Coach Roger Rönnberg hoisted both trophies he competed for last season. Along with the Le Mat trophy as Swedish Champions for the second time, he also got to lift the Champions Hockey League trophy as a champion of Europe, his third time claiming that hardware.
Mr. Rönnberg has a coaching philosophy where personal development (on and off the ice) comes first, but that also puts player democracy very high. It has been a successful system, and has meant that Frölunda is a good place for NHL teams to find future NHL players. Quite a few have come from his ice onto an NHL roster, players such as Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Janmark, and of course Artturi Lehkonen, who grew steadily under the coach’s tutelage.
We speak about what drives him as a coach, his view of analytics, and how to change his own understanding of the analytical side of hockey. He also speaks about the goal that Frölunda has set for itself: “to be the closest team to the NHL in the world.” While the team hasn’t reached the goal yet, they have gotten much closer to the goal than where they were seven years ago.
This season Lucas Raymond will go through the wringer that is the Frölunda Academy. It is interesting to hear the coaching philosophy that will influence one of the top prospects for the 2020 NHL Draft.
