Sweden: Liv and Jamtin lead the way

Frolunda lost on the road against southern rival HV 71 in a tight 2-1 hockey game last Thursday. The defending champions lacked the commitment and grit necessary to break down HV’s strong defensive game in the third period. Among the prospects, Stefan Liv stood out with a very solid performance in net for HV, while the team’s other Detroit draftee, Andreas Jamtin, was a hard-working force all game long.

Stefan Liv (DET), G, HV 71

Liv has a reputation of being a streaky goaltender, but has began this season amazingly well and is displaying greater consistency after a disastrous campaign in `02-3 ... always capable of pulling off miraculous game-winning saves for his team, and seemed to project this unshakable aura tonight … also showed off his trademark agility and spectacular glove hand … Liv has three shutouts in 13 matches, a 1.68 goals-against average, and a .944 save percentage, second-best in the Elitserien.

Andreas Jamtin (DET), RW, HV 71

Talented winger looks bigger after bulking up during the summer ... wins a lot of battles along the boards and is never afraid of using his body to detach opponents from the puck ... possesses good technical skills and always has a desire to be creative with the puck ... made a huge impact in HV’s offense today, even though he didn’t get on the scoresheet ... he skated hard, had some very solid hits and a few good scoring chances … is currently tied for fourth in team scoring (13-2-5-7).

Bjorn Melin (NYI), LW, HV 71

Expectations were high for the 22-year old Melin to produce breakout numbers this season, however, he has started slowly with just two points in his first 13 games ... a fairly good skater with a decent scoring touch, normally, but he didn’t do much to help his team tonight ... completely invisible offensively and also took a couple of unnecessary penalties.

Simon Skoog (STL), D, HV 71

A physically well-equipped defenseman who is making his rookie debut in the SEL ... didn’t see much ice time tonight and wasn’t exactly showing the coach why he should log more minutes in the future ... a slow skater, Skoog had a hard time keeping up with Frolunda’s speedy forwards tonight ... displayed mediocre puckhandling skills and didn’t take full advantage of his size.

Alexander Steen (TOR), C, Frolunda

This 19-year-old headline attraction scored four points against MIF Redhawks two nights before, and headed into this game as a top-five player in the league’s scoring race (12-5-9-14) ... the skilled and talented all-around center didn’t raise many eyebrows in this game though ... still has some consistency problems that should clear up as he matures and gets stronger ... had some good scoring chances, but, overall, Steen left a pale impression tonight offensively, though he did a solid job with his defensive duties.

Henrik Lundqvist (NYR), G, Frolunda

Lundqvist was arguably the best goalie in the league last season, yet his numbers so far this term pale in comparison (2.95 GAA, .906 Sv%) ... a very calm netminder who tries to stand up as much as possible ... although he allowed two goals tonight, he was still Frolunda’s best player ... saved a penalty shot early in the first period ... still needs to improve his stickhandling though.

Jens Karlsson (LA), LW, Frolunda

The powerful winger Karlsson was Frolunda’s best offensive weapon tonight ... showed good puckhandling skills and tried to shake things up by displaying some of his mean streak on occasion ... Karlsson also had Frolunda’s best chance to equalize the game when he hit the bar with a wrist shot from close range in the third period … despite the strong performance tonight, Karlsson is still looking for his first goal of the season (13-0-6-6), which is disappointing in light of his breakout playoff performance last spring (11-3-2-5).