Swedish Ice Hockey Gathers 92 Experts to Revive Elite Talent

In two days, Helber has gathered 92 hockey personalities – coaches, players, sports managers in SHL and HockeyAllsvenskan and agents – to jointly discuss how Sweden will become the best again.

It brings thoughts to a similar large meeting at the beginning of the 2000s – on the initiative of the then development manager Tommy Boustedt – which became a full hit for Swedish ice hockey.

It focused on the junior part and Sweden went from relegation candidate in the Junior World Championship to the gold in 2012 – the latest – and five more finals between 2008 and 2018.

Tre Kronor took a gold double in 2006 (Olympic Games and World Championship) and three more World Championship golds between 2013 and 2018.

"Not those who stand out"

In the Olympic final in 2006, Nicklas Lidström shot the gold goal on a pass from Mats Sundin and Peter Forsberg. "Foppa" had previously decided the Olympic final in 1994 with a penalty that became a stamp.

We need several players who are at the absolute highest level. We certainly have many who are skilled in the NHL, but maybe not those who stand out like Nicklas Lidström and Peter Forsberg, who are the difference between victory and defeat in these important matches, says Helber.

Who decided the Four Nations? Yes, it was Connor McDavid. Just like Lidström and Forsberg, it's a tip above the ordinary, he adds.

So how does Sweden produce the really big stars again?

Helber hopes that the meeting, which started on Monday and will be completed on Tuesday, in Sollentuna north of Stockholm, will help along the way.

Want to find focal points

In the crowd, profiles like former NHL star and Stanley Cup winner Alexander Steen, now assistant general manager in St Louis, and former national team coach Rikard Grönborg, who led Tre Kronor to double World Championship gold in 2017 and 2018, were seen.

I hope I get a basis for what I should focus on in the form of development of Swedish hockey in the next three years, says Helber.

These are complex issues with many opinions, but I hope we can agree on a number of important points that everyone agrees on, says the American who came to Sweden and Linköping in 1992.

First as a player for ten seasons and then as club director for twelve years, he was involved in taking Linköping from division 2 to an established major club in SHL.

We are a small country, but unique and if we are to challenge Canada and the USA, we must be quick and find different ways to develop our hockey players, he says.

Göran Sundberg/TT