PHOTO: Bildbyrån
After two SM golds, four CHL titles and over 400 victories, there is only one season left for Roger Rönnberg in Frölundabåset.
But he himself does not attach much importance to that.
– You have to be in the moment when you do elite sports, says the 53-year-old.
Many of the colleagues are new or almost new. But in Frölunda’s booth, it’s the same coach as usual when the SHL season starts on Saturday.
In an industry that may not be primarily associated with job security has Roger Rönnberg now coached the same ice hockey club for over eleven years.
– Every introductory meeting, when I meet my colleagues, it is never the same group of colleagues as the year before. You have to be humble and realize that, he says.
Rönnberg came from a few successful years as the national team captain for the Junior crowns when he was ready for Frölunda in 2013.
Since then, he has led the Gothenburg club to two SM golds and four titles in the Champions Hockey League. In December of last year, he also became the winningest coach so far in the SHL’s regular season.
Rönnberg’s words
But job security is, as I said, a fresh commodity for a coach at an elite level, points out the 53-year-old.
– I guess I didn’t expect to finish any season so far. You have to know how this industry works, he says.
– You have to live in the present. If you don’t do that, it’s probably easy for a season to be your last, even if it’s not planned that way.
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His contract with Frölunda has been extended in installments since the start in 2013. But this spring it became official that he will leave the club this spring.
In addition, the new job, in the Swiss top club Fribourg-Gottéron, is already done.
“Scarecrow”
Although the 53-year-old is not thinking that far ahead.
– It’s just the present, he repeats with a broad smile.
– I know that I am competing against all the other coaches right now. I need to be a little more manic, a little more meticulous, a little more driven than them to get a little more out of my team.
Rönnberg points to the goalkeeper star Lasse Johansson who has just stepped off the training ice in Frölundaborg.
– Can I, for example, develop Lasse a few percent extra for the playoffs? That’s what my job is. It’s the rest of you who have time to think about the future or the past.
How do you think the players will be affected by knowing that you will be retiring soon?
– Not at all, I think. They don’t play for me or to be good for me, but for each other and for the fans, says Roger Rönnberg.
– Then it probably matters less which scarecrow is in the booth.
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