Why does Sweden fail so much?

[TLeafsFan]

Yeah, I miss Sundin, too.

 

[Talisman]

Yeah, I miss Sundin, too.

i miss both sundin and Foppa!!. i think that sweden team miss great world class centers like back in the day you had sundin7Forsberg ans Nylander!!. for instance i don`t see that bäckström is a high caliber center like those legends but good center his own right and good center in capitals!!. William nylander could be next

 

[Confucius]

Yea the difference between now and then really is more our defense than tactics. There are loads of games where we took the lead and just tried to coast to the finish line. This time it worked thanks to defense, but the playeres were far from well utilized.
Team Sweden needs a brilliant goal scorer who can push the pace to really excell

yep you don't have a a Lidstrom anymore...

 

[Hisch13r]

Grönborg choosed to many grinders.

Team should have looked like this.

Sedin - Sedin - Eriksson
Forsberg - Bäckström - Johansson
Nyquist - Rask - Zibanejad
Hagelin - Söderberg - Silfverberg

And Klingberg for D.

And Markstrom instead of Lundqvist.

C'mon Lundqvist was the obvious choice

 

[Big Phil]

This is not tangible or anything, but I find that Swedish teams don't have a great mentality. They kind of play the same way regardless of what is happening. Not the killer instinct to put teams away, and not a lot of push back when trailing. Canada and Russia do a much better job in this regard. Just an observation.

Sort of what I've always felt too. Just a very bland style of game. When has Sweden ever played a high octane game? Even in 1984 when they made the final against Canada they lost in two rather convincing games (although they made a comeback in Game 2 almost). Their coach stated he wanted to roll 4 lines and he did. Which is fine, but maybe play your best players a little more in such a short tournament.

That being said, in the last 20 years other than Canada they are right in the mix as the team with the next best results. Russia hasn't won in 35 years. USA in 20. Finland never. Czech in 18. Sweden in 10.

 

[skolgoar]

Swedish players are never as good on the national team as in the NHL (these days). Not sure if it is the system or lack of passion for the national team.

Finns are the exact opposite.

Really? Compare the number of Cup winners on Team Europe (8) to the number on Team Sweden. The current crop of Swedish "superstars" really don't have what it takes to take it to the next level.

 

[Exarz]

I think it has got better from the 2014 Olympics and onwards. Canada was a tough opponnent in the Olympics (especially with some key players missing) and Price played like a God in that tournament. Yesterday's loss against Team Europe wasn't as bad as people seem to think. Europe has been playing good the whole tournament and I doubt that Sweden would've won against Canada anyway.

I'd say that the top 6 best on best rankings are something like this:
1. Canada
2. Sweden
3. USA (they would've been way better without the NA U23 team)
4. Russia
5. Finland (just wait until the juniors are top notch NHL players)
6. Czech Republic

 

[Burke the Legend]

Failing by what standards? I don't consider making the finals at the Olympics or losing in the semi finals during this tournament failing.

Making the semi-finals in a tourney where there's only 6-8 actual contender national teams is not a big accomplishment.

 

[Drij]

Because the sedins suck.

 

[Brun0]

so many excuses, maybe there are just not as good as swedes them self hype them?


swedes like explain one player here or there.


The best team was chosen, face the facts like all others do too

Id sweden wins gold they have always over achieved

 

[Brew]

Just a team with no finish.

 

[NyQuil]

Looking at how Sweden was coached and the systems in use, it seemed as if they were trying to cover for a weak defense by demanding more from solid two-way forwards. Not exactly ideal when you have world class defense and a sub-par forward group.

With guys like Karlsson, Hedman and OEL, you want to give them as many opportunities as possible to assert themselves on the game while your forwards adapt and cover for them. Instead our guys were asked to play it safe and not take chances until they get back pressure, which is essentially just making the D-mans ability less of a factor by reliance on team play.

Canada does something similar, but it makes sense for them because their great defense can just give stability for their extremely strong forward group. Sweden needed our defense to be a difference maker, and coaching made it a non-factor instead.

I think this is a great point.

Sweden employs the same system no matter who is on the team and what is going on in terms of the game.

Meanwhile, Canada chooses the personnel that fits the system. No one denies that Subban and Letang are world class players but the team brass opted for safety on the back end to complement the heavy offensive talent up front.

There's a degree of conservative tactics in Swedish hockey which you can't really pin on the players who excel in leading roles on their NHL teams.

Europe seems to be the exact opposite - where the team and the system are very complementary.

 

[LiveeviL]

This is not tangible or anything, but I find that Swedish teams don't have a great mentality. They kind of play the same way regardless of what is happening. Not the killer instinct to put teams away, and not a lot of push back when trailing. Canada and Russia do a much better job in this regard. Just an observation.

In that perspective I can agree, but I just think that it is a lack of individuals. With Sundin and P. Forsberg it was different.

On a side note, I do think that Sweden always (i.e. since I started watching the national team) has had a great mentality when it comes to acting as a team and ,most importantly not throwing the game when odds are stacking up during game (I think both Canada and esp. Russia are more prone to that).

Further Sweden is a smaller nation than Canada in real numbers and in percentage of active players/population. Sweden have enough to cover for an excellent team at all times, but just about that. When people for some reasons do not play it do matter. If Sweden lose Steen for example one can compare that with an even better Canadian not playing during this tournament and say that it is equal. But it is not, Sweden cannot cover that loss while Canada can (the situation is worse for many other countries of course). During many tournaments Sweden have had some key players which did not play. This tournament is actually one of the better in this aspect with Steen and a somewhat less missed Zetterberg missing.

 

[Kranix]

Maybe they're coached too clinical. They don't get desperate.

 

[Woll Smoth]

So they can learn to pick themselves up.

 

[KingsHockey24]

Because Lundqvist is a terrible goalie.

 

[llwyd]

I have always admired Swedish hockey: they are ice cool under pressure, self-confident, stick to their plan no matter what and play very disciplined and tight game. But the downside at times seems to be that they don't have that kind of damn the torpedoes, throw the kitchen sink at them extra gear that Finland for example quite often generates and plays above our paper strength. I think it's pretty rarely when Swedes kind of exceed themselves - they often play as well as you would expect from their roster, but not more.

 

[Cursed Lemon]

Sweden has kept up a tradition of breeding strong defensemen, but nowadays they don't have an offensive punch like they used to.

 

[Scrub*]

It's team Sedin not team Sweden! Pass the puck to someone else.

 

[Benedict Kovalchuk]

I can't speak to every tournament, but for this one they had an absolute embarrassment of riches(some of the best I've ever seen) on D and refused to use any of them. Very perplexing.

And as mentioned before, they tend to play the same the system ALWAYS and play it with little to no passion.

 

[tgo0]

I'm not surprised that they don't win everything, rarely have they been the favourites coming into those tournaments, but I am surprised how often they get bumped in the first round of knockout games (5/7 as the SF at WCH was like the QF of other tournaments)

 

[LaGu]

In that perspective I can agree, but I just think that it is a lack of individuals. With Sundin and P. Forsberg it was different.

On a side note, I do think that Sweden always (i.e. since I started watching the national team) has had a great mentality when it comes to acting as a team and ,most importantly not throwing the game when odds are stacking up during game (I think both Canada and esp. Russia are more prone to that).

Further Sweden is a smaller nation than Canada in real numbers and in percentage of active players/population. Sweden have enough to cover for an excellent team at all times, but just about that. When people for some reasons do not play it do matter. If Sweden lose Steen for example one can compare that with an even better Canadian not playing during this tournament and say that it is equal. But it is not, Sweden cannot cover that loss while Canada can (the situation is worse for many other countries of course). During many tournaments Sweden have had some key players which did not play. This tournament is actually one of the better in this aspect with Steen and a somewhat less missed Zetterberg missing.

I know that piling on Zetterberg popular nowadays after his slow second half of last season, but he is in effect the captain of tre kronor. I think he was PPG his first 15 games or so last season, always starts strong. He was/is by far the most significant loss to injury. The only other players I would value in that way is Karlsson and Lundqvist. Losing Zetterberg was far more significant than some think.

PS I also don't see how Sweden fails so much. Belarus stand out, but it's hockey and unless you are Canada, from 2010 to now, you will win some and lose some.

 

[Get North]

They need more aggressive forwards. Not big mean powerforwards but guys like Forsberg, Zetterberg (he's done now), Sundin. Their intensity was miles ahead of the Sedins, Eriksson, F.Forsberg. Even a guy like Landeskog, he plays hard, but he's not talented enough like Forsberg to dominate and physically push the other team.

They aren't hard enough to play against and don't take their game to another level when they have to. That's what they used to do and sort of lost in the last 6-7 years.

 

[El_Loco_Avs]

World Cup 96, loss against Canada in semifinal.

Olympics 98, loss against Finland in qf.

Olympics 2002, loss against Belarus in qf.

World Cup 2004, loss against Czech in qf.

Olympics 2010, loss against Slovakia in qf.

Olympics 2014, loss against Canada in final.

World Cup 2016, loss against Team Eu in semifinal.


How is it possible to fail so often with so good teams?

My take on it, is that Sweden is playing to non-physical and with to little energy.

Failing? The only fail in your list is the loss against Belarus.
The rest of the losses came against fairly good competition.
You could argue they should've done better during the days of Forsberg/Sundin/Lidstrom but really theydid what could've been expected. They won the Olympics!

 

[Trilliann]

Yeah, I miss Sundin, too.

I and about 5 million other Finns don't.