Betsson and “Fimpen” focus on the grassroots of hockey in new initiative

The award-winning web series “Fimpens Resa” gets a new direction when Betsson and Fimpen steer the ship away from the highest division of hockey and instead focus on the lower divisions. In addition to the web series, Fimpen and Betsson will pay tribute to people who go over and beyond for hockey. With the initiative “Real Hockey Heroes”, they will scan the entire country for local hockey heroes in all of Sweden’s 21 counties.

The former SHL player Christian “Fimpen” Eklund got a new career as a YouTube-star when Betsson launched the series “Fimpens Resa” almost three years ago. It was quickly embraced by the hockey-loving Swedes and now counts over 7 million views. Season 4 of this series premiered last Monday and for the very first time, the series does not focus on the SHL. Instead, Fimpen asked his fans for help via social media about which places he should visit, and after a difficult shortlisting of the hundreds of suggestions, ten destinations were selected.

“It has of course been a lot of fun to go around the country for three years and hang out with SHL players, but now I really want to visit the grassroots of hockey, where there is no professional masseur or three-course meals on the menu. All the non-profit associations and hockey enthusiasts around the country are the heart and soul of hockey, and I am sure that this experience will be at least as good as my visits to the SHL clubs,” says Christian “Fimpen” Eklund.

As part of the program, Fimpen, together with Betsson who is behind the series, will pay tribute to some of the people who do something extra for hockey. First out is “Fimpen’s Real Hockey Heroes” where Fimpen himself selected 10 heroes who are praised in the series. Thereafter, 21 local hockey heroes, one from each of the 21 counties, will be awarded by a jury through a nomination process during spring.

“As a former SHL sponsor, we still love and invest in hockey, and now we hope to be able to support and entertain in a different way. We still offer the best odds on SHL and still have our highly rated recurrent studio programs about the league, but hockey is so much more than the top division,” says Robin Olenius, PR manager for Betsson Sweden.