April 19th, 2009
More than 14000 floorball fans came to Stockholm’s Globen Arena to see the final of the Swedish Championship. A.I.K. Solna defeated Warberg IC. The match was decided in the last period when A.I.K. scored four times. In the last game of his career Niklas Jihde contributed two goals to the 6-2 victory.The women’s title was won by Balrog. Balrog B/S IK beat IBF Falun 4-2 in front of 10112 spectators. If you want to read the statistics of all the play-off matches (quarter final, semi final and final) follow this link to www.innebandy.se
Picture: A.I.K. Solna Innebandy
Information: www.innebandy.se
February 22nd, 2009
On the 7th of February Finnkampen - the annual battle between the two Scandinavian rivals Sweden and Finland - was played in Västeras, Sweden. The Swedish team was not able to take revenge on Finland for the loss of the World Champion title in December. At least the Swedish played for a draw. 2445 fans were in the ABB Arena North, when Daniel Calebsson levelled the match 5-5 only 20 seconds before the end. All the matches of the juniors and the women’s teams were clearly dominated by the Swedish. The question is, how the Finnish can believe in future success against their rival, if the young teams are being dismantled like this. For more information follow this link.
Men: Sweden-Finnland 5-5
Women: Sweden-Finnland 10-1
Men U19: Sweden-Finnland 17-4
Women U19: Sweden-Finnland 5-0
Daniel Calebsson equalized only 20 seconds before the final whistle
Photograph www.wfc2008.cz
January 14th, 2009
8922 fans wanted to see Pixbo Wallenstam IBK facing FC Helsingborg on January 4th. This is a new spectators record for a game of the qualifying round in ‘Svenska Superligan’. World-famous football star Henrik Larsson - usually the spectator magnet of FC Helsingborg - was not there. Nevertheless the Scandinavium Arena in Gothenburg was almost sold out. The fans of both teams saw a tight match with 13 goals. Finally the game was won by the host team of Pixbo 7-6.
Information www.innebandy.se
Picture 1 www.pixbo.se
Picture 2 www.fch.nu
January 12th, 2009
Olle Thorsell was disappointed when he heard that he was not nominated by the Swedish head coach Kent Göransson to play for his nation at the world championship. From his point of view he played well at Euro Floorball Tour in November. With his club SV Wiler-Ersigen he also played a successful season and won the Euro Floorball Cup silver medal. That’s why it was hard for him to hear this news. After a match of Swiss Mobiliar League Olle talked to us.
wfn: What did you think when you heard that you would not be nominated for the world championship?
Olle Thorsell: I was disappointed. I think that I have played a good season with SV Wiler-Ersigen and I was also a part of ‘Tre Kronor’ during Euro Floorball Tour in November. But Kent Göransson only appointed six defenders, so it was even harder to be part of the team.
wfn: For the first time in history Sweden did not win the gold medal. What went wrong?
Olle Thorsell: Team Finland played a good powerplay in the final. Details made the difference between the two teams. Maybe it was simply time for Finland to win.
wfn: Today four countries are dominating the floorball world: Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and Czech Republic. Which nations could become strong opponents in the future?
Olle Thorsell: I hope that floorball grows further in countries with icehockey culture, such as Latvia or Germany. It would be good for floorball if nations from other continents became stronger. I hope for the United States and Canada.
wfn: How many years does it take until floorball will be an Olympic sport?
Olle Thorsell: Between 20 and 30 years. It’s still a long way to go.
wfn: Are you a professional player?
Olle Thorsell: No, I work 80% in an embroidery factory.
Interview by Matthias Dudli
Photograph by Matthias Dudli
