With just under two-thirds of the season played, the Hockey Allsvenskan is shaping up to be a duel between IK Oskarshamn and AIK. Oskarshamn are on 76 points, four points clear of AIK, who, according to the implied probabilities on the bigbetbookmakers.com site, were regarded as second favourites to top the league before the season started.
AIK have been powered by the goals of Sebastian Dyk and Nicolai Meyer, who are first and second in the Scoring Leader charts. Both have scored 19 times and Meyer has also contributed 23 assists. But Oskarshamn have matched AIK for goal scoring and have benefitted from a significantly stronger defence, conceding just 67 goals, a figure that is 13 better than AIK. Their strong defensive record is down largely to the efforts of goaltenders Cristoffer Rifalk and Adam Ahman, who occupy second and third spot in the Hockey Allsvenskan goalkeeper chart with save percentages greater than 93.
And although Oskarshamn were regarded as the eighth favourites according to the pre-season betting odds, they have shown no sign of wilting under the pressure of being in front, winning six games in a row to maintain their lead at the top of the table.
The latest of those wins came against Vasteras, who are back in fourth after a poor run of form that has seen them lose their last four away games and while they are still in a good position to earn a play-off spot, their slim hopes of catching the front runners will depend on them finding improvement away from home. Third-placed Karlskoga also face an uphill struggle to catch the front two and a heavy defeat to Leksands in the middle of January has not helped their cause.
That was a welcome win for the pre-season favourites, who have struggled to match expectations and are currently hanging on to the last playoff spot in eighth position. Their prospects are not helped by the absence of Tobias Forsberg, who suffered a horrific injury against Almtuna in December. Forsberg was taken to hospital by helicopter ambulance and had to undergo surgery on his neck. He is recovering from the ordeal, which is good news, but Leksands are weaker without him.
They also face a tough challenge from five teams with play-off ambitions, all within six points, the closest of which are Vastervik who they meet in the middle of the month. The 1987 Swedish champions Bjorkloven are also in touch with eighth place but they have endured a poor run of form this month, and eleventh-placed Pantern can’t be written off following a string of victories earlier in January. And the same might be said for bottom team Vita Hasten. The gap between them and Almtuna is into double figures, but after a nightmare first half of the season, they have given their fans something to cheer about with wins over Bjorkloven and Sodertalje.
