Young goalies from Sweden

Mattias Modig
Sweden has never really been known as a nation that produces stellar goalies. That may be about to change. Yes, Tommy Salo made an impression when he was playing in the NHL, and he has probably the best resume of any Swedish goalie ever, but there are some goalies who might challenge him and in the meantime change the perception of Sweden as a hockey nation - for the better.

Firstly there is the crop of Swedes currently playing in the NHL, led by Henrik Lundqvist. Henke of course is the star second year goalie on the Rangers and has proven himself helping the Rangers last year into the playoffs and winning some impressive international tournaments last year. But there are other good goalies as well, like Johan Hedberg in Atlanta, Johan 'Honken' Holmqvist for the Lightning, and Mikael Tellqvist in Phoenix. While the other goalies have not had a breakthrough like Henrik it certainly is possible, especially for Homlqvist who has been so rock solid in his years in Sweden. He has a winning record with the Lightning and he is capable of standing on his head as they say.

There are some good young goalies coming up in the Swedish league as well. One to mention is Joel Gistedt. Gistedt is only 19 and is the first goalie for Frölunda in front of Tommy Salo. He will be in net for Sweden in the Under 20 World Cup that will be played this month in Sweden. But another that deserves mention is Mattias Modig. He has played brilliantly for Luleå helping them into a playoff spot. His goals against average is the best in the league (and this is a league with Karol Kristan, Tommy Salo, and Roman Chechmanek). He will not play in the World Cup this year, but he will be there eventually as well as the NHL.

Euro Hockey Tour continues . . .

But nobody cares. If you want to see how the second installment of this years European hockey tour ends up you can check out their official web site. Oh wait, there is no official web site, so you are basically outta luck. Try wikipedia instead.

Article on Odyua

Here is a good article on Johnny Oduya who is now playing for the Devils.

Outstanding players of 2006

The first half of the year is almost done, the season almost at the half way point and it is time to take a look at some of the stars so far this fall. This list is of players that have made a difference to their teams as well as produced impressive individual stats.

The most important player in this years Elitserien (The Swedish Hockey League) is clearly Niklas Bäckström. He leads the league in points and has made his team, Brynäs, a team to contend with. Last year they were looking like they might have to qualify to play in the league again. But Bäckström has anchored the team and they are surely a playoff team. Bäckström has the rare ability to read the play that Peter Forsberg has, you can see that in the high number of goals and assists Bäckström has, opposed to the number two points leader Pavel Brendl who has double as many goals as assists, yet his team is next to last.

Niklas Sundström is my pick for the second most important player this fall. He still has a lot of hockey in him and I am surprised he is not playing in the NHL. He got off to a slow start this year but he has been leading the way for his Modo club and they are now in second place this is no small part due to Niklas.

Tomi Kallio from Frölunda is third in point scoring list and has been on a tear. He uses his speed so effectively and has amazing strength and balance. He holds onto the puck so well, mostly by playing his body against the opponent, he sees the ice well as the high assist tally indicates. He has been hot on a team that has been cold most of the year, without him Frölunda would not stand a chance.

Other guys that deserve mention are, Timrå players Jonathan Hedström and Johan Backlund who have been excellent. Hedström brings NHL experience and strength to a young team and Backlund has been solid in goal. Malmö also has Carl Söderberg, drafted by St. Louis, and a young, strong prospect. This kid will play in the NHL, he has all the talent needed and leads a team that is struggling. Roman Cechmanek has been excellent in goal for Linköping, and Tony Mårtensson has also been brilliant for Linköping despite the fact that the team has somewhat under-performed this year.

Parity

After firing their coach and hiring a coach known as an "old timer", Frölunda has gone on a tear. In fact the entire league is looking a little more rational. Timrå no longer has such a big lead, Linköping and HV 71 are near the top as is Färjestad. Ergo, the main conclusion to draw this year is - parity.

The league has amazing parity, only about 25 points separate the top from the bottom, and nearly any team can beat any other. In Frölundas five game winning streak they beat the first place team, the second place team as well as a bunch spread throughout the table. While the teams that were expected to win are now finally winning regularly, a couple of teams have been surprisingly good. Like Timrå who has had lots of good goaltending, and Skellefteå which has been a scrappy point machine.

The thing that has made the most difference in nearly every case is the goaltending. There is good goaltending in Sweden, both from Swedes and other Europeans. That will get its own blog post since it is such a big factor in the success of so many clubs both here and in the NHL.