The panic: “I thought: What the hell have I done?”

Last Saturday a dream came true. Another Thursday.

Måns Carlsson is floating on SHL pink clouds these days.

– He feels good. Good as hell! he calls out with a kick in his voice.

Expressen has a chat with him immediately after he played his first game in the Swedish premier league.

The goal meant 5-0 more Methodwhich gave a decisive victory against Malmö at home.

– We were very depressed in the game, it was not a good time from our side, so it was good to push it.

27-year-old Måns Carlsson is an odd bird in these contexts. His journey to the SHL is at least unlike most others.

No international youth. Not drafted by any NHL club. For a while perhaps forgotten in the third sector of the country.

Then, through Hockeyettan and five seasons in Mora, he got his last chance at Modo when sports director Henrik “Hinken” Gradin called.

– Maybe late-bloomer is the right word. I have been fighting for this for a long time, he says, and it is obvious in his face how much he was for this.

Have you ever given up?

– I wouldn’t say that. You scale enough of the goals because. When you’re young, it’s the NHL that matters, you probably understand that it won’t work. In Hockeyettan you think of Allsvenskan, in Allsvenskan you think of SHL. That’s how it works.

Why do you think you didn’t get here sooner?

– No one really believed in me. People have discovered that I can’t figure it out. Many people know that I have a good hockey head, but they didn’t dare.

The “bucket” has been difficult.

– Yes, fortunately. At least I’m here now.

I would have had a better salary if I had stayed in Mora

For a while, though, it didn’t look like there would be any SHL games this time either. Modo had indeed drawn the team when Måns Carlsson signed him.

– It went very quickly. I spoke to Näsén three weeks before I was ready and then “Hinken” had said that the team was full. Then Näsén wrote a week or so later and told me that “Hinken” was on my number asking, but I hadn’t heard anything. After that it went very quickly, it only took 1.5-2 days.

Once the call was connected and Carlsson heard what Modo had to offer, he immediately took action. No time to think, really.

He could have stayed in Mora and made more money – believe it or not – but he couldn’t say no when the SHL opportunity came up.

– I would have a better salary if I had stayed in Mora, but I have to think that I am a stock that moves away. In a few years I may earn more, but I have fought for SHL for so many years and then the salary will not be so important. I want to be here.

Did you think that the money in this case went to secondary school?

– Absolutely. I can make money later in my career hopefully because I think the SHL opens doors. This will be on my resume forever.

He went to Örnsköldsvik last spring, completed bare ground and pre-season training and then, at the age of 27, played his first SHL game against Örebro last Saturday.

Just like last year, he rode around with a white club, nobody looked like him. In the SHL, very few players are playing in white this season.

– I have a “Bauer old man” in Lysekil who had told the “Bauer old man” up here (Örnsköldsvik) that I wanted a white one, so our stuffer here, Thomas, looked at me when he arrived. I also drove white last year, but this one is even brighter.

– And there may be some panic involved. Then maybe it’s a bit half-cocked, here I come with a white stick in the SHL, as it were, I’m not Linus Omark, says Måns with a real smile.

Why do you like the white lollipop?

– I think it’s good, but there don’t seem to be many others who think so. It’s a bit like black and white tape, you like different ones. Then I thought a white lollipop was cool, I have to admit.

Panicked – after dialing the image number

The club selection is one thing that makes Måns Carlsson stand out. His number is different.

Because in Örnsköldsvik number 24 is associated with an image, that is the man who has been hanging on the roof for two seasons: Niklas “Susse” Sundström.

Måns Carlsson smiles when the jersey number comes up.

– Yes… I thought for a long time what number I should be… I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes, there are several myths here. So then I realized that number 24 … feels good. Then once I had made up my mind, the first thing I hear in the dressing room is “ohhhh, tjena Susse”.

– Then I thought “what the hell have I done?”… But he had to go. It is absolutely impossible to choose numbers in this team when you can only choose up to 40 and then there are all the images.

“Susse” hasn’t said anything yet?

– No, not yet…