Robin Kovacs stepped right into the centre of the action for newcomer Björklöven when Djurgården were defeated 3-0 in front of a packed Avicii Arena in Stockholm. And it's no surprise that the former AIK player became a hot topic.
The 29-year-old took the taunts of his opponents, got into a fight with Albin Grewe before the puck had even been dropped, and then silenced the crowd with a fine goal.
"Just a little gruff, it was nothing more than that. What was said stays between me and Grewe," Kovacs says after the match and continues:
It can't get much better. We had one goal when we came here, which was to play our game and ruin their party, and we did.
“A lot of emotions”
Kovacs was under constant scrutiny from both the Djurgården players on the ice and the home fans in the stands. But instead of letting himself be provoked, he took advantage of the charged atmosphere.
"There were a lot of emotions today. They were on me a little bit, but it was at a good level and that's somewhere what I need to play at my best," he says.
Kovacs, who was close to signing for AIK this summer, doesn't think he needs to work very hard to stay calm in the matches against Djurgården, which are special given his background.
Well, not so much. As I said, I know I'm faced with a lot of emotions. I like these matches, but then it's obvious that you need to think a little extra and maybe go in with a slightly different mentality, he says.
“Best celebration in a while”
And when the forward scored the 2-0 goal, there was of course jubilation.
All you had to do was close your eyes and shoot. The celebration afterwards was nice, it was probably the best celebration I've had in a while.
AIK played its first game in the Swedish Hockey League on Friday, also in front of a packed Avicii Arena. Kovacs praises the pressure surrounding Stockholm hockey.
Great fun. I think there should be two Stockholm teams in the SHL. It would have been good for hockey. If you look at football too. AIK draws almost 30,000 and Djurgården and Hammarby draw almost 20,000 each game. That's probably somewhere you want to get with hockey too.
But there was no visit to AIK's premiere the day before.
"No, no, I wasn't here yesterday. We (Björklöven) arrived late in Stockholm," says Kovacs.
