Europe: Team Sweden

Europe: Team Sweden (posted 12.03.06)

by Jante Abrahamsson

Aside from the opening game of the tournament, where Sweden got out Cunti-ed by Switzerland, this Swedish crop showed they could play as well as anyone, beating both the United States and Finland. Interestingly enough though, the individual standouts of the team were not among the 2007 eligible group including highly-touted center Mikael Backlund who had a bleak showing.

Mikael Backlund (2007), C

Backlund have struggled with Vasteras during the fall and it rubbed off on his game in this tournament as well, where he looked stiff and had severe difficulties capitalizing on his scoring chances .. the captain of the Swedish team, Backlund has clearly bulked up compared to last season .. was however far from the fresh, energetic and tremendously quick player he was back then .. his legs weren't there and he looked sluggish and sometimes even flat-out slow .. mediocre first strides and not much of a top speed .. still good balance and he showed that he still has the soft hands as well .. skilled with the puck and a very good hockey sense, making him very reliable in his own end .. lacked scoring touch in this tournament and showed no poise in front of the net, making the goaltender's job quite an easy task .. .still a great talent compared to most in his draft class, but Backlund needs to find his legs again to be considered a true blue chip prospect. (3-0-0-0)

Jens Hellgren (2007), D

Hellgren and Simon Hjalmarsson sat out the first game against Switzerland, as the Swedish coach wanted to test other players instead. In the two games he played though, he was arguably the best and most well-rounded Swedish defenseman. Has a very projectable frame and moves well on the ice for a big man .. smooth skater with decent first strides and never gets himself into trouble due to skating issues .. handles the puck well and delivers solid outlet passes .. doesn't have top notch offensive creativity though and isn't the guy who gets the really good plays going nor does he join the rush frequently .. is however very solid in his own end, reads the game well and wins most of the battles along the boards without having to be very aggressive to get the job done .. possesses a slightly above average slapshot and could be useful as a utility player on the powerplay unit .. would have first round upside if he showed more initiative on the ice and took charge more. (3-0-1-1)

Mattias Tedenby (2008), LW

The smallish 2008 eligible winger was clearly the most creative and entertaining player of the tournament, as he often put on a stickhandling clinic against the older and more experienced opponents .. missed the final game against Finland due to a rib injury .. Tedenby brings being slippery and elusive to a form of art .. his skating is very smooth and his balance is excellent, yet his top speed isn't that impressive and he doesn't rely on speed alone to create offence .. his lateral movement is top notch, which combined with tremendous stick handling ability and a good playmaking eye, makes him very difficult to contain .. extremely creative with the puck and impossible to read for a defenseman, as he could turn on a dime and set up a team-mate or simply trying to finish off the play himself .. still has some problems with his defensive coverage, but he shows up on the back check and gives an honest effort .. surprisingly good strength for his size and age and handles himself quite well in traffic, although his intensity level could drop down on occasion. (2-1-2-3)

Carl Gustafsson (2008), RW

A heart and soul type of player who really enjoys playing the game of hockey and does not let himself become intimidated by anything or anybody .. the tournament's top scorer combines speed, grit and offensive skill .. a fearless player who is wiling to give anything in order to dig up a loose puck in the corner, battles hard every shift and never backs down .. has excellent lower-body strength already - able to cover the puck and take physical abuse from bigger players .. very quick skater with top notch first strides and impressive top speed .. a decent stickhandler with a fair number of dekes up his sleeve .. good passer but lacks the poise of a natural playmaker and makes most of his set up-plays based on forechecking and hard work .. has a tremendous willingness to compete and a great deal of energy .. knows how he has to play for making it big time as a small player. (3-0-4-4)

Simon Hjalmarsson (2007), C

Hjalmarsson has been a prolific scorer in the Swedish junior league throughout the fall and showed good instincts offensively here as well, although he failed to make the scoreboard mainly due to some unlucky bounces .. has a bit of a lanky frame and needs to bulk up in terms of upper body strength, tended to lose a few puck battles due to this .. is a smart playmaking pivot who has the ability to create additional time and space for himself to make plays happen .. skilled with the puck, slippery skater with deceptive speed, although he lacks the extra gear .. has an accurate wristshot with a really quick release, which he should take advantage of more often, as he has the very Swedish tendency of looking for a pass too often .. .good hockey sense and works hard defensively as well, reads the game well in own end too .. could sometimes appear to lack intensity and doesn't exactly throw himself into high traffic areas. still, his offensive talents are obvious. (3-0-0-0)

Victor Hedman (2009), D

The four year younger brother of Oscar Hedman is already a far taller player than his senior family member .. despite being the youngest player of the tournament, the 15-year old Hedman handled himself with honors .. an extremely big player and could end up as a new Zdeno Chara if he keeps growing for the next couple of years .. has an amazing amount of balance and agility for such a young player in a big frame .. his first strides could of course appear rather sluggish, but make no mistake, skating is not going to be an issue down the road for Hedman .. handles the puck very well, acts very mature and delivers good outlet passes .. possesses that natural poise and doesn't panic when the forecheck gets going .. has good speed when he gets going and could carry the puck end to end at this level already .. isn't as punishing or aggressive as he could be in his own end given his size, but still gets an enormous advantage thanks to his reach, which he uses well. (3-0-1-1)

Joakim Andersson (2007), C

Two-way centre who got Tedenby and Gustafsson on his wings for this tournaments, which his point totals benefited from .. is not really much in terms of excitement .. one of the worst skaters in the Swedish team, as he first strides were really slow and his acceleration and top speed flat out mediocre .. still, he showed good defensive awareness and an ability to anticipate things on the ice .. hinted some playmaking ability as well, but he seemed like the pace of the games in this tournament were a little too high for him .. strong in the face off circle and a solid combatant along the boards. (3-1-2-3)

Anders Gronlund (2007), D

The only local kid on the Swedish team and Gronlund was not quite up for the pressure, after a stint of good performances in the junior league .. seemed to lack confidence in his ability in the tournament and didn't play his own game, where he usually takes charge more and is a visible all-round presence for his team .. tried to play a simple defensive game which didn't suite his identity too well .. has a booming slapshot which only rarely came to display .. appeared to be thinking to much about what to do next instead of letting things come natural .. decent skater and fairly mobile, has a good passing game, but always went for the safe feeds here. (3-0-0-0)

Johan Erkgards (2008), LW

Made a few shifts with Farjestad in the SEL earlier during the fall, which put some undue pressure on him for this tournament .. Erkgards is not that big of a offensive talent, he works hard along his wing and tries to create offence, but his fundamentals leaves a bit to be desired .. an average skater, who lacks shiftiness and rarely looses an opponent due to his speed .. not a goal scorer either, as his poise in front of the net and shooting arsenal are merely average..what he has though, as an impressive work ethic .. he never stops skating and always wants his team to succeed .. also handles the puck fairly well and has enough of a hockey sense to be fairly effective when paired up with the right kind of centre. (3-0-0-0)