“What the hell are you doing!?”

Frölunda forces a seventh and decisive match against Skellefteå.
Now Roger Rönnberg reveals the players’ anger towards him – before the match.
– The whole team said: “What the hell are you doing!?”, says Rönnberg.

The semi-final series between Frölunda and Skellefteå cannot be more dramatic, and after having failed with two straight match points, everything will now be decided with a seventh and decisive match, in Skellefteå. Frölunda won both the fifth and yesterday the sixth match, with a knife to the throat.

Reveals the anger of the players

But for Roger Rönnberg, it wasn’t all happy faces in his team despite that. Even before the match, the players were really upset with him, and the reason was a quote to TV4 after Frölunda won the fifth and decisive match. He had then said on television that TV4 should pay Frölunda extra because you always “take series to seven games”, and not everyone appreciated that.

His players believed that Rönnberg was out on slippery ice.

– I was afraid that I “jinxed” away our chance to play game seven at the last press conference. Because then I started raving about match seven and that TV4 would pay us extra money for it. So the whole team was like, “What the hell are you doing!? We play match six first. It always comes before game seven,” says Rönnberg.

The big tribute

Roger Rönnberg was not completely satisfied with Frölunda’s effort in Tuesday’s sixth game, but praised the team’s attitude.

– It’s a great team I have to coach in terms of character. They never let me down there. What I need to remind them is in the game of ice hockey. That we can also play hockey, they are so damn eager to compete, he says, according to Aftonbladet.

Frölunda has turned 1-3 in matches to 3-3. When the teams met in 2017, Frölunda did the same, and then won the seventh and decisive game. It’s not something he thinks about now, though.

– I don’t do such things. The next step will be that you have to get stuffed animals as mascots and stuff like that. I don’t believe in such things. I believe in doing the right things out on the ice. To play and do the right thing. Today we are quite careless in the game, but not in the competition. Fantastic attitude of the players.