IIHF

Swedes and Canadians get along well. Similar climate, similar personalities, same love for hockey. Borje Salming, Mats Sundin. Say no more.

They had to play relegation again in 2004, although they won all three games that time, and they also finished 9th at the 2002 U18 Worlds as well. Thankfully for Tre Kronor they played all their games in Quebec, although Finland beat them, 4-0, to claim the bronze at Le Colisee. The results speak loud and clear, however. They then lost the bronze-medal game to Finland, leaving the 2004 WW with an 0-3 record in Halifax. They won only one of two games in that series and it was only a carry-over 7-2 win over Germany that prevented the ignominy of having to play in Division I. In a nation rich with success, the Swedes were a profound disappointment that year, winning only one of four games in the round robin and having to play in the relegation round. Across Canada, Sweden’s success at the U20 has been better, but not sensational. Peter Sundstrom got the lone goal for the Swedes, who played better and better as they moved west and eventually made it to the finals in Calgary and Edmonton. The 2003 World Juniors was a huge success at the box office, attracting a then-record 242,173 fans. All in all, however, Swedish teams had a dismal 2-9 record in Halifax (or, 3-10 in Nova Scotia) before beating Austria last night convincingly to open the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship. The next time an international event came to Halifax was 20 years ago, the 2003 edition of the World Juniors. Games were played right across the country for that iteration, and on the first day of the tournament, 1 September, the Metro Centre hosted a United States-Sweden game to kick things off.