Swedish Junior Hockey Revitalized

During the ten day long World Junior Championships in Leksand and Mora, Swedish Junior Hockey experienced a process of revitalization. Granted, the team once again fell short of winning a medal; but won the heart of many Swedes while trying.

After not covering the tournament for more than a decade, Swedish television broadcasted every Sweden game live as well as the final. The broadcasting channel, SVT 24, with a reach of about half the Swedish population, recorded new rating records for each Swedish game up until the knock out in the semifinal against Russia.

Despite the Swedish Elite League moving along with full steam parallel to the World Juniors, the latter quickly turned out be one of the most talked about topics among Swedish sports fans. Suddenly issues like Nicklas Backstrom's lack of goal scoring and Niklas Hjalmarsson's punishing hits became mainstream subjects of conversation. One player that particularly won the hearts of many Swedish fans during the tournament was Lulea's skilled winger Linus Omark, who by the SVT 24 viewers got voted best Swede for three out of seven games.

"I'm not that surprised really. I mean, I think I've had some good games back in the SEL as well this season and it felt like I was in good shape coming into the tournament", Omark said about his success during the World Juniors.

The smallish and very imaginative Omark takes pride in keeping up his stickhandling skills. When other players hit the gym after a practice session, Omark likes to stay on the ice and work on new moves in his deking arsenal.

"You always take bits and pieces from other players of course, but I like to try come up with my own stuff as well", Omark smiled. Homemade stuff that made players like Jack Johnson and Marc Staal look like pylons at times, when Omark got his stickhandling clinic going.

Due to size, and previously, skating and strength issues, Omark has remained undrafted despite being a top scorer in the Swedish junior leagues for years and now making an impact in the SEL.

"Playing in the NHL is still a dream for me of course and I don't think size is much of an issue anymore. Not since they opened up the game over there thanks to tighter officiating and other rule changes".

"And you know, a guy like Martin St. Louis is even shorter than me", laughs the always very relaxed Omark.

Sweden might have missed another medal this year, but few players in the tournament had as much fun with the whole experience as Linus Omark.

Pettersson his own critic

Another smallish Swedish winger, Fredrik Pettersson, of the WHL's Calgary Hitmen did not have as many reasons to smile during the tournament as Linus Omark did. Being a returning player, he really wanted a medal and also wanted more of himself than he managed to deliver.

"I think we could have made it all the way this year, so it's definitely disappointing", Pettersson said after the bronze medal game against USA.

"Although, I think this team was better than the one we had last year and this tournament was step in the right direction for Swedish junior hockey", he adds.

When it came down to his own personal performance, just one goal and an assist in six games, was certainly less than he had bargained for.

"I think I worked hard and brought some energy to the team, but I'm not happy with my point totals. I should have put up more points on the board and helped the team that way as well", said Pettersson, who like all really talented players, is his own hardest critic.

Coach seeing improvement

The Swedish coach Torgny Bendelin was obviously disappointed with the loss of yet another medal, but his sour face was most noticeable after the semifinal loss against Russia. After the bronze medal defeat against USA, Bendelin was more composed when facing the Swedish media.

"I think we're seeing a great improvement in Swedish junior hockey. Four years ago we had to play relegation round hockey. Now we were inches from a medal", Bendelin explained.

"All of this is due to harder work by everyone involved, from the Swedish Hockey Association down to junior coaches around the country. It's all about working hard and demand more of the players in terms of training and attitude. We are starting to see the results of this now", he added.

Whether or not the Swedish improvement continues next year in the Czech Republic remains to be seen – but don't expect many returnees from this team. Only underachieving centre Patrik Berglund and backup goalie Jhonas Enroth are eligible for next year's tournament.