Catena Arena, with seating for 6,310 spectators. Now the interest is hysterical in Ängelholm.
The first final date is Saturday 20 April, Rögle starts at bortais against the winner Skellefteå-Frölunda, the first final date in Ängelholm is Thursday 25 April.
The final tickets for the 25th disappeared immediately, yes it didn’t even take a minute after Daniel Zaar nailed 4-2 and 4-0 in victories against Växjö. Rögle’s Kari Litmanen, commercial manager, says that tens of thousands of ticket seekers were on the association’s ticket page and updated while waiting for tickets to become available.
“A Mad Pressure”
– It was crazy pressure, we needed ten Catena Arenas to meet the demand, says Kari Litmanen.
The association’s total turnover in the previous season was 190,473 million, now Daniel Koch is flagging to cross the dream limit of 200 million in turnover. The equity, 20.6 million at the last financial statement, gets a boost. Idrottens Affärer has previously told that the association is the majority owner of the arena.
This means in plain language: The more matches, preferably with overtime games, equals increased sales in restaurants and kiosks, equals increased income for the arena owner.
In northwestern Scania, the hockey gene is inherited in the fertile soil, since the days of pollen king Gösta Carlsson in the 1960s. Among other things, Ulf Sterner played here among many other stars of the time. For a long time, Rögle was a classic yo-yo team and rode an elevator between the divisions.
Wave of success from 2015
The current stay began on 29/3 2015 after a qualifying victory against Västerås IK. The SHL was expanded from 12 to 14 teams and Rögle took the chance. The team from Bjäre established itself and played the SC final against Växjö in 2021, loss, but won the Champions Hockey League in 2022.
The green and white team emerged as hockey’s new superpower, but ninth place in the 2022-2023 season, followed by yet another ninth place this season raised doubts.
But now both Färjestad and Växjö have been “swept” with 4-0 victories. It’s humiliating and Växjö coach Jörgen Jönsson looked anything but happy when the season ended surprisingly.
When the twin duo Cam and Chris Abbott were at the end of the road in the Rögle camp, club director Koch bet on homegrown in the form of loyal servant Roger Hansson, just like Jörgen with iTre Kronor’s gold team in the Olympics in Lillehammer 1994.
His more low-key profile was just what star-studded Rögle needed. The dressing room got a new voice, the group could breathe again and now the team is only four games away from a historic SM gold.
Kjell Nilsson
