WJC Bronze Medal Game: Jan 5 GDT - Sweden vs. USA

SChan*

Guest
1. The hockey population in Sweden is shrinking. There aren't that many Jrs to pick from, so you can get 3-4 sharp kids out of each generation, but when they get to play Sr. hockey, they get to lump together those 3-4 kids from each age group into one team, so the population factor decreases quite a bit.

2. Not enough money is spent on Jr programs in Sweden. The elite clubs rather spend fortunes (considering their resources) on mediocre, or have-been, players to win or avoid relegation in the two top divisions (Allsvenskan and the SEL) as opposed to grow the talent and give the youngsters the best possible competition they can.

3. Arrogance. For years the Swedes were convinced that the "Golden Generation" was the ticket to national and international hockey success. Well, despite winning the OG gold in '06, the GG was a bust, and Swedish hockey took a bad blow and lost kids to other sports such as soccer, golf, basketball, you name it, as the hockey stars were labeled as primadonnas making excuses.

4. Lifestyle. It really is getting harder and harder to play hockey in Sweden. 20 years ago, kids grabbed their skates, helmets and sticks and went out to the local park or pond and PLAYED hockey, which kept the momentum and the enthusiasm for the sport alive. These days, they are sitting in front of their X-boxes, and eventually depending on the parnets income and availability, they go to hockey PRACTICE... let's face it video games are a lot easier and convenient for a parent to nurture and karate a lot less expensive (many nations battle this problem, of course, but the smaller nations get hit a little harder as the crop of players were fairly small to begin with).

I could probably list another 4-5 reasons, but this is way longer than anyone cares to read as it is.



I dont know about video games, but internet and internet forums like these sure steal a lot of time
 

Beez

Registered User
Jan 7, 2004
53
0
Visit site
How could the "Golden Generation" have been a "bust?" Maybe they did win as many medals as they might have liked, but Torino 2006 was ample redemption. You can't win an Olympic championship and be a bust. This isn't like the "Golden Generation" of Portuguese soccer, which perennially underachieved and, in its last chance for redemption, lost the Euro 2004 final to Greece ... at home. Forsberg will retire with two Olympic golds. That's a big difference.
 

Rabid Ranger

2 is better than one
Feb 27, 2002
31,014
11,020
Murica
I'm proud that the U.S. squad didn't mail it in. Great coaching by Ron Rolston, the players competed, and Frazee held down the fort. I wouldn't mind seeing the same coaching staff next year.
 

Ribban

Registered User
May 16, 2005
1,511
0
USA
How could the "Golden Generation" have been a "bust?" Maybe they did win as many medals as they might have liked, but Torino 2006 was ample redemption. You can't win an Olympic championship and be a bust. This isn't like the "Golden Generation" of Portuguese soccer, which perennially underachieved and, in its last chance for redemption, lost the Euro 2004 final to Greece ... at home. Forsberg will retire with two Olympic golds. That's a big difference.

I truly disagree with you on this. On top of that, what you are bringing up (the number of championships for Tre Kronor) has little or nothing to do with why I call the Federation's plans of using the GG to grow icehockey in Sweden a bust.

What Portugese soccer has to do with Swedish Jr. hockey is beyond me. One failure doesn't justify another as far as I'm concerned, and I can't recall many Swedes or media ever saying that the embarrasment suffered in the World Cup against the Czechs and the numerous close losses (chokes?) was ever acceptable because the golden generation of Portuguese soccer failed worse.

But let me bring this back to my intended point for a sec. The "bust" was indeed not meant towards the players but more towards the federations vision of what these players would do for the sport. Looking back, I agree that I didn't formulate that well.

This is probably material for a different thread at any rate.
 

Roger's Pancreas*

Guest
I'm proud that the U.S. squad didn't mail it in. Great coaching by Ron Rolston, the players competed, and Frazee held down the fort. I wouldn't mind seeing the same coaching staff next year.

Neither would I. They have a pretty good grasp on team defense.
 

Petey21

Registered User
Dec 19, 2003
1,377
2
Sweden
www.geocities.com
Congrats to Team USA!

And I don't agree with some posts above that video games and the internet can be blamed for losing Swedish talents. Well, maybe to a certain degree, but it's not like these things are exclusive for Sweden. There are tons of video game players and internet users in all countries at the WJC. Both bigger countries like the USA and smaller ones like Finland have their share of video game junkies.

So the problem lies somewhere else. I still believe that if the Swedish Elitserien was closed, like the NHL or even the Finnish league, more young talents would be used there, as coaches and club staff won't need to be afraid of getting relegated. Nowadays hockey is big business and not social welfare, and the younger players are victims of the fear of getting relegated.

Either that or a better junior league, professionally run like the CHL, so the players can be basically professionals at a young age and really develop. Alternating between playing inferior teams in the junior league and being a "bench warmer" in Elitserien doesn't really improve anyone.
 

Beez

Registered User
Jan 7, 2004
53
0
Visit site
But let me bring this back to my intended point for a sec. The "bust" was indeed not meant towards the players but more towards the federations vision of what these players would do for the sport. Looking back, I agree that I didn't formulate that well.

Fair enough. I thought you were referring to the players as a bust. And the phrase "Golden Generation" was heavily used to describe that Portuguese team, so I drew the comparison to point out a Golden Generation that really was a bust. Anyway, I understand better what you were trying to say.
 

Chimpradamus

Registered User
Feb 16, 2006
16,634
5,249
Northern Sweden
As for the "Why Sweden isn't that good in junior hockey", don't forget that the emphasis on Swedish Junior Hockey isn't that they are going to become good junior players, but that they in the future will become good hockey players, aka "late bloomers".
 

Art Vandelay

Registered User
Jan 14, 2004
5,597
0
Stockholm
www.eliteprospects.com
Almost sad to say that i was at the game, nice experience to see it, but it was quite a boring affair. Too few and quiet spectators, and the game was not that good, although the score was even the game was in US hands.

Gistedt was one of the few swedes that seemed to give a damn about the result.

Quite odd for a bronxe medal game, they usually are quite offensive free-flowing games but this one was uptight.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->