Otherwise, the year 2026 started well for Swedish ice hockey. The JVM gold on the men’s side sparked smiles and instilled confidence in the future.
After being eliminated from the Olympic Games in Milan in the quarter-finals, these feelings have cooled down. Not because it would be a shame to lose a quarterfinal to the USA in overtime, but because the mark left by the Swedish national team is so invisible that you can’t even see it in the snowy Italian mountains.
If there was loud discussion and criticism after the defeat in the group stage against Finland – which is healthy and signals a commitment as long as it obviously doesn’t cross the line – after Sweden’s elimination it was mostly a sigh of resignation.
This is threatening for a team that wants to be “Sweden’s most popular national team”.
It’s not fair the lack of sporting success of the Three Kronor men, which raises questions, but also the inability to “invite” the audience.
Union captain Sam Hallam has received a lot of crap for his handling of the media – and by extension the audience – which has been interpreted as arrogant.
The truth is: if it had been Swedish Olympic gold, it would have been seen as a “cocky winner”.
But the combination of a lack of success and Hallam’s performance has made it increasingly difficult for many to relate to Tre Kronor.
Of course, none of this should be blamed on Sam Hallam. The branding has been going on for a long time, which is why success at the Olympics was so important.
When this failed, the association had to carefully examine what had been done and, perhaps most of all, what could have been done differently.
But we jump back to the JVM gold in Epiphany for a brief moment. The gold team players (and league leaders too) were fantastic in the media. They were funny, authentic, present and welcoming.
The cynic might say it was due to “youthful ignorance.” But does it really have to automatically happen that adult players – and also their leaders – lose this openness? How do you ensure that more mature players also have the confidence to be present when communicating with a larger audience?
It’s certainly possible to “offer it” among Tre Kronor women’s players, so perhaps for the sake of unusualness in the hockey world, we should flip the perspective and say that the men have something to learn from the women here.
Under Sam Hallams As captain of the confederation there were two World Cup bronze medals. Now he has one more World Cup (Switzerland in May) to improve that statistic. At least it was initially said that after leaving Milan he had no plans to terminate the contract early. Which is totally fine in my opinion.
A World Cup tournament in an Olympic year often feels a bit rejected; from a Swedish perspective, 2006 was of course an exception. Therefore, given this situation, it seems a bit unnecessary to make drastic changes.
Aside from the gold medal at the 2006 World Cup, there is one thing from that tournament that stands out in my memory. A few months earlier, Michael Nylander had been kicked off the Olympic team that won gold in Turin. But when the then national team management called and asked if he wanted to fly from New York to Riga to take part in the World Cup, he immediately answered “yes”. A babysitter was called and Nylander boarded the plane.
Would today’s players who are close to the Olympic team be just as quick to say “yes” if asked about the World Cup in the spring?
Most of today Young players dream of two things: JVM and NHL. You can think what you want about that, but both the association and the national team management have to deal with it. It doesn’t help to be nostalgic about when Tre Kronor was the big target of every young player.
At the same time, the Olympics have created an opportunity to create greater engagement with Tre Kronor. It’s something to keep in mind when communicating, and a first step to the Olympics is a World Cup – or two.
Because at the World Cup and the Olympic Games, all players who disappear into the NHL at a young age can become profiles, even for those who are not hockey freaks, and new profiles are needed.
More and more often There are voices that Sweden should move away from the system with a confederation captain and instead install a general manager who, in North American style, selects the teams and then appoints coaches for championships/tournaments.
I strongly doubt such a solution. It is already clear that Rikard Grönborg will replace Sam Hallam and Grönborg should continue to play a traditional role as captain of the national team. Not least because someone should be the leading figure at work to restore a more positive feeling among the Tre Kronor men. This someone should be the captain of the national team.
What may change, however, is the way the staff is built around him. Instead of hiring assistant confederation captains – full-time or part-time – you can develop a system where you hire coaches to stand in a locker room each week for tournaments/champions.
It will take a lot of work to get the club team to agree to such a solution, but it might be worth a try. Maybe this turns out to be a stupid idea that won’t work at all, but doing nothing is not an option.
And before that We are completely closing the door to the Milan Olympics.
My experienced, now retired colleague Lars Grimlund was a master at asking “simple questions” that said a lot.
During a World Cup, he asked the then Swedish national team captain Lars Lagerbäck, who was also not known as a journalist lover: “Isn’t it fun to be at the World Cup, Lasse?”
A good reminder that the signals you send as a leader are important.
Read more:
Hallam still has a chance – ready for the Ice Hockey World Cup
Veterans missed their last chance: “Sitting in a rocking chair at the next Olympic Games”
The Olympics are over for Three Crowns – the result of the USA
