‘Get the small things right and we can be winners,’ says Swedish playmaker Marcus Eriksson

From Norrköping, Eriksson has spent more than two decades representing teams across Sweden, including IK Vita Hästen, IF Troja-Ljungby, IK Guts, Södertälje SK, and Skellefteå AIK, recording more than 700 combined appearances.

Known for his vision, composure, and consistency, Eriksson has recorded hundreds of career points, establishing himself as an ever-present offensive playmaker.

Detailing how he came to move to Belfast from Sweden, Erikkson said: “When I finished up the season with Södertälje SK we had an exit meeting, Södertälje is very close to my hometown so I had been travelling back and forth to games and practice every day by car, it would have been about an hour and a half drive one way.

“So it is was very close to home which was very important to me and for my family as well. It had worked out perfectly being able to stay at home, I didn't have to move the family away from schools and my wife also has work in our hometown.

“When we had the exit meeting I was told that they didn’t intend to renew my contract and I had to start looking at options for playing this season.

“I looked at the various options that I might have in Sweden, but because there are not a lot of teams close to home and that I could drive too, my options were limited.

“I started to look beyond Sweden and into options on the other leagues around Europe too.

“Adam Keefe got in contact with me and we had a good chat about playing here, he told me a lot of about the team and the town.

“I also spoke to an old friend Rickard Palmberg who had played here a couple of seasons ago in the 2019-20 season, he spoke highly of his time here in Belfast.”

He added: “I had a further chat with Adam I was offered a contract and I was very pleased to sign for the Giants this season, and now I am getting a chance to play in Europe, outside of the Swedish leagues, for the first time in my career, and that’s something that I am very excited about.”

Looking back at the CHL campaign, Erikkson says that the Giants can take both positives and negatives.

He said: “I feel that we started off pretty good in the CHL, we played two of the biggest Finnish teams in the competition, so getting to compete against them was quite the experience for the team.

“In the first game we let a goal in with less than a minute left in the game and then they went on to win the game in overtime.

“We came so very close to taking that win, which while it was disappointing to lose was an achievement.

“Had we secured those three points on that night I think the CHL campaign might have been very different for us.

“It is so important in CHL competition to win your home games. If you want to play at that high level you need play the full 60 minutes and you can’t allow yourself to take the foot of the gas.

“Relax for one second in a CHL campaign and the other side will take advantage and come back against you.”

Eriksson believes since the win against Brynäs IF the Giants’ form has improved.

He said: “I think the win against Brynäs has been the start of something. Up until then we had been struggling in CHL and also against the Scottish teams.

“Since the win against Brynäs we have started to build a positive momentum.

“We know that we have a long season ahead of us, so its so important we get that momentum as early as we can.”

He added: “We are definitely better than we were say three weeks ago.

“When we are at our best we are a good hockey team, and that’s where we want to be now that the league is underway, it helps add to the team’s confidence.

“We are much more solidly defensive than we were at the start of the season. We are not giving up as much grade a chances for opponents.

“We have a good offensive team too which creates a lot of chances.

“It’s important that we do the hard work and compete, if we can correct any errors I think we can do well in the league.

“We won the league last season, so every team is going to want to beat us this year. We don’t want to give up an easy goals which might leave us chasing games.”

Erikkson believes that early season adversity can be a positive thing, he explained: “Adversity is always something that can pull a team together if it comes early in a season.

“If you are winning a lot of games and don’t get to experience any adversity, then it can be difficult to handle. I do feel that it is important for a team to struggle at times, nothing should ever be too easy.”

A busy couple of weeks get underway for the Giants on Saturday when they play the Glasgow Clan at the SSE Arena. The following night they travel to play the Guildford Flames.

Next week sees the Giants faceoff against the Cardiff Devils at the SSE on Wednesday before they travel to Nottingham to play the Panthers on Halloween night.

While on Sunday, November 1, its the small matter of the Sheffield Steelers in Sheffield in the two sides’ first encounter of the season.