Johansson: The florball player

When we asked Falun-Star Emil Johannson during the interview, what he likes doing besides floorbal, there is a long pause. Then he sighs and says. “Well, honestly said, during the season, there is not much else.” When discussing if he is a defender or forward, he says “just call me a player.”

His name is Emil Johansson (born 1992) and floorball is what he likes best. The floorball experts have known him already quite a while, the general recognition he achieved last year, when elected the SSL´s defender of the season. From his looks he is an “antistar” – not tall, no big muscles, no visible tattoos… But once he gets the ball and passes it with millimeter precision or makes a smart move to make himself  free for a shot, his “star” genes start to show.

Floorball is Emil´s life, that becomes obvious pretty quickly. As every other Swedish player, he has been flirting with some football and ice hockey as a kid. “I have learnt a lot from that, especially as a hockey player. When I was younger I was even smaller and tinier. So I had to learn to be smart when playing against the “bigger” guys.” But floorball won his heart. At the age of 16, he applied for a place at RIG Umeå, the national floorball gymnasium. Sounds pretty obvious, as Emil actually comes from Umeå, but he surprised the whole family.

“I had absolutely no idea, that he wanted to go there, until he announced it one day, ” said his mother Pirkko Johansson in an Innebandymagazinet´s interview. He got accepted and started studying and practicing together with other big talents of Swedish floorball. He met for example Alexander Ruud (today playing for Storvreta) who described the years in Umeå as “full of floorball, which became the only thing one would focus on during the three years up there”. That suited Emil pretty well.

After 3 years at RIG and in its team, in 2010/2011 he went playing for Umeå City – first in SSL and than last season (2012/2013) in Allsvenskan. But he wanted to try something else. There would have been IBK Dalen in his hometown, but that was out of question: “I have played for Dalens worst competitor. Now, it has gotten easier but in my time, it would not have worked well,“ smiles Emil.

Many SSL-teams from all over the country were trying to get the skilled player, who managed to score 53 points in just 15 games of the 2012/13 season. In the end Johansson said yes to Falun in January 2013. “I wanted to find a team, where I could play the offensive style which I like. And I was pretty sure, that Falun would suit me. I also wanted to try something new and not to be just home all the time.” Rumor has it that the friendship with Alexander Ruud, at that time still playing for Falun, was one of the key points during the decision making process.

By the end of the first season, Johansson could lift the trophy of the SSL-champion above his head. The success of the club was fantastic to be a part of, but Johansson was pretty critical to himself when reflecting his first half a year in Falun: ”I know I can be better, I can take more responsibility and I promise to the audience that they will see it soon.”

It seems like a certain audience was satisfied with his performance already by then, as just 4 days after the SM-finalen he got for the first time invited to the A-national team. Jan-Erik Vaara commenting his choice: “He is a player with an unbelievable capacity and potential. He has a great game understanding and makes the right decisions in the right moments. He is meant to be a forward, but he can play actually wherever, which says a lot about Emil.”

In December 2014, the name of Emil Johansson was also announced for the final roster of the WFC in Gothenburg. With yet another SM title under his belt, Johansson was ready for a revenge after the “unsuccessful” U19 WFC in 2011, where his team lost the final against the young Finns 3:4. Emil was elected the best player of that game. “That’s a loss, one would rather avoid in his career. I would have wanted to win the U19 title. But the Fines had a really great team there.”

The expectations for the home World Championships are big. Will the Finns take back the title or will Sweden manage to keep it once again for itself? The dream scenario comes true and the big final in full Scandinavium is hosting Finland and Sweden. The game is unbelievably tight, Sweden is two goals behind after the first period. Two two after 40 minutes. In the end, with just one goal more scored, the blue-yellow euphoria is starting.

“To win that title in Gothenburg was truly amazing“, Emil remembers. His personal story from the WFC is a bit sour though. In the five games he played, he didn’t collect a single point – as the only one in the whole Swedish team. No goal, no assist. “That was pretty tough I have to admit. In the fist game, one thinks ok, it will come in the next one, then even in the next one and then, not to totally lose self confidence, one just have to say – ok, so I have to help the team in another way. Otherwise, one would just get crazy.”

But fortunately for Emil, it seems like the confidence from the team coaches is still there. And more than the points, the performance was what mattered. So two years later, as a stable part of the national team, Johansson is ready to take part in the next WFC adventure in Riga.” Last time I was there as a forward, which was tough after a full season as defender in Falun. This time, I should be in defense. That’s what suits me the best.”

Let’s see if this time the points will just pour in the same way as in the SSL so far, where he is for the moment number two with 23 points (10+13) from eight games.

Emil about:

Being forward and defender:
I prefer being a defender. In Falun, we have anyway developped a game where we play all five players together and I come a lot forward to support the offense. To play forward, I need a couple of practices to work on the timing and some different play-situations. Sometimes it was a challenge in the national team to swap fast. 

His first season in Falun:
I came to the team from Allsvenskan in the middle of the season. Its always difficult to come to a new team and fit in among those who had played together for some time already. One has to learn a new playing system and so on. Not to talk about that it was the SSL. So it was a tough start and I knew that I didn’t show all my potential. The season after was already much better…

The setback of Falun last year (lost semi-final):
We have lost a couple of players before the season – Jonas Svahn and Billy Nilsson were gone and those were quite important personalities in our roster. We got new players instead, but anyway, we felt the loss. And in play-off, some injuries came – Rasmus (Enström) couldn’t play, Johannes (Larsson)  neither. And the rest of the team didn’t manage to get out all we are able to without them. We won a couple of games but it didn’t go very smoothly. When we later evaluated the matches, we had to admit that Storvreta was actually better in all 7 games, despite winning just 4.

Winning  SM-Guld:
The effort of a group of people that stood and fought together for a whole season and which in the end can stand together on the podium and celebrate, that’s the biggest satisfaction there is. It’s even better than winning a WFC.

Working 100%:
The last three years I worked with kids with challenges in a school in Falun. It was quite tough, mainly mentally. But I liked it very much. On the other hand, to combine a 100% job with a full focus on floorball, that was not always easy. Now I have a new job, working for the club and just 50%. The rest of the time, I can invest into practicing. I am very grateful for that.

Falun´s image:
Our team is a sum of great individualities and I would say that we have created some kind of a strong self confidence mentality. We want to show to our opponent that we are strong and never worried. That gives us an advantage, I believe.

The pink jerseys:
I came to Falun when they already had them. And I have to admit that seeing them on TV in these was not very tempting. But now I think they are pretty cool ☺ And when there are 2 000 fans in pink jerseys at a game, it looks fantastic. Not to talk about the PR and media coverage we gained as a club.