Available SEL players?

It's July and the NHL Free Agency Frenzy has started again.

As there still is no transfer agreement between Sweden and the NHL, players with SEL contracts have to have an NHL-out clause to be able to sign with an NHL team.

I found a list that consisted of players with an NHL-out clause, but it only listed some of the SEL teams. I ending up using it as a base to assemble a list with players with a SEL contract, but who are available to sign with any NHL team (at least now in July).

The list is probably still missing a lot of names as it's hard to get info about these things, but I will update it if I find out about any other players.

Lars Jonsson, D (Brynäs) - 53GP, 9G, 12A, 21P
Riku Hahl, C (Frölunda) - 52GP, 7G, 24A, 31P
Johan Holmqvist, G (Frölunda) - 49GP, 2.15GAA, .917SVS%, 2SO
Per Ledin, LW/RW (HV71) - 58GP, 11G, 12A, 23P (AHL)
Mikko Lehtonen, D (Frölunda) - 41GP, 15G, 15A, 30P
Janne Niskala, D (Frölunda) - 35GP, 9G, 10A, 19P
Rickard Wallin, C/LW (Färjestad) - 55GP, 18G, 27A, 45P

Also, for the fun of it, here are the current three SEL Free Agents that had most points last season plus a joker:

Fredrik Bremberg, LW (Djurgården) - 53GP, 17G, 40A, 57P
Mika Pyörälä, LW/C (Timrå) - 55GP, 21G, 22A, 43P
Niklas Anger, RW/LW (Djurgården) - 51GP, 23G, 19A, 42P
Peter Forsberg, C (MODO) - 3GP, 1G, 2A, 3GP

The all-time leading scorer in the SEL, Bremberg (did you know that?), and the guy with the funny lastname, Anger, will probably not attract interested from the NHL and might head out in Europe (KHL?). Pyörälä might be looking to try and make it onto an NHL roster through camp/AHL.

Forsberg? Well who knows about his future? Probably not even him.
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Icebreakers - the follow-up

I wrote about the charity team Icebreakers in my posts about Peter Forsberg and I thought that it was time to do a follow-up on how it went in the two games the team played this week.

On the Tuesday, they played against SEL team Luleå. Luleå is predicted to finish around the bottom of the SEL this upcoming season and some of their better players weren't playing in the game, so the 11-4 win for the Icebreakers didn't come as a surprise. Forsberg actually ended up being the best scorer in the game with 3 goals and 1 assists, while Vancouver's Mattias Öhlund and Washington's Nicklas Bäckström both had a 3-point game.

I haven't found much info about the Icebreakers game in Turku, Finland, the day after. The challenge they would take on there was a lot harder though as they played a team called the Läkerol Dark Allstars filled with NHLers. Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff, Montreal's Saku Koivu and Stanley Cup Champion Valtteri Filppula were some of the players on the team and they were actually coached by Mike Keenan.

The only thing I know about the result is that the game ended 5-5 and that the Icebreakers won the shootout which followed.

The Icebreakers also visited and donated toys to children's hospitals in Luleå and Turku during their visits to the cities.

Some links of interest:

• The rosters of LDA and Icebreakers.
• Pictures from the LDA-Icebreakers game.
• The blog of 10-year-old Marcus, who got to drop the puck in the Luleå-Icebreakers game.
• Pictures from the Luleå-Icebreakers game here and here.

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More on Foppa

As I wrote earlier today, Peter Forsberg will play in an exhibition game with his charity hockey team, the Icebreakers, tonight. After some more investigation, I found an interview with Foppa in the newspaper Expressen, where he talks about it and the foot injury. The article also mentions that he will play another game with the Icebreakers on Wednesday.

- I will do an evaluation after these two games with the Icebreakers and see where I stand, says Foppa.

He practiced on ice with the other NHL players in Swedbank Arena in Örnsköldsvik yesterday. But Foppa will not travel to Luleå today with just one ice practice under the belt.

- Well I practiced on ice here in Örnsköldsvik on Friday and Saturday too, he says.

And how does it feel?
Pretty good actually.

Does this mean there is a chance you will be back in the NHL before Christmas?
I don't want to speculate about that. I'm in close contact with my doctor, Bertil Romanus, in Gothenburg and we only take it one step at a time.

But you sound more optimistic than a couple of weeks ago?
- I have no trouble with skating, but we don't know yet how the foot will react under hard pressure. As said, first I want to evaluate these two games and then we will see how the continued training will look like.

You will continue with special training program?
- Yes, I will continue working after those guidelines and the training program we started in May.

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Forsberg's playing hockey tonight

One of the ongoing discussions last season was Peter Forsberg and his feet - would he play or retire? Eventually he did play and showed that he still got a lot of hockey in him, but injuries - as usual - made him for example miss most of the playoff series against Detroit.

Tonight he's taking his first step towards another season as he will play an exhibition game against SEL team Luleå with his charity team, the Icebreakers. This will be his first test since the NHL playoffs.

He's doctor, Bertil Romanus, says to the newspaper DN that physically, Forsberg is ready to play. It's how it will go in on-ice situations that they are unsure about.

Here is the roster of the Icebreakers in the game against Luleå tonight:

Goalies
Michal Zajkowski, MODO
Johan Backlund, Timrå

Defensemen
Mattias Timander, MODO
Hans Jonsson, MODO
Tobias Enström, Atlanta Thrashers
Pierre Hedin, MODO
Alexander Edler, Vancouver Canucks
Douglas Murray, San Jose Sharks
Mattias Öhlund, Vancouver Canucks

Forwards
Per Svartvadet, MODO
Alexander Steen, Toronto Maple Leafs
Niklas Sundström, MODO
Peter Forsberg, Colorado Avalanche
Markus Näslund, New York Rangers
Samuel Påhlsson, Anaheim Ducks
Nicklas Bäckström, Washington Capitals
Fredrik Modin, Columbus Blue Jackets
Jonathan Hedström, Timrå
Robert Nilsson, Edmonton Oilers
Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
Joakim Lindström, Anaheim Ducks
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The Flyers let their chief European scout go

After about 20 years as the chief European scout for the Philadelphia Flyers, Inge Hammarström has been let go. Newspaper Gefle Dagblad had a talk with him.

- Yes, I was informed the day before the draft here in Ottawa. We had discussed an extension, but they had come to the conclusion that they wanted a new voice and we have therefor decided to go separate ways, says Inge Hammarström.

Hammarström, who played NHL hockey in Toronto and St. Louis in the 70s, has had the position since 1990 to be exact. He was the scout that pushed the hardest for the Flyers drafting Peter Forsberg, who was actually only ranked at number 25 before the draft by The Hockey News. This is something he obvious is proud of.

Inge Hammarström thinks his biggest accomplishment was when he found Peter "Foppa" Forsberg and convinced Philadelphia to draft him in the beginning of the 90s. But also thinks that it was weak by the club to trade him away with a bunch of players for Eric Lindros before he even came over to the NHL.

- The club missed a chance to win a couple of Stanley Cups there. It was also sad that they didn't pick Jaromir Jagr, even though I really tried to convince them to draft him, says Inge.

He also thinks that the Flyers not being able to win any titles, during his time with the team, have been the toughest.

- But at the same time I've been well faoured to be able to be in the same organization for such a long time and been part in helping rebuilding the team again.

Swedish goalie Joacim Eriksson ended up being Hammarström's last pick as a Flyers scout. Inge says though that he has already gotten interest from other NHL clubs with few scouts in Europe, so he will probably find a new team soon.

Interesting with the Forsberg/Jagr part - that would have been a fun duo to watch. On the other hand, Forsberg won 2 Cups with Colorado, Jagr won 2 with Pittsburgh and Lindros led Flyers to a Stanley Cup final before his concussion problems started, so it turned out pretty good for the teams.

By the way, Mike Ricci was the player that they picked instead of Jaromir Jagr.
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Näslund continues in the NHL - where though?

Vancouver Canucks Captain Markus Näslund has decided to play for at least another year in the NHL, but it's far from sure if it will be with the Canucks. That is what he told Örnsköldsviks Allehanda, the local newspaper of his hometown in Sweden, which had an interview with him.

- When I had gotten a bit of a perspective, it wasn't a hard decision to make. I feel very motivated to play in the NHL, says Markus.

Playing for Modo Hockey is not an option though, at least not in the upcoming season.

- No, I want to continue over there, but for which team is far from done.

A clue that Näslund is on move, is that he has sold his house in Vancouver.

- We sold because I was unsure of the future. The door to Vancouver is not closed, but that I end up there is far from a matter of course, says Näslund.

- Money is not the important part, instead I prioritize the social part, what kind of hockey the team plays and what kind of player types they got.

Since Näslund's old agent, Mike Gillis, was named the new GM of the Canucks, Markus has just switched agent. The new one is, Don Baizley, who has been Peter Forsberg's agent since he got drafted. Will we see them playing for the same NHL team too one day? Chances are at least a bit bigger now with Näslund maybe testing free agency.
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