Strong start for HV71 - But will they continue

It's been a quite great start initially by HV71 so far in this years edition of SHL (Swedish Hockey League). The team have won five out of eight games and is currently holding third position in the league. It's not surprising though, since HV71 looks more confident and most of the players from last year are still in the team. 

At the SHL startup congress, the most coaches in the league said that HV71 is going to be a bottom team this season. Maybe that's one of the reasons the team has performed so well initially. That they can play relaxed and be underdogs. Cause no one is counting on them. 

The 2016/17 HV71 are a lot more aggressive, have a lot more speed and more depth. Besides this, some of the young players have taken some big steps and started to grow in to the jersey. There's also been some interesting signings in Dylan Reese, Christoffer Persson and Erik Christensen. Both the defencemen Reese and Persson have come to shown, that they´re going to be valuable to HV71s' defensive play. And in the offensive.

One of the big questions is Erik Christensen. He did his comeback in the blue jersey against Djurgården, but coach Johan Lindblom played him wisely. Erik himself told media afterwards that it's going to take some time for him to get his speed and awareness back, but he's hopeful. Can he last the whole season? Will his back hold?

Even though the team have started in a great way, will it continue for the remaining 44 rounds? What happens when the other teams are starting to get their gameplay together or is it just so, that HV71 is that strong?

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