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The Dahlen and Eriksson Connection


Rush17

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I found this story on twitter and was quite impressed with the backstory here. Here Jason Botchford's replacement at The Province dives into the history of Loui Eriksson and the Dahlen family. I had no idea about the detail of this connection.

 

 

This isn't a knock on Botch but he is doing his old gig. I actually quite like the newly rebranded and more positive Botchford. The last patcast was fantastic. Highly recommend it:

 

Yesterday's Patcast here:

 

 

Thought it was quite a cool story. I wanted to share it with you all. 

 

Cheers

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20 minutes ago, coastal.view said:

please post the story or article

you are not permitted to use these boards as click bait

post the story and not the link

I'm sorry lol. I am out of the house and on my cell phone. Posting the article was out of the question and it's not fair to give them no clicks. Besides their formatting is nicer then how it would be copied here. Normally I do add a brief intro tho.  

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Dahlen, who turns 21 on Dec. 20, used an interesting word to describe what he needs to do to make the big show, one that ties us back to the original question of making the final leap.

To be clear: the man who dressed up as Santa Claus on Christmas Eve 2006 at the Dahlen household in Dallas was not Loui Eriksson.

Jonathan Dahlen, it turns out, had always thought it was Eriksson.

 

“I told him it was not me,” Eriksson said with a chuckle Saturday, after finishing a spirited scrimmage and practice on the second day of the Vancouver Canucks’ training camp in Whistler.

 

“I think it was Mattias Tjarnqvist.”

 

Dahlen’s father Ulf was a rookie coach on the Stars that year, and had invited over the Stars’ Swedish contingent for a hint of their homeland Yule traditions.

It was Eriksson’s second year in North America — his first in the NHL — and finding a Swedish coach on his team was a nice bonus.

 

“It was really big for me. It’s obviously easier to talk to someone in your own language. And he’d played in the NHL.

 

“Whenever I had a question, I would go talk to him, to see how I was doing. It was good to have that feedback.”

 

The elder Dahlen went back to Sweden in 2008 to coach Eriksson’s hometown team, Frölunda; Eriksson and his young family would often see the Dahlens in the summer.

Now, the younger Dahlen, who was just nine when Eriksson first met him, is on the cusp of the NHL. He’s a highly talented, highly touted prospect.

 

And like every young player, the question is can he handle the physical step that reaching the summit of the game demands? Is he powerful enough, in other words.

 

Eriksson remembers well what the experience of making the NHL was like, of how much quicker the game is, how much tighter the ice is.

 

He’s already found himself in the role of a wise, older countryman, ready and willing to offer guidance to Dahlen.

 

“I think he has the right attitude,” he said. “He knows what he (his dad) went through.”

 

Having someone around who he’s known for half his life is still an adjustment, the younger Swede admitted.

 

“It’s a little weird, I guess I still feel like a little kid when I’m around him sometimes,” he said.

 

Dahlen starred for the past two years for Timra, leading them to the Allsvenskan championship last spring and winning promotion to the Swedish Hockey League.

After Timra won its title last April, he got another two games under his belt with the Utica Comets, tallying a goal and an assist.

 

There’s little doubt his skills are that of an NHLer. It’s dealing with the higher speed of the game, of heightened physical demands, that will be the true test.

 

“He’s prepared us for a hard camp,” Dahlen said. “He told us it’s going to be tough and we’re going to have to work hard.”

 

On top of having Eriksson close at hand, he can look back on his first memories of his dad, many of which come from NHL rinks.

 

“Of course it was. You don’t really understand until you grow up that you’ve been around an NHLer. It was real fun. I fell in love with hockey right away. I always wanted to be in the NHL.”

 

He talks to his dad often about what he’s doing and what he needs to be doing to make the leap to the big show.

 

“He has 966 more NHL games than me so of course I turn to him,” he said. (Yes, that is exactly how many games his dad played.)

 

Dahlen’s dad’s last playing year was 2002-03, with the Stars, when Jonathan was six. Ulf then worked as a coach for the Swedish national team and as a pro scout for Dallas before starting as an assistant coach in Dallas in 2006.

 

Dahlen, who turns 21 on Dec. 20, used an interesting word to describe what he needs to do to make the big show, one that ties us back to the original question of making the final leap.

 

“I have to play powerfully,” he said. In Swedish, the word “kraft” means “power, physical strength, might, force.”

 

We can see where he was going. He was talking about playing with strength.

 

But power is a good word. It’s the biggest challenge any young player knows they’ll face as they contemplate the summit.

 

He knows how to put the puck in the net. He knows how to drive offence. He’s done that against older, stronger competition. Now, does he have the power?

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48 minutes ago, DeNiro said:

Dahlen - Pettersson - Eriksson

 

A good all Swedish line with two way ability.

This is a look I’ve been wanting to see since Pettersson signed. 

 

It makes perfect sence.   I say just let em roll immmediately.   See if there’s something there worth holding onto. 

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2 hours ago, DeNiro said:

Dahlen - Pettersson - Eriksson

 

A good all Swedish line with two way ability.

Perhaps that would give Loui the motivation he needs... Then again he was paired with the sedins and truly couldn't have picked two better Swedes. 

 

Maybe his game will match better with these two. I hope! Would be really nice to see Loui score 30+ goals 

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5 hours ago, apollo said:

Perhaps that would give Loui the motivation he needs... Then again he was paired with the sedins and truly couldn't have picked two better Swedes. 

 

Maybe his game will match better with these two. I hope! Would be really nice to see Loui score 30+ goals 

The Sedins were wonderful. However, only Burrows was the answer to their play, save for a Carter stint. 

 

The Sedins were stoic machines of strength. No one really gelled with them as we thought one day someone would; a third Sedin.

 

Not a knock on them at all; just an observation. I would say that the Berruzzi - Morisson - Naslund was much more fun and dynamic to watch.

 

However, rare is a line that could dominate like the Sedins could, cycling for minutes on end; literally.

 

I think the youth and talent Pettersson and Dahlén would bring to Eriksson should be enough to kick start a steady production to the end of his contract. 

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1 hour ago, Me_ said:

The Sedins were wonderful. However, only Burrows was the answer to their play, save for a Carter stint. 

 

The Sedins were stoic machines of strength. No one really gelled with them as we thought one day someone would; a third Sedin.

 

Not a knock on them at all; just an observation. I would say that the Berruzzi - Morisson - Naslund was much more fun and dynamic to watch.

 

However, rare is a line that could dominate like the Sedins could, cycling for minutes on end; literally.

 

I think the youth and talent Pettersson and Dahlén would bring to Eriksson should be enough to kick start a steady production to the end of his contract. 

Yep, I think the Sedins basically brought cycling game in hockey to a whole new level. The way they cycle the puck was not based on strengths as say, Perry and Getzlaf but relied more on accurate passing, timing, and reading the plays, in particular, recognizing open space and so on. This made it hard for the opposition to anticipate where the puck is going next.

 

They needed someone smart. Burrows was the only player that could actually keep up with those two. 

 

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9 hours ago, DeNiro said:

Dahlen - Pettersson - Eriksson

 

A good all Swedish line with two way ability.

I like it. And I think Gaudette will make the team as well. If Dahlen and Gaud indeed make the team, then it's going to be really interesting to see who gets cut. At least three from Leipsic, Goldobin, Gaunce, and Gagner will not make the 23 man roster (assuming Roussel is out with concussion until then). 

 

Baer-Bo-Boes

Dahlen-EP-Eriksson

Granlund-Sutter-Gaud

Schaller-Beagle-Virtanen

 

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7 hours ago, apollo said:

Perhaps that would give Loui the motivation he needs... Then again he was paired with the sedins and truly couldn't have picked two better Swedes. 

 

Maybe his game will match better with these two. I hope! Would be really nice to see Loui score 30+ goals 

It was at the tail end of their career to be fair.  They had lost a step and Eriksson isn't the type of player who can skate fast and dig out pucks for them.

 

I hope Pettersson can give Eriksson a bump in production.

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Really so Eriksson is going to stick up for Dahlen and Pettersson LOL it would be a heck of a lot better to have someone with size and grit, try anyone of Sutter, Beagle, Schaller, MacEwen . A center with grit. Not Eriksson! Just because Eriksson is a Swede doesn't make him a fit.

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