Back with the team that didn’t want him, Ersson is a changed goaltender
The date was October 26th, 2017.
Brynäs were playing Färjestad at home with starting goaltender David Rautio on the injury list. After just one period the teams second goalie, Felix Sandström, left the game due to an injury. Coach Tommy Sjödin turned to 18-year-old Samuel Ersson and told him to get ready to play.
At the time, Ersson played in the U20-series. Suddenly, out of nowhere, it was time to perform in front of a big audience in the top Swedish Men’s League; the SHL.
The SHL debut quickly turned into a nightmare for the youngster, who turned 18 just a week before the game. Färjestad scored 20 seconds into his debut. A couple of minutes later they scored again. The first two shots on Ersson, in his first SHL-game, went by him. After the game, Brynäs general manager Stefan Bengtzén brought in unsigned goalie Linus Fernström to play in the next one.
Samuel Ersson?
Well, he didn’t play in the SHL again that season. In fact, Brynäs didn’t even want him anymore. Come next season, he wasn’t a Brynäs player anymore.
“Of course I wanted to play more for Brynäs. But at the same time, I understood them. They were in a bad position in the SHL standings and you have to think about the pressure that Brynäs is under in Gävle. It’s a lot of pressure from the fans, so I understand why they acted the way they did”, Ersson told hockeysverige.se earlier this season.
Samuel Ersson, who got drafted by Philadelphia Flyers in the fifth round last summer, didn’t really get an explanation as to why Brynäs signed Linus Fernström instead of just giving him another chance.
But deep inside, he knew.
“They didn’t really say anything. And that’s something I think they could’ve handled better. Their communication could have been better at times. But I figured it out, between the lines, why they didn’t play me.”
Samuel Ersson signed with newly promoted Västerås in the Swedish second tier and most of us thought we wouldn’t see him in SHL again for a long time.
How wrong we were.
From the first to the last game this past season, Samuel was one of the top players in the entire league. He became Swedens number one goalie at the World Junior Championships, and quickly turned into the main reason behind Västerås sensational season . Most experts had them pegged to finish at the bottom of HockeyAllsvenskan. Instead, they came in 3rd place after AIK and Oskarshamn.
Samuel Ersson got selected as the top junior player in the entire league.
Samuel Ersson during his time with Västerås. Photo: Maxim Thoré, Bildbyrån.
”Guldgallret”, as the award is called, has previously been awarded to players like Nashville superstar Filip Forsberg, Vegas 40-goalscorer William Karlsson and Jonathan Dahlén. Samuel Ersson likely won it by a landslide. The Falun native played 36 games in the league, had a goal against average at 1,95 and a save percentage at .933. Only Oskarshamns Adam Åhman had better numbers, but he only played 22 games.
Suddenly, every club wanted Samuel Ersson, but he made his choice pretty early. He wanted to go back to Brynäs – the same club that didn’t want him a couple of months earlier.
“It feels like coming home. I’ve played here for three years and my dream during those years was to play in the SHL with Brynäs. So when I got the chance to come back…what can I say? Brynäs is Brynäs”, he said when the signing became official from the club.
Looking back, maybe the move to Västerås was the best thing that could happen to Ersson.
Had he stayed he would have been stuck as the second- or third string goalie in Brynäs, he wouldn’t have played in the World Juniors, he wouldn’t have won ”Guldgallret” and he likely wouldn’t be one of Brynäs two goaltenders going into next season.
Also, he definitely wouldn’t have been a part of Rikard Grönborgs ”Tre Kronor”-roster.
Because if you thought the sensational season was over when Samuel Erssons and Västerås’ dream of a promotion to the SHL ended, you thought wrong.
The 19-year-old goaltender got a chance to represent Sweden’s national team in a few games during their build-up towards the World Championship, coupled with former NHL goalie Jonas Enroth.
“Just crazy. Of course nothing I expected before the season. It’s been awesome to be with Tre Kronor these last couple of weeks”, he told hockeysverige.se in an interview last week.
A year ago, Brynäs didn’t want him. Now he plays for the Swedish national team and in the fall, he’ll play for Brynäs again.
It’s fair to say that the season for this Flyers prospect has been nothing short of spectacular.