Östersund förstärker laget ordentligt, uppger Östersunds-Posten.

Dels i form av målvakten Isak Mantler, tillika den före detta Björklöven-burväktaren.

ÖIK har även värvat Almtuna-forwarden Oscar Pentler och Hudiksvallsforwarden Henrik Marklund, som också har allsvenska meriter.

Lägg därtill att jämtlänningarna har tagit in Kalmar-backen Johan Grönquist på ett korttidskontrakt.

Det är dessutom klart att toppbackarna Linus Rotbakken och David Westlund blir kvar i Östersund.

HV71 har gjort klart med en vass förstärkning utanför isen: Johan Lindbom återvänder till Smålandsklubben.

Lindbom blir ny klubbdirektör i HV71 och ersätter därmed Agne Bengtsson.

Alvesta-sonen kommer närmast från posten som klubbdirektör i seriekonkurrenten Kristianstad.

Johan Lindbom är mest känd för att ha avgjort en SM-final som spelare och varit med om att vinna guld med HV71 som tränare.

Ordföranden Anders Wilander om nyheten.

- Johan har stor erfarenhet av ledarskap både som spelare, tränare och klubbledare. En genuin hockeymänniska som brinner för utveckling av såväl ungdomsverksamhet som elitverksamhet, men som också har ett stort kunnande i försäljning och marknadsfrågor. Johan har gjort ett starkt intryck på mig och är rätt person att leda HV71 i framtiden, säger HV71:s ordförande till klubbens hemsida.

After this weekend's matches there remains just one single tie left in the regular season. That match is played on Monday night when Rybnik travel to Krosno in a mouthwatering finale to the end of the regular season in League 1. It is a winner-takes-all match with the victor guararnteed first place in the table.

Back to today and, Ostrow and Gdansk's victories gave them semi-final place in the playoffs. They were two of the three home sides who won and you can see the full scores from Zuzelend by clicking on the match, below:

Lodz 52:38 Gneizno

Gdansk 49:41 Tarnow

Ostrow 54:36 Bydgoszcz

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#LODGNI

In Lodz the match was primarily about pride. The home team have finished in sixth, whilst Gneizno are seventh in the league.

Australian, Brady Kurtz (13) top scored for Lodz today and also for the season with 2.164, putting him in eighth place overall. For Start it was Oskar Fajfer who tops the points for the season with 2.073, finishing just behind Kurtz in 11th place. The Pole is the model of consistency he scored 2.088 in 2021 which gave him 10th place. He has also made a vital contribution in Sweden, top scoring with Motala Piraterna.

American, Luke Becker can also be proud of his season with a 1.867 average for Lodz this year. It places him at 23rd alongside quality riders such as Vaclav Milik (20th) and Rohan Tungate (25th).

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#GDATAR

Tarnow put up a good fight today. But 5:1s in Heat 11 and 15 sealed the victory for the home team, Gdansk.

It was the winning pairing from Heat 11 who top scored for the home side, Viktor Kulakov (11) and Jakub Jamrog (10+2). Meanwhile, the visitors can only say that the it has been a disastous year from the moment Niels Kristian Iversen crashed out in the very first heat of the season. With just one win they will be racing in League 2 in 2022.

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#OSTBYD

For the losers, Bydgoszcz it was a missed opportunity to get to the semi-finals themselves. Whilst their U24 Danish rider, Andreas Lyager (12+2) and Russia's Vadim Taresenko (11) rose the challenge, it was not a strong enough team performance to win. Their next best rider scored just 5+1 and their team's top rider this season, David Bellego scored just 3 pts.

By contrast, Ostrovia had four riders who scored more than 9 points. Top scorer today was Sweden's Oliver Berntzon (pictured) who seems to have put the disappointment of the SGP series behind him to score 13 pts, one of his best outing this year.

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Selected scores from Round 14:

Brady Kurtz (LOD) 13

Oliver Berntzon (OST) 13

Andreas Lyager (BYD) 12+2

Rohan Tungate (TAR) 11

Patrick Hansen (OST) 10+2

Luke Becker (LOD) 10

Niels Kristian Iversen (TAR) 9

Rasmus Jensen (GDA) 6+2

Nicolai Klindt (OST) 6+2

Alexander Woentin (TAR) 2

Drew Kemp (GDA) 0

This weekend saw six more matches in the penultimate round of the eWinner 2 league. And it was three home wins in the meets which took place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Click on the result and you can see the full scores from Zuzelend:

Rawicz 49:41 Daugavpils

Opole 51:39 Rzeszow

Poznań 52:38 Wittstock

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#RAWDAU and #OPORZE

These results mean that the winners, who are placed first and second in the league are only one point apart, with Opole in first position today. Their Swedish rider, Jacob Thorssell (pictured) top scored again for the team and is in second place in the overall rankings with 2.487.

It now means that the team that wins their away match in Round 14 will almost certainly top the table at the end of the regular season.

For the losers, who are in positions four and five and therefore on ither side of the playoff qualifying "line", the results also mean it will go down to the last match to see who will join the teams in positions 1-3 in the playoffs. The question remains, can they winn their last match of the season at home? Whilst, Daugavpils are currently ahead of Rzeszow by 2 points now, they have the harder match next week when the will host league leaders, Opole. Stal have the easier tie when they travel to sixth placed Poznan.

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#POZWIT

For Wittstock, this was their last meeting in League 2 for 2021 and they finished the season without a single win. Top scorer for the season, and Sunday's match, was Max Dilger with 1.700, which put him in 24th on the overall table.

Highlights for the Wolves including seeing Celine Liebmann become the first woman to score points in Polish speedway history and the ongoing development of Lukas Baumann (1.372, 37th), who will represent Germany in the forthcoming U21 World Championships.

For Poznan, their season is also nearly over as they are in sixth place needing to win away at Rzeszow next Saturday and have other results go in their favour if they are to make it to the placeoffs.

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#LAN

Third placed Landshut did not race in Round 13 and will host Rawicz in their last match of the season next Sunday knowing that they are almost certainly guaranteed playoff speedway for 2021 regardless of the result.

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Selected scores from Round 13:

Jacob Thorssell (OPO) 13

Sam Masters (RZE) 12

Jonas Siefert Salk (POZ) 12

Mads Hansen (OPO) 11+1

Keynan Rew (RAW) 9+2

Mattias Nielsen (POZ) 8

Adam Ellis (RZE) 7

NHL-meriterade Mark McNeill anslöt till Vita Hästen förra säsongen och noterades för 15 poäng på 28 matcher i östgötalaget.

Nu går karriären vidare för den 28-årige forwarden.

Kanadensaren är klar för Frederikshavn White Hawks i den danska högstaligan.

Kontraktet sträcker sig över en säsong, meddelar klubben på hemsidan.

Noterbart är att den danska högstaligan blir McNeills tredje liga i Europa. Han har - utöver HockeyAllsvenskan - i övrigt lirat i österrikiska EBEL.

Södertälje förstärker forwardsbesättningen med AHL-meriterade Brett Pollock.

Den 25-årige kanadensaren har skrivit på ett kontrakt för en säsong med SSK.

Pollock kommer närmast från spel i den tyska högstaligan, där han noterades för 25 poäng på 38 matcher förra säsongen.

Sportchefen Mikael Samuelsson om Bret Pollocks kvaliteter.

- Brett är forward är från Alberta Canada som vi kikat på en hel del. Har storleken med sig vilket vi gillar men två andra bra egenskaper jag tycker han besitter är att han har bra händer med bra spelförståelse, säger Södertäljes sportchef till hemsidan.