Prospect Profiles - Tim Erixon

Kent Wilson
June 04 2010 05:04PM

The Flames more recent first round pick spent the entire season in the Swedish Elite League, playing for Skelleftea HC. It was Erixon's second season playing pro hockey for the club, despite only recent turing 19 in February. He was a depth player for the team as a 17/18 year old, but managed to play a more prominent role in his sophomore season (45 games, 7 goals, 13 points).

Playing pro as a teenager can be a mixed blessing for young players. On the one hand, playing against grown men means competition which is far more analogous to the NHL than, say, junior. On the other hand, they are often the youngest players on the team and, as a result, can be limited in their exposure/role/minutes. The latter issue befell Mikael Backlund when he played for Vasteras IK in the second tier (but still professional) SWE-1 league. His role and minutes were limited in his second season and a rift developed between him and his coach as a result. Fortunately for Backlund, he was drafted by the Kelowna Rockets previously and was able to skip out on Vasteras when it seemed clear that his development was stalling.

Luckily that doesn't seem to be the case with Erixon. Following is some first hand observations from Adam Savonen, a Swedish sports writer who has been kind enough to share his thoughts on the player before.

1.) How good was Skellefteå this year?

Skelleftea progressed for the forth year in a row, since the team came back to the swedish eliteleauge. Skelleftea finished top four and that is the best result in over 25 years. In the playoffs Skellefteå beat Farjestad, but choked in the semifinal against the winner, HV 71. But Skellefteå forced HV 71 to play at their peak.

2.) What role did Erixon play on the team?

Erixon has progressed to be a great two-way player. At first, Erixon mainly had defensive tasks, but the coach started to play Erixon on the powerplay more during the season. Erixon showed that he is strong both in the offensive and the defensive game. Erixon made the goal of the year in SEL this season, when he took the puck from own zone and took it all over the field and scored. (shown above)

3.) How much ice time did he usually get in a game

Erixon played around 20 minutes a game.

4.) Did he play on the power play and penalty kill?

Erixon played on both special teams on a regular basis.

5.) What will his role be on the team next year?

Erixon will have a big role next year and will play both powerplay and boxplay.

6.) Did you see any improvement in his game this season?

Erixon has good level in every game and didn't make too many mistakes, even when he did have a bad day. Erixons shot is one of the details he has improved best.

Adam also noted that Erixon has committed to returning to Skelleftea, so don't expect him in Abbotsford or to compete for a spot with the Flames this year. Given the fact that he's playing a prominent role in a very good league already, that's not a bad thing. In fact, should Erixon take another step forward in the Elitersen this coming year, he may be able to challenge for a spot on the big club directly in 2011.

Kent is the Nations Overlord. For questions, complaints, criticisms, etc contact Kent @ kent.wilson@gmail. Follow him on Twitter here.

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Reply #1 Jonesin June 04 2010, 05:10PM

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I just went from 6 to midnight

Reply #2 SmellOfVictory June 04 2010, 05:11PM

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Flames 2020: team Sweden. :D

Reply #3 RossCreekNation June 04 2010, 08:19PM

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In fact, should Erixon take another step forward in the Elitersen this coming year, he may be able to challenge for a spot on the big club directly in 2011.

SQUEEE!

Reply #4 Kent Wilson June 04 2010, 08:47PM

+1 0 props

RossCreekNation wrote:

In fact, should Erixon take another step forward in the Elitersen this coming year, he may be able to challenge for a spot on the big club directly in 2011.
SQUEEE!

Assuming, of course, Sutter doesn't have 10 or so NHL veterans on the roster in front of him.

Reply #5 RossCreekNation June 04 2010, 09:41PM

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Jan. 26/10 - I target Ville Leino for the Flames in comment #1. Some interesting tidbits in there too, in hindsight.

http://flamesnation.ca/2010/1/26/flames-v-blues-postgame

Also brought it up in comments here...

http://www.matchsticksandgasoline.com/2010/1/25/1270192/flames-blues-post-game-the-great?ref=CBS&source=rss_teams_Calgary_Flames

Ahh, Ville... if only...
~Then again... we did get Steve Staios~

Reply #6 44stampede June 04 2010, 10:40PM

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This guy is one I can be excited about. Playing (seemingly) very good competition and doing well in all situations. All of this at 19. Very cool!

Reply #7 44stampede June 04 2010, 10:41PM

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This guy is one I can be excited about. Playing (seemingly) very good competition and doing well in all situations. All of this at 19. Very cool!

Reply #8 walkinvisible June 05 2010, 02:10AM

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hey, kent:

is there any way to distinguish between posts that are published on flames AND oilersnation, and posts that are flamesnation only ? because if there isn't, i steadfastly refuse to read flamesnation anymore. reading what the douches up north write/respond to makes me want to jam sharp objects into my eyeballs, and this is hardly the first time i've had this complaint.

is it fair to say that anything you and steinberg write is FN only, and everything else i should totally ignore, in order to keep my sanity ? or do your posts sometimes hit both markets ?

sincerely, wi

Reply #9 RossCreekNation June 05 2010, 08:42AM

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@walkinvisible

Pretty sure we've been over this once before, but...

Typically, the only 'scheduled' article to appear on all 3 sites is (Team1260's) Jason Gregor's weekly "Around the League" piece. These articles are usually quite informative and always include an 'Ice Girls of the Week' feature. It's not meant to be chauvinistic (heck, the Sun newspapers run daily Sunshine Girls). I recommend checking the article out on a regular basis. If it's the comments afterward that make you upset, I kindly suggest not reading them. Or, take it in stride and don't let it ruin your day.

Aside from that weekly feature, most other articles appear only on each individual team sites. Occasionally, Wanye (it is afterall his site), Jonathan Willis (also from The Score's 'Hockey or Die' blog) & Jean Lefebvre (FlamesNation's own) contribute something to all 3.

*p.s. - I'm one of those 'douche bags up north'. Now who's offending whom?*

Reply #10 Kent Wilson June 05 2010, 09:54AM

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walkinvisible wrote:

hey, kent:
is there any way to distinguish between posts that are published on flames AND oilersnation, and posts that are flamesnation only ? because if there isn't, i steadfastly refuse to read flamesnation anymore. reading what the douches up north write/respond to makes me want to jam sharp objects into my eyeballs, and this is hardly the first time i've had this complaint.
is it fair to say that anything you and steinberg write is FN only, and everything else i should totally ignore, in order to keep my sanity ? or do your posts sometimes hit both markets ?
sincerely, wi

Anything written by Gregor or Brownlee is ON. Anything by me or McLovin' is FN.

And let's face it - you'd never leave for good ;)

Reply #11 Balthazar June 05 2010, 02:25PM

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Good notes on Erixon. Will be interesting to see him progress...

Interesting that the Swedish Elite league relies on the same old 70's classics we have to listen to in the NHL for goal celebrations... ah, BTO.

it would have been great to hear some weird swedish power rock instead... assuming there is some weird swedish power rock out there

Reply #12 Wanye June 06 2010, 03:50AM

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walkinvisible wrote:

hey, kent:
is there any way to distinguish between posts that are published on flames AND oilersnation, and posts that are flamesnation only ? because if there isn't, i steadfastly refuse to read flamesnation anymore. reading what the douches up north write/respond to makes me want to jam sharp objects into my eyeballs, and this is hardly the first time i've had this complaint.
is it fair to say that anything you and steinberg write is FN only, and everything else i should totally ignore, in order to keep my sanity ? or do your posts sometimes hit both markets ?
sincerely, wi

My word.

"Steadfastly" is a rather harsh commitment.

Around the league is exactly that - comments on non-Western Conference specific material. Other than that, this site is all for you.

Reply #13 Wanyes bastard child June 06 2010, 01:24PM

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Wanye wrote:

My word.
"Steadfastly" is a rather harsh commitment.
Around the league is exactly that - comments on non-Western Conference specific material. Other than that, this site is all for you.

I can I have a site all for my very own self too papa?

Reply #14 jeremywilhelm June 07 2010, 07:14AM

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I see WI wasn't posting like her mom was reading over her shoulder.

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