Active Swedish hockey player that has bigger presence than Ibrahimovic in Sweden?

[Ziostilon]

Was reading from some posters on here that Fútbol is still bigger than ice hockey in Sweden. And that's why there isn't enough depth on the national squad.

So is there a current Swedish hockey player that has a bigger presence than Ibra in Sweden?
I would presume at least the likes of Sundin and Foppa would trump Ibra on the popularity scale.

Would there be a higher demand in tickets for a PSG exhibition match versus a regular season NHL franchise game?

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[nwaZ*]

No one is close to Zlatan in terms of spotlight in the media. Especially among the younger generations he's uberpopular.

 

[Volt]

The answer is no one. Zlatan is king!

 

[gretskidoo]

Zlatan taking a poop makes the front page.

 

[Pilky01]

How does he compare to the height of Forsberg's dominance?

 

[Franck]

How does he compare to the height of Forsberg's dominance?

He's in an entirely different universe. Think Michael Jordan in the 90s, that's how big Zlatan is in Sweden.

 

[BigBush*]

Zlatan taking a poop makes the front page.

Haha so does Erik Karlsson, just in Ottawa not Sweden

 

[Dosing]

If we produced a zlatan in icehockey i would die, neither forsberg or sundin comes close.

 

[Patchy]

How does he compare to the height of Forsberg's dominance?

The whole Zlatan-thing has blown up enormously over the last few years. Maybe my memory fails but I'd say it was pretty even up until a couple of years ago. Up until he went to Barcelona maybe? Right now there's no comparison. The media keeps forcing thousands of articles on him every day. He's enormous and on a level that a hockey player can't reach in a country that isn't Finland or Canada.

There is no active player that comes close to Forsberg's popularity. But Henrik Lundqvist is probably the one that comes closest.

Funny thing. I thought the Sedin's popularity would rise after bringing home the World Championship in 2013 but then there was a poll on the favoriets athlethes and they didn't even make the top 20. Alexander Steen was even more popular (probably because he played in Modo for 20 games).

 

[BigBush*]

I don't really follow football. Where does Zlatan rank amongst the top players right now?

 

[Ilyeu]

Does he play cricket?

 

[Phil McKraken]

This is probably more iconic by now than any Swedish hockey moment.

Sadly hockey is and will remain a niche (countryside) sport compared to football in Sweden, barring in Olympic tournaments.

 

[Franck]

I don't really follow football. Where does Zlatan rank amongst the top players right now?

Top 5 in the world.

The Guardian had him at number 3 in their annual Top 100 list.

 

[Sher-Wood]

Zlatan who? Well in the media he is the golden boy because the media in Stockholm is all about soccer and Zlatan is good at it and a immigrant from a southern culture. All falls into place and very political correct. Personally I HATE soccer and all about it. It's a terrible game, the players dives all the time and all journalists and all the other fools love it. I cheered my lungs out when Sweden missed the world cup for the sole reason that the media would've gone totally crazy with this terrible sport.

 

[Tostito Rangers]

Was reading from some posters on here that Fútbol is still bigger than ice hockey in Sweden. And that's why there isn't enough depth on the national squad.

So is there a current Swedish hockey player that has a bigger presence than Ibra in Sweden?
I would presume at least the likes of Sundin and Foppa would trump Ibra on the popularity scale.

Would there be a higher demand in tickets for a PSG exhibition match versus a regular season NHL franchise game?

Considering Zlatan just had a hattrick, and it is demoted to the fringe of the sporting section in Swedish newspapers, I would say that Backstrom has a much bigger presence in Sweden...

 

[Franck]

Zlatan who? Well in the media he is the golden boy because the media i Stockholm is all about soccer and Zlatan is good at it and and a immigrant from southern culture. All falls into place and very political correct. Personally I HATE soccer and all about it. It's a terrible game, the players dives all the time and all journalists and all the other fools love it. I cheered my lungs out when Sweden missed the world cup for the sole reason that the media would've gone totally crazy with this terrible sport.

You are a bitter little man, aren't you?

 

[eboeng]

This is probably more iconic by now than any Swedish hockey moment.

Nah, that goal is from a scrimmage. He has a few goals that are more iconic. 1-1 goal against italy in Euro 2004 comes to mind.

Forsbergs penalty shot against Canada in 1994 is a more iconic moment then any of Zlatans goals for Sweden. All comes down to what type of game it is.

 

[Ilyeu]

You are a bitter little man, aren't you?

You should read the typical comments on goal (dot) (com)

 

[Dosing]

Considering Zlatan just had a hattrick, and it is demoted to the fringe of the sporting section in Swedish newspapers, I would say that Backstrom has a much bigger presence in Sweden...

 

[Toffu]

No, there is no hockey player who is more popular than Zlatan.

You can love it or hate it, but football is number one sport in Sweden if you count generally all regions of country.

 

[Sher-Wood]

You are a bitter little man, aren't you?

Not at all. A lot of people in Sweden hate soccer. For a good reason.

 

[chauron]

Zlatan is arguably the best football forward in the whole world and extremely flamboyant person. Absolutely nothing in swedish Hockey comes close.

I think you'd have to combine Selänne from Finland, Forsberg and Karlsson so you'd be close.

 

[Pentothal]

No hockey player could reach his level really. Forsberg comes closest and it's not all that close.

 

[Toffu]

I think you'd have to combine Selänne from Finland, Forsberg and Karlsson so you'd be close.

And still not even close. We had this threads in the past. Yeah, a lot of people who read this thread would probably want that hockey is number one sport, but thats not reality.


Zlatan's character is not the epitome of the average Swede, so this story about his success is even more popular.

 

[Hennessy]

Zlatan who? Well in the media he is the golden boy because the media in Stockholm is all about soccer and Zlatan is good at it and a immigrant from a southern culture. All falls into place and very political correct. Personally I HATE soccer and all about it. It's a terrible game, the players dives all the time and all journalists and all the other fools love it. I cheered my lungs out when Sweden missed the world cup for the sole reason that the media would've gone totally crazy with this terrible sport.

Zlatan was born in Sweden. He's not an immigrant. As if that has anything to do with it, anyway.

As for the OP's question: no. There has never been a hockey player anywhere close to Zlatan's popularity in Sweden. There hasn't been much of anything close to Zlatan's popularity in Sweden. He's ABBA and IKEA big.