December 22, 1965 Swedish National Team vs Junior Canadiens

[Canadiens1958]

Montreal Gazette report about the December 22, 1965 game between the Swedish National Team and the leading Canadiens junior prospects at the Forum:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=o8QtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XZ8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=6694,5077620

Sweden won 3-2

Click to read more...

 

[Theokritos]

Thanks for digging up this report. It should be noted that it was rather Sweden's B Team the heavily reinforced* Junior Canadiens were facing. Tumba, Sterner and Öberg weren't there and the defence was second rate with Svedberg, Stoltz, Blomé and Nordlander missing.

*10 reinforcements, among them 3 senior players from the IHL.

EDIT: Add Nils 'Nisse' Nilsson to the notable absentees.

 

[steve141]

Thanks for digging up this report. It should be noted that it was rather Sweden's B Team the heavily reinforced* Junior Canadiens were facing. Tumba, Sterner and Öberg weren't there and the defence was second rate with Svedberg, Stoltz, Blomé and Nordlander missing.

*10 reinforcements, among them 3 senior players from the IHL.

The comments by the Swedish coaching staff imply that this was a pretty young Swedish team aswell (e.g. "We hope that three to five of these players will make our national team").

 

[Theokritos]

The comments by the Swedish coaching staff imply that this was a pretty young Swedish team aswell (e.g. "We hope that three to five of these players will make our national team").

They had young players on the team, but the "three to five" comment is an understatement, at least in hindsight. As far as I see 12 out of the 19 Swedes went on to play in the 1966 World Championship.

BTW I wonder why the Gazette reports that only 3 of the Swedes (Wickberg, Lundström, Silvertsson) had played at the 1965 World Championship when in reality Lars-Göran Nilsson, Nils Johansson and Leif Holmqvist had played there too.