BRISTOL, UK – Swedish forward Henrik Sahlin says he has no regrets about signing up for a tough season with Bristol Pitbulls in the English National League, and that the team has improved significantly since the start of the year.
Bristol will finish the season in tenth position within an eleven team ENL South, well short of play-off qualification but a long way from relegation. For a side that started the season in a wave of publicity this could be seen as a disappointment, however after a shaky start losing eleven of their opening twelve games, Bristol will simply be relieved they have not returned to ENL 2 South.
Henrik Sahlin (flyfifer.co.uk)
“Initially we did hope to make the play-offs” admitted Sahlin, who spent last season with Bergen Flyers in the Norwegian second division.
“We started the season so badly, the other teams pulled too far ahead of us and it was too much to comeback from”
“The whole team were relieved to stay in ENL 1, and to be fair we have been improving week on week. We have a lot of young players and it has taken a while for everyone to gel as a team”
“The younger guys have improved so much from being involved this year, that the team is much stronger going forward in years to come”
The Pitbulls poor form at the start of the season saw them lose one half of the Swedish duo that signed in the summer, as defenseman Adam Klasa departed back to Norway. Sahlin himself suffered with poor form but has turned things round in the latter stages of the campaign.
“Overall I have had fun in Bristol this season” explained the Swede, who ended the season with 18 goals and 23 assists in 37 games.
“I struggled a lot in the beginning trying to get used to the style of hockey and I played terrible before Christmas. I didn’t score in the first ten or eleven games and that was tough for me, but I stuck with it and turned things around with the help from my team mates”
Tough battle (flyfifer.co.uk)
“Bristol have a great set of guys here and we have had lots of fun on and off the ice. The City has been a nice surprise and is a good place to be”
Indeed Bristol is noted as having a lively nightlife, good local scenery and plenty to do. The people of Bristol are also known for their distinctive accent however the Swede has had no such issues misunderstanding the locals.
“The guys would say my English accent causes more of a problem than I have with theirs” admitted Sahlin.
“Some of the guys have made a little effort to learn Swedish with Alan Armour learning a few words and Liam Williams has also given it a go”
Last weekend, Sahlin and the Pitbulls enjoyed a three point haul that saw them follow up a 4-4 tie against Swindon with the biggest result of their season, namely an 8-7 road win over last season’s league champions Invicta Dynamos.
“It was a great feeling to win against Invicta, especially in their home rink” admitted Sahlin, who grabbed two goals in the game.
“It was a tight game, but we fought hard and deserved to win. We have been struggling a little bit against the top teams, and this was our first time we had gotten anything from our fixtures with any of them”
Good times in Bristol
“It may sound easy to say in hindsight but we have felt like we were getting closer to upsetting one of the big boys for the last few weeks, so it’s fantastic that we managed to do it before the season ended”
Bristol face Chelmsford Chieftains this coming weekend at Frogmore Street in the last fixture of the season. What odds on them finishing the regular season on a high against the Essex boys? Whatever happens, Sahlin is due to head back to Norway for the summer before assessing his options for 2011/12.
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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