– It was a great team and we knew we had a chance to win gold.
– After the disappointment in 2002 (Tre Kronor lost to Belarus), we also knew that it was important for Swedish hockey that we could do better this time.
They succeeded, and the ending was so well staged that it will forever hold a special place in the hockey hearts of all Swedes.
For Henrik However, Lundqvist started the Olympic Games with a snowstorm and flight chaos at home in New York.
– They say that no planes should take off. That would be a shame. “Then I’ll miss a whole day,” Henrik Lundqvist said when DN spoke to him shortly after his arrival at the airport that February day in 2006.
When we meet 20 years later to remember the time when Swedish ice hockey was the best in the world, we’ll start at the airport. Even there, Henrik Lundqvist was able to gain an advantage over some competitors.
– After a lot of back and forth, I finally got a few planes to take off so I could get started as planned. But I remember that the Czech players, who were also on the way to Turin, were on the starting line, says Henrik Lundqvist and smiles.
Among them were several of Lundqvist’s teammates on the New York Rangers. One of them was the Czech superstar Jaromir Jagr.
Twelve days later, Sweden and the Czech Republic met in the semi-finals. Sweden won the goal-laden game 7-3.
As Nicklas When Lidström, Peter Forsberg and Mats Sundin arrived in Turin there was no doubt that they had gone to Italy to win Olympic gold.
All three felt from the start how much this Olympic tournament meant to them.
Do you remember what sparked this passion and commitment?
– There were several reasons. One of them was that we failed to win a medal or gold in either Nagano or Salt Lake City. For me and the other older players, this was the last chance, says Mats Sundin.
– The fact that the best is there makes it special. It will be a real championship. Tre Kronor had never won a gold medal like this before and hasn’t done so since. So it’s something special.
At the Turin Olympics, when did you feel like you had a gold team because it was a little shaky in the group stage?
– Yes, it was – but I probably did that immediately when we met. It was a good combination with many leaders: Daniel Alfredsson, Nicklas Lidström, Peter Forsberg, Henrik Zetterberg, the Sedin brothers and Kenny Jönsson, who played in the Hockey Allsvenskan. Henrik Lundqvist was, if not number one, then at least a top three goaltender in the NHL. “We had a very complete team if you look at all the parts,” says Mats Sundin.
Thereafter In the somewhat inconsistent group phase, in which Tre Kronor lost 5-0 against Russia and there were also question marks about the status of the injured Peter Forsberg, the Swedish team found more and more right with each game.
They made it to the final, where they faced arch-rivals Finland.
When the third period began, the score was 2-2 and both teams had one player each in the penalty box.
Finland’s team captain Saku Koivus and Tre Kronor’s team captain Mats Sundin took care of the first draw. Then whatever can happen happened, but this time it happened at the wrong time. Koivu’s stick broke during the draw and he had to go to the stand to get a new one.
Mats Sundin quickly passes the puck to Peter Forsberg before he gets it back. Team captain Sundin then released the puck backwards to Nicklas Lidström. Lidström, who came quickly, managed a hard shot, giving Sweden a 3-2 lead.
At the end of The final put a lot of pressure on Finland, but Henrik Lundqvist saved several really good goals that prevented Finland from equalizing.
Sweden’s second ever Olympic gold medal in ice hockey and the first with NHL players on the team was secured. What was special about it was that the three legends Sundin, Forsberg and Lidström were all involved in the golden goal.
– The fact that the decision was so perfect is truly incredible. “This goal is like poetry and will forever remain a classic moment in Swedish ice hockey,” says Henrik Lundqvist.
When the final was finished and the gold was celebrated in Turin, the actual agreement with the NHL was that their players would fly back to North America as quickly as possible to join their club teams.
However, that wasn’t the Swedish players’ plan.
“Even though we had a game on Wednesday, if I remember correctly, we were still at home in Stockholm celebrating on Tuesday evening,” says Mats Sundin.
– If we hadn’t been allowed to do that, something would have been missing after the Olympic gold. It was very special to celebrate with the Swedish fans like we did at Medborgarplatsen and to be with the team for a few hours after such a performance.
– I don’t think our general managers in the NHL were so happy, but we had to accept it.
How involved were you in organizing the celebration?
– There were probably several of us who convinced the management the evening after the Olympic gold that we had to fly home and spend 24 hours in Stockholm, says Mats Sundin.
In connection with the celebration, there were persistent rumors that team captain Sundin even paid for one of the charter planes with which the Swedish players flew back to the USA/Canada on Wednesday.
But it really wasn’t like that. This is what Sundin says 20 years later:
– It’s a joke. I’m flattered by that, but I didn’t do that. As a result, the union was dissolved.
Wait now a new Olympic tournament in Italy, and for the first time in twelve years the NHL players are there.
Henrik Lundqvist and Mats Sundin will be on site in Milan as expert commentators on SVT/TV4 and HBO Max respectively.
Both Lundqvist and Sundin have received many questions from us journalists about the events in Turin in recent months. Many of us dream of Swedish ice hockey reaching its peak. Since the gold medal in Turin, Tre Kronor has only won one Olympic medal, silver in 2014.
“It is clear that it will always be special for those of us who were there,” says Henrik Lundqvist.
– But now it’s high time to put what happened 20 years ago behind you and move on. “After Milan, I hope we can talk about new things,” he continues with a smile.
In other words: Do you think Sweden can compete in Milan and fight for gold?
– Yes, they absolutely can. I wouldn’t be part of the best team, but the best team on paper doesn’t always win, says Henrik Lundqvist.
The road to gold 2006
The group game
Sweden didn’t get the game right at the start of the Olympic tournament, but what caused the biggest stir was when Tre Kronor national team captain Bengt-Åke Gustafsson thought out loud in an interview before the final group stage game against Slovakia about how much better it would be to face Switzerland in the quarter-finals than Canada or Russia. Something that sparked debate about what Gustafsson meant was that Sweden should play Slovakia to have an easier opponent.
When the game was played against Slovakia, neither team was particularly good, but the team that was the least bad was Slovakia, who won 3-0.
The quarterfinals
Switzerland had played well up until the quarter-finals, but against Sweden they lacked the energy to get the ball rolling. Sweden won relatively easily 5-2 after Mats Sundin scored two goals in the middle period, meaning Sweden moved ahead in the goal tally.
The semi-finals
The audience saw a total of ten goals in the semi-final between Tre Kronor and the Czech Republic. Sweden had the game firmly in control as they took a 5-1 lead. The Czechs made an attempt to come back and reduced the score to 5:2 and 5:3, but then it failed. Sweden ultimately won 7-3.
The finale
For the first time ever, the two ice hockey rivals Sweden and Finland met in an Olympic final. Finland reached the final by winning the semi-final against Russia.
The final was an even story in terms of play and goals, but when it was all over, Sweden had won 3-2.
Read more:
NHL Players Olympic Story: The Swede, who was an American, had to go home
