PHOTO: Bildbyrån
It’s going hard for HV71 in the SHL where the club is parked as second jumbo after 30 games played.
But the newly appointed team captain Niklas Hjalmarsson does not allow himself to be influenced too much by the criticism he has received.
– It would have been worse if no one had cared, he tells Hockeypuls.
On Tuesday, HV71 announced that the 35-year-old veteran Niklas Hjalmarsson becomes the new team captain. The experienced defender has three Stanley Cup titles to his credit and hopes to lift the team out of the negative spiral it is currently in.
The Nightmare Suite
But the first match as team captain could have ended better, to say the least. Skellefteå completely crushed HV71 7-2 on Tuesday, and the team has now lost seven straight in the SHL while the gap widened against the teams above it on safe ground in the table.
– I didn’t sleep very well after that match. It is clear that it feels tough. But what the hell – it’s a new day and you can’t go around thinking about yesterday. If we walk around and think that we have lost so many games in a row, we have a problem, it is important to try to look ahead, try to develop and get better, says Niklas Hjalmarsson to Hockeypuls.
The article continues after the picture.
He continues:
– The league is so damn good that you get punished as soon as you’re not out there. There have been some such moments during the matches where we have not been 100% connected and then we are punished. It is the way it is and it needs to be improved.
HV71 has received a lot of criticism due to the lack of results, but Niklas Hjalmarsson does not take too seriously the critical voices that have been raised against the team.
– I think it’s a good sign and it would have been worse if no one had cared. It’s the kind of city you want to live and play in, where people care.
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“Should be pressure”
Criticism is natural, says Hjalmarsson, while at the same time it is something you have to count on when you play at the level you do.
– I see it as something positive that it is written and that people are pissed off, I understand that and that’s how it should be. There must be pressure on you, we are sportsmen, we are used to pressure and we have lived under it for a long time. It’s nothing new like that and I just see it as a good sign, says Niklas Hjalmarsson.
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