Hockey championships in Canada always offer a special atmosphere, according to national team captain Magnus Hävelid.
It's not unusual for the arena to be packed with red and white fans. It can be a real pressure, he says.
Despite several players perhaps not having experienced pressure at the level found in Canada, Hävelid believes Sweden is ready for the challenge.
We have nine players who were part of the JVM in Göteborg. Home ground, regardless of sport or team, is that little extra you want to have on your back. Now we'll turn it around and challenge ourselves a bit more. We'll take lessons from the USA and what they did against us in the final in Göteborg, how to build a mentality within the team to handle the pressure. In that way, you can draw the longest straw in the end.
"A bit of experience"
Hävelid emphasizes that players like team captain Axel Sandin-Pellikka will be particularly important for the team with their experience.
Sandin-Pellikka is playing his third JVM. More or less all the rest of the guys play in the SHL or Allsvenskan and play in front of packed arenas. So the players have actually come a bit of the way and have gained some experience, even if it's not at the same level as it can be in Canada.
The captain himself explains that he tries to tune out the noise during matches. But takes in the atmosphere afterwards.
You just have to think that it's just background noise. During the match, it's nothing else, you just have to go out and play hockey. But it's clear that it's extremely cool to get to go out in an awesome atmosphere. You just have to try to soak it in and focus on playing hockey. It's more afterwards that you can land in that it's extremely cool, and something you can look back on, says Axel Sandin-Pellikka.
Has played derbies
He also tells us that he hasn't actively tried to prepare the younger players for the matches in Canada. Sandin-Pellikka is confident that his team will handle the Canadians' pressure.
I think all the guys on the team are ready for it. Everyone has played in derbies with good pressure, it's no bigger difference than that. It's always cool matches in the JVM, so we're looking forward to it.
+ The JVM takes place on December 26 – January 6 in Ottawa, Canada
+ Sweden's group: Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Switzerland
+ Sweden's matches: December 26, 18.00 – Slovakia
December 27, 23.00 – Kazakhstan
December 29, 18.00 – Switzerland
December 31, 23.00 – Czech Republic
