Thursday
When tickets for the home games of Leksands IF in August 2023, I looked for a “hockey weekend”, with two home games for the men’s team and one or two home games for the women’s team. I found one after New Year’s and I booked the tickets. I also looked into where I would stay and decided to try Moskogen.
During the fall I asked Katharina if she wanted to tag along which she wanted and also Annette joined us. So the same team that went to Skellefteå about a year ago.
We left Stockholm at about 12 on Thursday by car, the same road we have driven so many times towards the small community of Leksand, with about 6,500 inhabitants. The ride went smoothly and we arrived at Moskogen where we checked in. They have a bunch of cabins in different sizes on a slope, quite cozy. Not the highest standard but it works very well. We unpacked before heading to GC Restaurant where we had a reservation at 17:00.
Two pizzas and a pasta later we left for Tegera Arena and tonight’s game with Rögle BK as opponents. Found our parking spot and headed inside. I usually leave my jacket in the car and just rush towards the arena, and when the thermometer says -18 degrees Celsius, the walk from the car to the entrance is quite quick.
Since you no longer can bring a bag to “large events” I bring a small foldable sack in my back pocket, that I can put my sweater and cap into while inside, where it’s quite warm and enough with a t-shirt and a game jersey.
Since we got there with about one hour until the game we walked around and talked to a bunch of people. We, and especially Katta, know quite a few folks so the time just flew and suddenly it was time to take our seats. Katta has hers, Annette is cheering from the standing section, and I had a seat just off the center line. I was lucky with nice people on both sides of my seat. The first two periods of the game were quite bad, or the defense did a good job and the offense came almost nowhere.
The woman to my left had to leave for work just when the second period was over, and that was too bad for her because in the third part, Leksands managed to score four goals and at the same time let no one in. A victory by four-nill was a great start on this weekend! Katta interviewed Eddie Larsson after the game and afterward, we headed back to our cabins.
Friday
The alarm went off at 8:45 and after a shower, I left my cabin to get some breakfast in the main service building. A short walk but the cold air froze my nose hair if I breathed through the nose. Katta and Annette had arrived just before me. The selection was decent and we sat for almost an hour. The agenda for today was a lecture by Tobias Forsberg and the derby between Lekand and Brynäs, but all that was in the later afternoon and evening. So we decided to go to Clas Ohlson in Insjön and visit their museum. I have driven by so many times but never gone in, so when we now had time over it felt like a good trip for the day.
We got to Hjultorget and went inside. I knew that the company had quite a history but not the extent of it. It was interesting to see where it came from and its progress through the 20th century. After a while we went for some shopping, finding both remote-controlled lights, a backpack, a frying pan, and the wrong items from the apothecary.
We left Insjön and went to Siljans Konditori for some light lunch and fika and then back to the cabins for an afternoon nap. I watched the first period of the bronze game between Finland and the Czech Republic in the Junior World Championship.
At four we left Moskogen again to go to Tegera Arena and the lecture with the former Leksand hockey player Tobias Forsberg. On December 26th, 2018 during a game between Leksand IF and Almtuna IS, he tripped and hit the boards head-on, leaving him paralyzed from the armpits down. He told us his story about the accident, his time in the hospital, and his life afterward. Many emotional moments especially towards the end when he described all the support he received from all over hockey Sweden, even I got tears in my eyes. It was a phenomenal lecture and I’m really happy I got to hear it.
Afterward, we went to Puck Munthe for some dinner and pre-game-talk with the GM for the women’s team, Alexander Bröms. The game followed, where Leksand hosted Brynäs. The guests were overall a bit better even though Leksand had some really nice periods of great play, but didn’t manage to score. In the end, Brynäs won with 0-2. From the second period forward, many in the audience (including me) followed the JWC final between the USA and Sweden on our phones.
After the game in Tegera, we went out to the car again, feeling the whole -25 degrees Celsius during the short walk. When we got back to the cabins we watched the third period on the TV. An exciting and close game until halfway through the third period when the USA became the worthy winner, not losing a single game throughout the tournament.
Saturday
The morning began as yesterday with a shower and breakfast, with the difference that I arrived first because the lock on the cabin door where the ladies stayed, had frozen. However, after calling for assistance and the staff gathering tools, they managed to get the door open on their own and the crisis was averted.
We packed our stuff, checked out, and hung around the lounge for a while, watching the Oskarshamn players coming and going (they were staying at Moskogen as well), before heading to Tegera once again. This time the day started with a member’s meeting with Leksands IF where representatives from the board and staff talked about what was happening in the club, especially when it comes to member influence and benefits. I was pleasantly surprised by the content and I’m hoping this will be a regular thing in the future.
When the meeting ended, I put on my jacket and left the arena to have lunch with the former chairman of the board of Leksands IF AB, Claes. We met in Trinec when Leksand played a CHL game there and have kept in touch every now and then. Nice to finally have a longer conversation over a meal 🙂
We got back to Tegera to watch the game and after saying hello to a few other friends I took the same seat as two nights ago hoping for a more exciting game, even though a victory was most important. I got half of my wish fulfilled since Leksand played very well for about 1 ½ period before they started getting sloppy and basically invited Oskarshamn into the game. We ended up at an equal score, 2-2, at full time and went into overtime where IKO did the winning goal. Bummer!
Katta interviews a player after most of the games and today I could tag along to help with doors and stuff. Very fun to see the “backstage” of Tegera Arena. I was standing in a corner while Katta spoke to Peter Cehlárik, and all the players and staff that passed by were very polite and said hello, even though the players looked rather disappointed.
After the interview was over we picked up Annette and got back to the car and started the journey back to Stockholm. Took quite some time until we reached Borlänge, which is quite normal when there has been a full house. Especially when the weather was so cold and the roads rather slippery. After a stop in Avesta for some late dinner we arrived back in the capital just after 22 and said our goodbyes.
Thank you everyone for a very nice trip!
