she will also clock masses of ice time in her own defensive zone trying to tame her former teammates. She will almost certainly be detailed to cover MODO’s top scorers, who apart from Baudrit are two prolific Canadian hotshots, Michela Cava and Kaitlyn Tougas.

2. Luleå v HV71

The other match will see the only team left in the competition that did not beat Luleå/ MSSK in the regular season, HV71, take on the favourites. But the Jönköping club can pull on their historic shock win in 2016/7 when they beat the then reigning champions.

HV71 have seven players from that season’s roster such as experienced Swedish international Fanny Rask and in form, Maja Jakobsson in their squad for this semifinal. That includes captain and veteran Finn, Riikka Sallinen, who will return after her four match suspension for Checking to the Head in the quarterfinal.

It is possible that only Finns will be on the scoresheet in this series as Olympic Bronze medal teammates take on each other in a Sallinen-Hakala-Lindstedt (HV71) verses Karvinen-Hiirikoski-Tulus-Nieminen-Savolainen (Luleå) duel.

The underdogs from Småland will be looking to the best import keeper in the league, Spaniard Alba Gonzalo, to keep the Finns at bay, whilst Luleå have the league’s top netminder, Swede Sara Grahn between the pipes.

This series begins in Luleå in Wednesday 27 February.

Last night, Saturday 23 February, saw the final match played in this year’s SDHL quarterfinals matchups.

For the first time in the league’s history, the knockout phase has been decided through a best-of-five series.

Luleå v AIK

Last week saw favourites, Luleå/ MSSK go though in three straight games against AIK. The reigning champions beat the Stockholm club in convincing style, 19-0 across the three games with Swedish forward, Emma Nordin picking up most points and now leading the postseason scoring with nine (7G + 2A).

MODO v Brynäs

In the other pairing which was decided in three straight wins, MODO Hockey dispatched Brynäs IF clocking up 14-5 in goals.

MODO took a calculated risk in playing their second string keeper, Tindra Holm in the first match and she answered the call letting in just one goal. But up-front it was business as usual for Michela Cava, as the league’s top scorer scored eight points, including four goals, in the three games.

By contrast another Canadian, Cassandra Vilgrain, who has played in both the NCAA and USports leagues, topped the scoring for the team from Gävle with just two goals.

Linköping v Djurgården

In one of the quarterfinals that was decided yesterday, Djurgården IF shocked their opponents Linköping HC by winning the first game 5-0 away from home.

But it was not to be a repeat of their surprise 2016/7 championship victory for the Stockholm team and the Östergötland club bounced back to beat them 3-1 in matches.

The winners had brought in several players to bolster their roster in the playoffs, most notably Finnish international, Susanna Tapani and Canadian NCAA player, Brooke Stacey. But the goalscoring duties have continued to be dominated by their regular squad, lead by Buffalo Beauts drafted Canadian, Kennedy Marchment.

HV71 v Leksand

In the last quarterfinal Leksand IF met HV71 and it went to four matches for the teams who were only separated by one point after the regular season.

Leksand when down 0-2 in the series leaving them in the situation of needing to win all three of the remaining matches. But despite winning one match, and coming into the third period of the fourth match tied at 2-2, it was not to be and HV71 go through 3-1 on matches with total goals.

The negative talking point of the series was when HV71 captain Riikka Sallinen received a match penalty for Checking to the Head against Ida Nikula in the opening contest. The 45 year old veteran and Finnish Olympic bronze medallist received a four match suspension for the hit.

On the positive side for the Jönköping club, 23 year old Swede Maja Jakobsson continues her best ever points scoring regular season by leading the team in Total Points in the playoffs. She sits just one point behind Luleå’s Emma Nordin in the postseason top scorer list having scored six goals and two assists in the four matches.

The relegation scramble

The bottom three teams of Örebro BK (12th), Mora IK (13th) and Timrå IK (14th) are also in a dogfight of their own, separated by just nine points. In fact 12th and 13th positions are only two points apart, with the difference between them not just being one position but a question of not have to go into qualification matches against the top Hockey Allsvenskan teams.

One person who will not be able to be part of that bottom of the the table scrap is American super forward, Aaron Palushaj. As if his season was not bad enough, he has now picked up a season ending injury when he tore his broke his ankle as he found himself at the bottom of a pile up in front of the Mora IK goal on 19 January.

Last season Örebro survived in a similar position with some well chosen end of season signings. But the club blew a lot of money at the beginning of the season on new star signings, like Palushaj, who still sits in 11th on Total Points. So now is the time for current players to step up like current top goal scorer Latvian and Vancouver Canucks drafted, Rodigo Abols and the league's top scoring defenseman, American and Los Angeles Kings drafted Nick Ebert to rescue the Närke club.

Mora IK were able to retain their SHL status last year when they were victorious in the SHL qualification matches. They will want to avoid that this year and will be looking to star Canadian signing Spenser Abbott to continue his great form. The 30 year old comes direct from San Diego Gulls and has played 273 games in the AHL. Now he is 9th in Total Points with 5 goals and an incredible 24 Assists putting him in second place on Assists behind Linköping HC's Derek Roy who leads the league on Total Points.

6. Skellefteå AIK

Whereas last season the team and especially the strike trio of Pär Lindholm, Oscar Möller (pictured) and Joakim Lindström were everywhere, this year the team as a whole has been rather anonymous. But never count out Skellefteå, there is a reason why they have been in seven of the last eight SHL playoff finals - raw talent.

The team have come into 2019 with a purpose winning 7 out 10 games and scoring 32 goals to 20. And whilst Lindholm is living the dream with Toronto Maple Leafs, it is two 30 year olds who have been drafted by Los Angeles Kings who have been delivering the goods. Swede Möller with nine points (6G+3A) showed why Skellefteå have signed him on a four year contract and Canadian Bud Holloway has also found his stride with eight (5G+3A).

That puts Möller up and Lindström tied on 29 points in sixth and seventh overall on Total Points - a competition Lindström has won twice before. He is 35 year old, was drafted in 2002 Columbus Blue Jackets and is now the Skellefteå player with most NHL experience.

The club have signed a three year contract with him and two 18 years old to provide a stable core for the next few seasons. Whether the young forwards will stay at the club remains to be seen as Albin Eriksson was drafted by the Dallas Stars and Jonatan Berggren by Detroit Red Wings in last summer's draft.

AIK are playoff specialist, so regardless of where they finish in the table, don't be surprised if they make it to their eighth final.