Nagano 1998
Expectations were huge ahead of the Nagano Olympics, where NHL players would take part for the first time, but for Sweden it was a strange Olympics.
The day before the quarterfinal against Finland, news came that Swedish defender Ulf Samuelsson had decided to take American citizenship three years earlier, after living in the United States for many years. When the Swedish Ice Hockey Association consulted the Swedish Foreign Ministry in the middle of the Olympics – after journalists began looking into the story – they were told that Samuelsson had lost his Swedish citizenship as a result
Samuelsson had to leave the Olympics immediately.
The Czech Republic also wanted points deprived of Sweden in the group stage in which Samuelsson was involved, but received no response from the International Hockey Federation.
When the quarterfinals were decided, Finland was the strongest player and the Olympics were over for Sweden.
The Czech Republic won the Olympic gold, defeating Russia in the final.
Salt Lake City, 2002
After the debacle in the first tournament with NHL players, hopes were high that the Swedish players would take revenge in Salt Lake City.
Expectations rose even more when Tre Kronor, led by Hardy Nilsson and Mats Waltin, played fantastic hockey in the group stage game against Canada.
But the easy quarter-final against Belarus turned into a nightmare. Two minutes before the end of regular time, Vladimir Kopat scored the 4-3 goal that marked the end of the Olympic Games for Sweden.
Canada won the Olympic gold.
Turin, 2006
After two failures, Sweden finally got it right and won the final against Finland. This was Sweden’s second ever Olympic gold in ice hockey. The first was recorded in 1994, but there were no NHL players on the team at the time.
Vancouver, 2010
Ultimately, Olympic ice hockey should be decided in the “homeland of ice hockey” Canada. There was huge interest in Vancouver before the ice hockey tournament and it was a dream finale for both the spectators and the NHL.
Canada met the USA in an exciting final. After the three regular seasons the score was 2-2. In extra time, Canadian superstar Sidney Crosby decided and a rare kind of celebration broke out in Vancouver.
For Sweden it was already over in the quarterfinals after Tre Kronor lost to Slovakia.
Sochi, 2014
It was a chaotic start to the Olympics for Sweden as Henrik Zetterberg, who was supposed to lead the team, was only able to play the opening game. After that, a herniated disc put an end to playing.
It would be even more chaotic.
Sweden won the semi-final against Finland, and the reigning Olympic champion Canada was waiting in the final. However, the big star Nicklas Bäckström was missing from the presentation of the teams before the start. The report said that he had submitted a positive doping test. He had taken an allergy medication that contained pseudoephedrine – a substance that the international anti-doping agency Wada only allows up to a certain limit; More than 150 micrograms per milliliter of urine is considered performance-enhancing. Nicklas Bäckström had 194.
Since this all happened just an hour or so before relegation in the final, it was not only a decimated but also shaken Swedish team that tried to attack Canada. Nothing went on. Canada won easily.
Bäckström received the lowest penalty an athlete can receive for a doping offense: a reprimand from the Court of Arbitration for Sport Cas.
The Swedish silver medal was the last Swedish Olympic medal in ice hockey.
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