Staffan Kronwall is worried about the development in Swedish hockey.
Now he wants to see a change.
– Finland has almost passed us, says the C More expert.
Sweden has had some difficult years in the championship context, and Tre Kronor recently came from a World Cup tournament where they did not get further than the quarterfinals. The trend has been clear – especially when compared to the neighboring country to the east, Finland, which has made enormous results in both the World Cup and the JVM.
This is how he wants to change Swedish hockey
Staffan Kronwall, former back gear in the KHL and Tre Kronor in particular, and now a C More expert, now wants to see a change in the Swedish rinks.
– I could imagine going down in Finnish terms in size (on the rinks). I do not want to go down to NHL standards because I think it will be too hectic. I think the quality often suffers when there are too small rinks, he says.
Kronwall believes that it would have been too big a step by NHL standards, but that a little less than what is now in Sweden would have benefited the development.
– I could have imagined such Finnish measurements, which is in the middle (Sweden’s and NHL’s measurements), so it would have been two meters narrower. I think it would highlight the physical game a bit. If we are to talk about hockey, I think we Swedes are very good physically, very good technically – but we do not really get these stars anymore. If we compare with Finland, they have almost passed us both nationally and when you look at the stars in the NHL today. There, I think, we must review what the Finns do better than us, he says.
“Then fucking things happen”
In addition, Kronwall believes that the education in Swedish hockey could be better, and that it is too single-track right now.
– I think you can help people along the way when it comes to thinking hockey at an earlier age – that it should not just be skills, skills, skills, skills, skills. Look at the best players, what they actually do – like Nicklas Bäckström – then it is not always the shot or the skating that is the hallmark, but how they think hockey, he says.
Kronwall thus believes that it is possible to teach some kind of hockey IQ.
– I want to say that it is possible to teach it as well. Can you then combine that, when you have that skating and that shot – then damn things will happen. Then you have stars so it just whistles about it, because there are extremely many talents in Sweden individually.
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