DIF's sports director in Switzerland: "Reviewing current situation with team building"

At home at Hovet, Djurgården has not taken a single three-pointer in the SHL throughout the autumn. The Stockholm team has fixed a two-point win against Brynäs and otherwise there have been six losses, including 2-3 against Oskarshamn on Thursday.

At the same time, the damage has caused it for Djurgården.

Hill Marcus Högström has been away since the home meeting with Rögle on October 7 and he has missed the last five matches. Högström trains on ice, but it is unclear when he can be back in play.

Back colleague Tom Nilsson was injured on the lower part of the body at the end against Timrå last Saturday and according to reports, he is not believed to be back in play until after the national team break in November.

This means that Nilsson will probably miss another six SHL matches.

Forwards duo Sebastian Strandberg and Linus Videll also miss Saturday’s match against Örebro, due to injuries.

There is a chance that one of them will play next week when Djurgården meets Frölunda and Rögle away on Thursday and Saturday respectively.

Paul Carey did not train on ice on Friday, but will be able to play on Saturday against Örebro.

NHL-qualified center Peter Holland has earned two games on his four-match suspension after the 6-4 loss to Luleå.

– What we had (against Oskarshamn) we have tomorrow as well. Then we hope that most people can jump in and maybe not be in one hundred percent condition, but slowly work their way into it, says Djurgården’s assistant coach Nichlas Falk to HockeyNews.se.

Djurgården’s sports manager Joakim Eriksson is in Switzerland where he will be from Friday to Sunday to see if it is possible to strengthen the team that is second last in the SHL.

– I am on site at the European Hockey Club’s convention, Eriksson says to HockeyNews.se.

He also says:

– Of course, we review the current situation with team building, but that is not the purpose of this trip.

In the Swiss league, ex-zookeepers Daniel Brodin (Friborg-Gottéron) and Marcus Krüger (ZSC Lions), who have been on Djurgården’s wish list for a long time, also play.

– I am also here to build on relationships for next season, says Joakim Eriksson.

Djurgården shakes off the loss against Oskarshamn and prepares for Örebro.
Does not look like there will be any major changes in the team. #twittpuck #difhockey pic.twitter.com/Fs4S3b1n0I

– HockeyNews.se (@HockeynewsSe) October 22, 2021

For Djurgården, Marc-André Gragnani played his first match of the season against Oskarshamn.

– I wish we had won. I think we made a good match. It was the first five to ten minutes (which was not good), he tells HockeyNews.se.

NHL-qualified Gragnani, 34, joined Djurgården in February last season after not playing a single game in almost a year. He then scored in all five of his SHL appearances.

Against Oskarshamn, he played over 23 minutes and was inside Djurgården’s two goals ahead in the 3-2 loss.

– Personally, it felt pretty good. It was the first match of the season, the first match in over six months. I look forward to playing again tomorrow, says Gragnani.

Marc-André Gragnani made a comeback in Djurgården against Oskarshamn. It was his first match since March. Photo: Bildbyrån.

Gragnani has scored points in all his six SHL matches in Djurgården (2 + 4) and had an assist against Oskarshamn.

– I do not really care about that. I want to win. I want to help this team to as good a season as possible and make a good playoff game.

Djurgården then has to pull itself up a lot. Eight points in twelve matches makes the team second to last.

The team has started weakly in the last three SHL matches and ended up in goal-scoring disadvantages. Against Oskarshamn it was early 0-2.

– It’s what everyone sees. The start is not good and it gets messy. It’s like a meltdown, like. We start doing each other’s jobs and lose positions. It may sound ridiculous, but it’s eager to get well. Sometimes you need to go back a little and maybe make it even easier. Maybe there in the beginning and get down even more pucks on the opponents than it will be that we will be depressed in our own zone. We want to turn that steak around, says Nichlas Falk.

– After they make 2-0, I think we take more and more and in the third period we make a real push and get the 2-1 goal. As it looks a bit this season, these will be boring fucking odd goal losses.