What are some other nations teams looking like? Who’s going to be strong this year?
One of the things I love so much about this tournament is the uncertainty of it all. Sometimes you have teams that look like uber talented powerhouses on paper but fall flat and then sometimes you have teams that aren’t expected to compete have a strong showing.
With how things come together so quickly team chemistry plays such a big part.
It's always difficult to predict how a team will shake out in the end. I'm not a huge fan of projected lines for Team Sweden, but I really do quite like our defense and goaltending. The forwards, as it often is, is a weakpoint however, although it is very hard to say just how much of an impact guys like Raymond and Holtz could have. This is a guess on our team from one of the more knowledgeable Swedish posters on this site:
Raymond – Henriksson – Holmström
Olausson – Eklund – Holtz
Heineman – Niederbach – Söderblom
Nybeck - Sundsvik - Wikström
Costmar
Björnfot – Söderström
Broberg - Grans
Johansson - Wallinder
Andrae/Edvinsson
Wallstedt
Alnefelt
Clang
As mentioned, that defense is pretty nuts. Björnfot, Söderström, Broberg and Johansson should be rather dominant. Our goalies are very solid as well. Our forwards are pretty unproven internationally. That top line should be pretty good and that second line has a lot of ability with a very smart playmaker centering two deadly goalscorers (if that indeed is how it shakes out). The third and fourth lines would be more of a grinding/checking line and an energy line it seems. Sweden should be good as usual but wouldn't call us a favorite, although I have no real idea of what other teams may look like.
