HV 71 sacks coach Dahlén

HV71 has had a very disapointing start to the season. Although they are no longer one of the bottom two teams in the league, after the team lost 5-3 at Luleå after being down 5-0, management had had enough. Head coach and former NHL right winger Ulf Dahlén has been sacked, replaced by 57-year-old Torgny Bendelin. Bendelin, who earlier has coached several elite teams in Sweden and the Swedish national junior team, has in the last couple of years been a part of HV71's organisation as responsible for coach and leadership development in the club together with a position as coach for Team Sweden U17.

There are only two teams behind HV71 and they really seem stuck there. AIK lost today 8-1 at home to Brynäs. Örebro, on the other hand, took two important points with an overtime win against Färjestad but are still last.

Skellefteå has extended their lead to 18 points atop the standings after winning the outdoor game at soccer stadium Galma Ullevi, against second-place Frölunda. Heavy rain delayed the game and the attendance was "only" 13 452. Joel Lundqvist was back on ice after missing a few games following a suspension for verbally abusing a linesman.

Leksand lost three consecutive games this week with a goal difference of 4-18. It seems like Leksand's good form has come to an end and the club has decided to release Jens Jakobs and Matt Fornatro to make room for some of their own young talents instead.

Otherwise there has been a lot of discussion about the league's proposal for a new league format. The main points are that the league will have more teams and that some teams can be selected not only from on-ice performance but on financial standards. It would harder to be relegated from the SHL, as the relegation round Kvalserien would be replaced by a best-of-seven play-out series. There would also be rules for cap room.

However, the parts of the proposal that would see a team get wild cards to the SHL and would make it harder for teams from HockeyAllsvenskan to be promoted to the SHL have been heavily criticised by fans of all clubs in both the SHL and HockeyAllsvenskan, and doesn't seem likely that it will be accepted by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association.

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