HV71 found their form after a poor start to the season and managed to climb above the relegation line in the bottom struggle.
But after New Year's, the team has fallen back into a losing trend. On Thursday, they suffered their third consecutive loss, 2-5 at home against Timrå.
Then, coach Anton Blomqvist chose to skip Friday's practice for the players.
On the ice, only those who didn't play in Thursday's match were present.
We want to break a pattern and do something different. We don't need to practice, that's not what it's about. We need to find a better mental state and then they can do something else, spend time with their families and try to think about something other than ice hockey, and then we'll see each other again tomorrow, says Blomqvist to Jönköpings-Posten.
HV71 will face Växjö away in a Småland derby on Saturday.
