The other day's hockey in Gävle started hesitantly and it didn't seem initially that the series leaders Brynäs came to the match with 25 points more than the visiting bottom team Modo.
But the longer the match clock ticked on, the more the difference was noticeable. And with barely five minutes left of the first period, Johannes Kinnvall made it 1–0.
Nice to finally score again. I've had quite a few chances during the season without scoring and I've been used to being a bit of a goal scorer before, so it was a confidence boost to score a goal, says Kinnvall and adds quickly:
The most important thing is that we win the matches and I've got a slightly different role this year.
That role has been bought by the 27-year-old Brynäs defender, as well as the rest of the team.
" Blew away the Christmas dinner"
It's also appreciated by Brynäs' biggest star, Jakob Silfverberg, who offered some really good hockey treats when he precision-shot 3–0 in the second period and struck with a smoking New Year's rocket at 4–0 in the third.
Really fun that Johannes gets going on the scoring. I usually yell at him to shoot more often and this time the puck went all the way in. An incredibly important goal for us. He blew away the Christmas dinner we had in our stomachs and got us all going.
Johannes Kinnvall smiles appreciatively at the praise.
He's been around during the tough years, but now everything is flowing and a month ago he became a dad to little Frans.
It's about enjoying what's happening. Being a bit in the baby bubble and rejoicing that we in the team have something good going on together. We started building a new culture last season, with a lot of competition but also a lot of joy. Now it's mostly about building on that feeling.
"Then some voices were raised"
However, there's no satisfaction even though Brynäs, for a few minutes in the third, invited Modo to two quick reductions.
Then some voices were raised in the box. We needed to get our game in order again and we did, says Kinnvall, who got to see Anton Rödin punctuate the match (5–2) in an empty net.
Would old Brynäs have collapsed at Modo's reductions?
Exactly. But now we have good confidence in both the team and the association as a whole and we're building on that.
