It’s been a sweet, Swede post-season for Predators
NASHVILLE— Filip Forsberg is having quite the spring for the Nashville Predators, setting franchise records with eight goals and 15 points. He has also tied a team mark with at least onne point in seven straight games.
Pontus Aberg scored the gamewinning goal to put Nashville up 3-2 in the Western Conference final; defenceman Mattias Ekholm has been smothering top lines all post-season; Viktor Arvidsson has 10 points and a plus-13 rating is tied for second this post-season, behind Forsberg (plus-17).
The Predators have six Swedish players on their playoff roster, and there success has general manager David Poile thinking about his scouting approach.
“I must admit we haven’t gone out of the way necessarily to get them to this point, but I’m thinking maybe we should,” Poile said. “They’ve certainly been key parts of our team.”
“We haven’t gone out of the way to get (Swedish players), but I’m thinking maybe we should.” DAVID POILE NASHVILLE GENERAL MANAGER
The Predators have lots of company in mining Sweden for talent. Defenceman Erik Karlsson was one of four Swedes playing for Ottawa in the Eastern Conference final, while former Nashville forward Patric Hornqvist was one of three for the Pittsburgh Penguins. A check of NHL rosters shows 79 skaters and 10 goalies from Sweden played during the regular season.
The hockey power has come a long way from when Borje Salming and Inge Hammarstrom arrived in Toronto. Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle was a teammate of the two in 1976, when both suffered their fair share of abuse.
“That was a little bit more barbaric or archaic times of hockey,” Carlyle said. “But that’s how much the game has grown, and it has become a world-class game. And these players are world-class players and now you’re looking at their contribution and the numbers that are in the NHL, it’s all a tribute back to those two players.
Because of the time zone difference, Anaheim’s Richard Rakell said, it was pretty tough to watch NHL games when he was growing up. But he had a favourite.
“I was growing up in the same hometown as Mats Sundin, and he was pretty big in that small town I grew up in,” Rakell said.
“So he was one of the guys I was looking up to and watching highlight videos.”
Pittsburgh forward Carl Hagelin, while noting Sweden beat Canada 2-1 for gold at the world hockey championship, said he keeps track of his countrymen during the regular season, but the friendships are on hold in the playoffs. “You just play to win games,” he said.
Making the jump to playing in North America still has its challenges. Pittsburgh drafted forward Oskar Sundqvist in 2012 when he was 19, and he stayed in Sweden for two full seasons before making his NHL debut last season. He spent much of this season at the Penguins’ AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
“It’s not like you’ve got a one-hour car drive and get home with mom and dad,” Sundqvist said. “I have a lot to thank Pittsburgh for letting me stay in Sweden one more year and prepare to get ready for everything that is over here.”
A Swedish teammate means being able to relax and talk with each other in the same language. It’s also a little easier to get tips on what to do to ensure a long stay in the NHL.
“Everybody wants to play here, and everybody wants to make the best out of it if you ever get the chance,” Rakell said.