# 2011–12 Malmö Redhawks season

The 2011–12 Malmö Redhawks season was the Redhawks' 5th consecutive season in the HockeyAllsvenskan ice hockey league, the second tier of Swedish elite hockey. The regular season began on 17 September 2011 away against Mora IK, and concluded on 2 March 2012 away against Almtuna IS. The Playoff round began on 4 March and ended on 12 March 2012. The season saw Malmö Redhawks attempting to reach the Kvalserien qualification for Elitserien, after businessman Hugo Stenbeck bought the Redhawks in January 2011.
The Redhawks finished 7th in the league and qualified for the Playoff round, where they finished 2nd and failed to qualify for the 2012 Kvalserien for Elitserien.

## Summary

The Redhawks started the season with eight pre-season games against professional teams from Norway and Germany as well as Sweden. Malmö went 5–2–1 in those eight games (5 wins, 2 losses, 1 tie).
The regular season began pretty well. With 29 points and a top 3 spot in the first two months, everything seemed to be going as intended as the Redhawks fought for a direct spot to the 2012 Kvalserien. However, after only getting 18 points in November, as well as beginning December with three consecutive losses, Malmö jumped down to a spot below top 7, which would have been required to even guarantee a playoff spot. Malmö had enough of then head coach Leif Strömberg, who was fired from the club on 10 December as a result. Ulf Taavola, at that time assistant coach for the team, took over the head-coaching job and Patrik Sylvegård entered the team as new assistant coach.
Malmö continued to struggle for a playoff spot throughout January, despite getting 10 points that month, five more than the previous month. The team improved sharply in February, posting 16 points in seven games. As a result, Malmö returned to a playoff spot. In the two last games of February, Malmö had their chance to secure a spot in the playoffs with a win, but failed. As a result, the Redhawks were forced to win the last game of the season, which was against Almtuna. The game was a nail-biter for 59 minutes, but with just one minute left on the clock, Malmö captain Linus Klasen scored the only goal of the game to send the Redhawks to the Playoff round.
The Playoff round started well, but because Malmö only received one extra point due to the 7th seed in the regular season, the Redhawks were two points outside the spot for the 2012 Kvalserien going into the final game. While Malmö won their game 4–1, Rögle won their game 7–0 and took the Kvalserien spot due to better goal difference than Malmö, ending the Redhawks' 2011–12 season.

## Schedule and results

"@" indicates that the game was played on away ice.

### Pre-season

2011 pre-season game log: 5–2–1 (home: 1–2–0; road: 4–0–1) :
August 11 – September 11
#DateOpponentScoreDecisionRecord
1August 11Sparta Sarpsborg4-0Toivonen1–0–0
2August 12@ SønderjyskE3-2Toivonen2–0–0
3August 20@ Växjö Lakers2-2Toivonen2–0–1
4August 24@ Sparta Sarpsborg4-1Sjögren3–0–1
5August 26Hamburg Freezers1-3Toivonen3–1–1
6September 3@ Hannover Scorpions5-2Sjögren4–1–1
7September 8Växjö Lakers1-2Toivonen4–2–1
8September 11@ Hamburg Freezers5-3Sjögren5–2–1 :
Legend: Win  Overtime win  Loss  Tie |}

### Regular season

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 4 | VIK Västerås | 52 | 29 | 1 | 6 | 16 | 157 | 116 | +41 | 95 | Advance to pre-qualifiers |
| 5 | Rögle BK | 52 | 21 | 7 | 8 | 16 | 171 | 150 | +21 | 85 | Advance to pre-qualifiers |
| 6 | IK Oskarshamn | 52 | 23 | 4 | 5 | 20 | 146 | 145 | +1 | 82 | Advance to pre-qualifiers |
| 7 | Malmö Redhawks | 52 | 22 | 6 | 3 | 21 | 139 | 140 | −1 | 81 | Advance to pre-qualifiers |
| 8 | Mora IK | 52 | 22 | 5 | 4 | 21 | 168 | 144 | +24 | 80 | |
| 9 | Södertälje SK | 52 | 22 | 2 | 6 | 22 | 110 | 120 | −10 | 76 | |
| 10 | IF Troja/Ljungby | 52 | 19 | 4 | 4 | 25 | 134 | 154 | −20 | 69 | |
2011-12 Game Log: 22–21–9, 81 Points (home: 13–8–5; road: 9–13–4) :
September: 5-1-0, 15 Points (home: 2-1-0; road: 3-0-0)
GameSeptemberOpponentScoreDecisionRecord
117@ Mora4-3Toivonen1-0-0
219Bofors5-0Sjögren2-0-0
324Västerås2-6Toivonen2-1-0
426@ Rögle5-2Sjögren3-1-0
528Tingsryd4-1Sjögren4-1-0
630@ Sundsvall3-2Sjögren5-1-0 :
October: 4-3-1, 14 Points (home: 3-0-1; road: 1-3-0)
GameOctoberOpponentScoreDecisionRecord
75@ Leksand3-1Toivonen6-1-0
87@ Troja/Ljungby2-4Toivonen6-2-0
910Oskarshamn6-2Sjögren7-2-0
1014@ Örebro3-6Sjögren7-3-0
1119Södertälje3-2 SOToivonen7-3-1
1222Borås4-2Toivonen8-3-1
1326Almtuna3-0Toivonen9-3-1
1428@ Bofors2-3Sjögren9-4-1 :
November: 5-5-2, 18 Points (home: 3-2-1; road: 2-3-1)
GameNovemberOpponentScoreDecisionRecord
152Rögle2-4Toivonen9-5-1
164@ Tingsryd3-4Toivonen9-6-1
176Sundsvall3-4 SOSjögren9-6-2
188Leksand3-1Sjögren10-6-2
1910@ Västerås1-4Sjögren10-7-2
2014Troja/Ljungby3-2Sjögren11-7-2
2116@ Oskarshamn4-3 SOSjögren11-7-3
2218Örebro5-4Toivonen12-7-3
2321@ Södertälje1-4Toivonen12-8-3
2424@ Borås3-1Sjögren13-8-3
2526Mora2-5Sjögren13-9-3
2630@ Almtuna4-1Sjögren14-9-3 :
December: 1-6-1, 5 Points (home: 1-3-0; road: 0-3-1)
GameDecemberOpponentScoreDecisionRecord
272@ Bofors2-5Sjögren14-10-3
286Västerås0-2Sjögren14-11-3
298@ Rögle2-4Sjögren14-12-3
3010Tingsryd1-2Sjögren14-13-3
3114@ Sundsvall4-3 SOSjögren14-13-4
3219Leksand1-2Sjögren14-14-4
3327@ Troja/Ljungby1-3Sjögren14-15-4
3429Oskarshamn5-2Toivonen15-15-4 :
January: 2-3-3, 10 Points (home: 2-1-2; road: 0-2-1)
GameJanuaryOpponentScoreDecisionRecord
356@ Örebro1-2Toivonen15-16-4
368Södertälje2-3 SOToivonen15-16-5
3714Borås4-5Toivonen15-17-5
3816Almtuna3-2Sjögren16-17-5
3918@ Mora4-5 OTToivonen16-17-6
4025Bofors2-1Sjögren17-17-6
4128@ Västerås2-5Sjögren17-18-6
4230Rögle3-2 SOSjögren17-18-7 :
February: 4-3-2, 16 Points (home: 2-1-1; road: 2-2-1)
GameFebruaryOpponentScoreDecisionRecord
431@ Tingsryd3-0Sjögren18-18-7
443Sundsvall2-1Sjögren19-18-7
456@ Leksand0-6Toivonen19-19-7
4615Troja/Ljungby3-1Sjögren20-19-7
4717@ Oskarshamn3-2 SOSjögren20-19-8
4819Örebro2-1 OTSjögren20-19-9
4924@ Södertälje3-2Sjögren21-19-9
5027@ Borås1-4Sjögren21-20-9
5129Mora1-4Sjögren21-21-9 :
March: 1-0-0, 3 Points (Road: 1-0-0)
GameMarchOpponentScoreDecisionRecord
522@ Almtuna1-0Sjögren22-21-9 :
Legend: Win (3 points)  Overtime/Shootout win (2 points)  Loss (0 points)  Overtime/Shootout loss (1 point) |}

### Playoff round

In the Playoff round, the 4th seed starts at four points, the 5th seed at three points, the 6th seed at two points, and the 7th seed at one point. As Malmö were the 7th-seeded team, they started at one point. The top team after six rounds advances to the 2012 Kvalserien.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | OTW/SOW | OTL/SOL | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts |
| 1 | Rögle BK | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 14 | +8 | 3 | 13 |
| 2 | Malmö Redhawks | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 13 | +6 | 1 | 13 |
| 3 | IK Oskarshamn | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 17 | −6 | 2 | 12 |
| 4 | VIK Västerås | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 21 | −8 | 4 | 8 |
Playoff game log: 4–2–0 (home: 1-2-0; road: 3-0-0) :
March
GameMarchOpponentScoreDecisionRecord
14Västerås3-5Sjögren0–1–0
26@ Rögle3-1Sjögren1-1-0
37@ Oskarshamn4-2Sjögren2-1-0
49Oskarshamn0-1Sjögren2-2-0
511Rögle5-3Sjögren3-2-0
612@ Västerås4-1Sjögren4–2–0 :

### Statistics
#### Players

| Player | Team | GP | G | A | +/– | PIM | Pts |

#### Goaltenders

| Player | GP | TOI | SOG | GA | SO | GAA | SV% |
| Pontus Sjögren | 36 | 2092:02 | 1020 | 78 | 3 | 2.24 | 92.35% |
| Hannu Toivonen | 19 | 1054:00 | 550 | 58 | 1 | 3.30 | 89.45% |

## Final roster

| No. | Player | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace |
| 40 | Pontus Sjögren | G | L | 39 | 2011 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| 28 | Hannu Toivonen | G | L | 40 | 2011 | Kalvola, Finland |
| 3 | Robin Weihager | D | R | 36 | 2009 | Hässleholm, Sweden |
| 6 | Emil Carnestad | D | L | 32 | 2010 | |
| 23 | J. D. Forrest | D | L | 43 | 2011 | Auburn, New York |
| 34 | Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre | D | R | 48 | 2011 | Montreal, Quebec |
| 74 | Tim Heed | D | R | 34 | 2011 | Gothenburg, Sweden |
| 5 | Marcus Högström | D | L | 35 | 2012 | Sveg, Sweden |
| 22 | Daniel Josefsson | D | L | 43 | 2011 | Tranås, Sweden |
| 77 | Alexander Ribbenstrand | D | L | 38 | 2011 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| 14 | Stefan Lassen | D | L | 39 | 2011 | Herning, Denmark |
| 13 | Morten Green (A) | F | L | 44 | 2009 | Hørsholm, Denmark |
| 16 | Magnus Häggström | W | R | 38 | 2012 | Örnsköldsvik, Sweden |
| 86 | Linus Klasen (C) | W | L | 39 | 2011 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| 29 | Tomas Kollar | W | L | 42 | 2011 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| 4 | Roger Ohlsson | C | L | 33 | 2007 | Malmö, Sweden |
| 15 | Alexander Barta | C | R | 42 | 2011 | West Berlin |
| 53 | Lukas Eriksson | C | L | 36 | 2011 | Karlstad, Sweden |
| 71 | Pathrik Westerholm | C/LW | L | 33 | 2008 | Karlskrona, Sweden |
| 21 | Jesper Mattsson | C/RW | R | 49 | 2011 | Malmö, Sweden |
| 10 | Robin Alvarez (A) | LW | L | 37 | 2004 | Malmö, Sweden |
| 11 | Robert Carlsson | LW | L | 47 | 2011 | Södertälje, Sweden |
| 84 | Dragan Umicevic | RW | R | 40 | 2011 | Dubica, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 17 | Ponthus Westerholm | RW | R | 33 | 2008 | Karlskrona, Sweden |
| 7 | Ivan Čiernik | RW | L | 47 | 2011 | Levice, Slovakia |
| 81 | Miroslav Lažo | RW | R | 47 | 2011 | Bratislava, Slovakia |