Eddie Levin cheers. Vimmerby Hockey is in the Hockeyallsvenskan. Photo: Ossian Mathiasson
It was set up for extreme drama in the qualifying series for the Hockeyallsvenskan. Kristianstad, Vimmerby and Hudiksvall all had a good chance of reaching the Hockeyallsvenskan.
Kristianstad was in the driver’s seat on goal difference against Vimmerby. Hudiksvall the points behind.
Vimmerby started well at the beginning of their match against Halmstad. The home team dominated the game for the first six or seven minutes before Halmstad was allowed to get into the game. Both teams had two chances in the powerplay each and the fact is that Halmstad was clearly closer to taking the lead than the home team.
About halfway into the period came a message that the home crowd cheered loudly. Fredrik Forsberg made it 1-0 for Brödernas/Väsby away to Kristianstad in numerical superiority. When Vimmerby then got a third opportunity in a five-on-four game, Elias Lindgren scored 1-0.
Vimmerby now had the chance to go to the period break with a 1-0 lead, but they were not satisfied with that. Anton Carlsson, delicately played by Pelle Ström, made it 2-0 with 18 seconds left in the opening period. In that situation, Kristianstad were probably not completely satisfied with the situation and Vimmerby Hockey was for almost 20 minutes a hockey Allsvenskan team.
The brothers did their thing
But before the second act had even started in Vimmerby, the Skåne had equalized against Brödernas/Väsby. However, VH was still in the driver’s seat despite that result.
Vimmerby also got off to a perfect start in the second act. Adam Petersson made it 3-0 after barely three minutes. Hugo Ollila increased it to 4-0 after 14 minutes of playing time. A little over a minute later, in numerical superiority, Eddie Levin made it 5-0.
Vimmerby went to the period break leading 5-0. At the same time, the score was 1-1 down in Kristianstad. With 20 minutes of drama left, VH led the qualifying series by two points ahead of Kristianstad. In addition, they have opened up the goal difference and were currently two goals ahead of the Skåne. Even if Kristianstad took the lead by 2-1 – and even by 3-1 – Vimmerby would be ahead.
Just pour on
The match down in Skåne was far ahead of the one in Vimmerby and before the players even had time for the third period, the period started south. Kristianstad gained an early numerical advantage, but failed to take the lead.
Brödernas/Väsby did it instead barely five minutes into the third act. Vimmerby’s position was thus even better. Things kept happening down in Kristianstad. 7.27 into the period the home team made it 2-2 and barely a minute later it was 3-2. Now Kristianstad looked like it was on the hunt – but the hunt came off. 19 seconds later Brödernas/Väsby equalized at 3-3.
In Vimmerby it was still 5-0. In the space of 15 seconds, just over seven minutes into the third period, 6-0 and 7-0 came for Vimmerby, who now had more than one skate in the Hockeyallsvenskan. Goal scorers were Isac Andersson and Hugo Ollila. Parallel to that, Brödernas/Väsby scored 4-3 in Skåne and the home crowd stood up already now to celebrate their team.
Halmstad reduced to 7-1, but the party was not interrupted. Isac Göransson filled up with 8-1 and what no one thought was possible was now completely clear. In an empty cage, Väsby also beat Skåne 5-3. The jubilation then reached never before levels in the Tigerkulan.
Vimmerby Hockey plays, against most odds, in the Hockeyallsvenskan in the 2024/2025 season.
Everything from the historic achievement later on Dagens Vimmerby’s site.
