Photo: Henrik Nutti
Robin Alvarez.
Photo: Johan Löf/TT / TT NEWS AGENCY
After a strong turnaround, Malmö could win the meeting with Modo on Saturday afternoon. The final score was 3-2 after a hat-trick by Carl Persson.
In the away team was the new acquisition Robin Alvarez, who got to celebrate his first Malmö victory in six years.
– I’m glad he’s here, Robin is really good today, tackles and works really well. Definitely a good reinforcement for us, praises Malmö coach Tomas Kollar.
Pure chaos along the E4
The road to the meeting with Modo was turbulent, to say the least, for Robin Alvarez.
The Malmö son did not travel with the rest of the team, which landed in Örnsköldsvik already on Friday evening, but came to the match only at 12.30 on Saturday.
Before that, he had been flown up to Umeå where he had to share a car with the TV4 gang who worked under Modo-Malmö.
– I got up at six this morning. Then I went to Umeå where I met Björn Oldéen and Frida Nordstrand, he says.
They got into a car to get to Örnsköldsvik – but the journey was greatly delayed.
Between Nordmaling and Örnsköldsvik there was a complete standstill in traffic.
– There were reindeer on the E4, so we had to brake and drive one car at a time around them because they just stood and licked, says Alvarez.
The car journey became even more dramatic when another driver drove into the TV4 car.
– I’m sitting in front on the passenger side and it just bangs in the side. Then it is someone who was sitting with the mobile phone or whatever he was doing and did not perceive them (the reindeer). So he has to go straight into the embankment, otherwise he would have driven straight into the back of us. There was a scratch mark on the car.
What happened then?
– Yes, so the reindeer remained, but we had to drive to the side for half an hour to write insurance and stuff (with the other driver). It was pure chaos for us there.
Photo: Johan Löf/TT / TT NEWS AGENCY
When Robin Alvarez and Malmö leave Örnsköldsvik, they do so as winners with all three points.
So in the end, Saturday was a successful day for Alvarez, who thus made his first game for the Redhawks in eight years. He has been recruited from the Finnish team Ilves, where he managed only two assists in 22 games.
– Hockey has been different. In Finland, it is very, very stagnant. They basically asked me to play more stationary. Then it is clear that I could have done better myself. The family has been home too. It has been tough. I’ve been questioning what I’m doing here. I really have done that.
How does it feel to be at home?
– The children were so very very happy. They are four and six years old, so I haven’t really known how they would take it. They’ve got a handle on the Redhawks. They were overjoyed. My wife Caroline was also very happy of course. It feels so good to be home, he concludes.