The Frolunda Prospect Factory

Over the past several years, Vastra Frolunda’s junior system has developed some of the finest Swedish hockey talent, which is no coincidence.

Throughout much of the 1980’s and early 90’s, Frolunda struggled to establish themselves in the Swedish Elite League, and rounded out their team with expensive European veterans. This strategy eventually panned out in 1996 as hired guns such as the Finnish duo of Christian Ruuttu and Petteri Nummelin helped guide the club to the championship finals for the first time in 29 years.

Financial setbacks due to tax evasion sentences in the latter part of the 90’s forced Frolunda, however, to alter their approach on how to build a successful franchise. The organization immediately started to emulate Modo’s flourishing high-school hockey system, which had produced the likes of Peter Forsberg, Markus Naslund and the Sedin twins.

Due to its geographical location set in Gothenburg, the second largest city in Sweden and the geographical center for the western part of the country, Frolunda had no problems recruiting the region’s best 16-year old talent to their hockey school. The investment began to pay dividends almost immediately.

In 2000, two of the premier graduates from the Frolunda high school, Magnus Kahnberg and Jari Tolsa, started to make waves in the SEL.

Kahnberg contributed an acceptable eight goals and six assists in his first full SEL campaign, which prompted NHL-bound teammate Kristian Huselius to comment in an interview that the fans of Frolunda would not miss his services with Kahnberg soon ready to take over as the top scorer and main attraction.

And did he ever. This season, Kahnberg broke Huselius’ team record for goals in a season notching his 33rd marker, making him the SEL leader in both goals and points when the regular season ended.

THREE-TIME JUNIOR CHAMPIONS

Led by the Lundqvist twins (Henrik and Joel), Jens Karlsson and a young center with a famous last name, Alexander Steen, Frolunda took home the Swedish Junior Championship in 2001, an accomplishment that was equaled in each of the following two campaigns.

In 2003, Frolunda also won their first Swedish Championship on the senior level since 1967, with basically the same core of standouts who had brought the organization a junior title two years before, spiced up with veteran talent such as Niklas Andersson and Tomi Kallio.

Currently deadlocked at two games apiece with HV 71 in a second-round playoff matchup, Frolunda are looking to win back-to-back titles at the senior level as well, an accomplishment that will no doubt prompt the club’s first generation of high-school products to consider the NHL.

Kahnberg, Tolsa, Karlsson, the Lundqvists and Steen, despite being a couple of years younger, have the ability to step right into the NHL next season.

But would a mass NHL exodus leave Frolunda dried out of talent? The answer is: not likely.

KING LOUI AND THE DANES

The supremely talented 85-born winger Loui Eriksson, nicknamed "King Loui" in reference to the French 18th-century monarch, has enjoyed an impressive rookie SEL campaign this season. The Dallas Stars have to be elated with their 2003 draft choice, who, at his best, displays Steen’s vision on the ice combined with Kahnberg’s scoring touch.

And there’s plenty of talent on the way as well. Fredrik Johansson and Kalle Olsson, two childhood friends from the village of Munkedal (about 200 kilometers north of Gothenburg along the Swedish west coast), have both registered their first SEL points this season and show promise for a bright future.

For the 2004 NHL Draft, gifted playmaker Linus Persson and solid defenseman Richard Démen-Willaume will keep Frolunda in the spotlight, as both have a good chance of getting selected in the first three rounds.

Lately, Frolunda has started to look beyond the Swedish borders for talent, this season unearthing 87-born Danish player Morten Madsen and Russian born Kirill Starkov, each eligible for next year’s draft. Both Madsen and Starkov have dazzled the Swedish junior league with their maturity and stickhandling abilities.

Their future, as well as Frolunda’s, looks bright, as Sweden’s number one prospect factory continues to churn out high-end prospects.