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Unlike some countries, many of Team Sweden's top players didn't turn out for this year's World Championships. Here, Jaromir Jagr of the Czech Republic makes a move on Team Sweden goalie Jonas Gustavsson.
Translation: Russia, Czech Republic, Germany, and Sweden.
Sweden will face the Czechs for a bid to the gold medal round this Saturday at 2:00 p.m., and Russia faces the Germans (!) afterwards at 6:00 p.m.
This tournament has been interesting to say the least. Germany won a bid to the semifinals for the first time since the current IIHF has been in existence spreading mass excitement throughout the land. The Russians’ success comes as no surprise, and likewise in some ways for the Czechs. The Swedes are playing without any of the country’s top stars and have still made it to the semis. The team itself is composed of players mainly from the Swedish Elite League, Kontinental Hockey League, junior teams, and a few National Hockey League stragglers.
Nicklas Backstrom was available to play, but due to a shoulder injury sustained in Game 3 of the series against the Habs, he opted for physical therapy and sleep instead. Many other players claimed “injury” as their excuse to opt out of playing for their national team. Not referring to Nicklas Backstrom, Henrik Lundqvist, Daniel Alfredsson, Nicklas Kronwall, and Henrik Zetterberg because those guys are actually injured.
Only those that have come from NHL are: Mikael Backlund (rookie), Victor Hedman (rookie), Erik Karlsson (rookie), Jonas Gustavsson (rookie), Jonathan Ericsson, and Carl Gunnarsson (rookie). The rest either opted out entirely or are saying they are “injured.” Niclas Bergfors of the Atlanta Thrashers did come initially, but left because he dislikes Bengt Gustafsson and his coaching … ooooh, drama! The drama won’t last long though as Gustafsson’s contract to coach the national team ends after this year, and to many, his leaving is seen as a good thing. Many have speculated that is why plenty of the “healthy” or “injured” Swedes said “no” to playing for the National team.
The only two “big name” players (this is of course in my humble opinion) are junior stand-outs, Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson (Edmonton Oilers AND Lokomotiv Yaroslaval prospect — yeah, figure that one out) and Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Phoenix Coyotes Prospect).
The Russians being within reach of a medal is no shock to anyone who has taken a good look at the rosters of all the other national teams. The Russians easily boast the best team in the tournament this year with the likes of Evgeni Malkin, Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexander Semin, Maxim Afinogenov, and Alex Ovechkin leading the way offensively. With that much firepower, there should be no reason for the Russians to not medal … but wait, didn’t they do just that in the Vancouver Olympics? Hmm… In all seriousness, hopefully the Russians can redeem themselves a little bit by taking gold or silver — because we don’t want to know what Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin will do if they don’t!
Photo: Czech Republic vs. Sweden by Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images via daylife.com.