Cautious celebration: Swedish players come together after scoring a goal in a 5-3 relegation-round loss to Switzerland at the 2003 IIHF World Junior Championship.
photo: IIHF Archive
Swedes and Canadians get along well. Similar climate, similar personalities, same love for hockey. Borje Salming, Mats Sundin. Say no more. So what is it with Halifax then, because Sweden has a decidedly poor relationship with Canada’s lovely east coast city.
It all started nearly 40 years ago during the 1984 Canada Cup. 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. It was a game made famous by Bryan Trottier’s first appearance playing for the U.S. instead of his native Canada, but he scored twice in a convincing 7-1 win over Tre Kronor. 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.
In 1987, the Canada Cup returned to Halifax for another game, but Sweden didn’t play. They did, however, play in Sydney, defeating Finland, 3-1, so there’s that. The next time an international event came to Halifax was 20 years ago, the 2003 edition of the World Juniors. And it was one everyone in Sweden would like to forget. 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. 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.
To be fair, these were not memorable days for the Swedish junior program all around. 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. Several players were on both those junior teams, notably Tobias Enstrom, Alexander Steen, Robert Nilsson, and Andreas Valdix.
These results were reflected in the NHL draft as well. In 2003, only Nilsson was drafted in the first round, and the previous year Steen was the highest Swedish selection at 24th overall (by Toronto). The 2003 World Juniors was a huge success at the box office, attracting a then-record 242,173 fans. As a result, the IIHF awarded the 2004 Women’s World Championship to Halifax and Dartmouth, but that produced only more disappointment for Sweden.
In the second round of round-robin play they faced Canada and the United States, again at the Metro Centre, and you can imagine how that went against the North American powerhouses – losses of 7-1 and 9-2. They then lost the bronze-medal game to Finland, leaving the 2004 WW with an 0-3 record in Halifax.
Halifax was front and centre again in 2008 for the IIHF’s Centennial celebrations, co-hosting the World Championship with Quebec City. Thankfully for Tre Kronor they played all their games in Quebec, although Finland beat them, 4-0, to claim the bronze at Le Colisee.
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. Across Canada, Sweden’s success at the U20 has been better, but not sensational. They have won only two golds at U20 play all time, but one came in Edmonton in 2012, ending a 31-year drought. Canada has hosted the World Juniors 15 times, and Sweden has also won two silver medals (1978 Montreal, 2009 Ottawa) and three bronze (1995 Red Deer, 2010 Saskatoon, 2022 Edmonton).
The results speak loud and clear, however. For Sweden, playing in Canada, west is best and east is least!
It all started nearly 40 years ago during the 1984 Canada Cup. 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. It was a game made famous by Bryan Trottier’s first appearance playing for the U.S. instead of his native Canada, but he scored twice in a convincing 7-1 win over Tre Kronor. 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.
In 1987, the Canada Cup returned to Halifax for another game, but Sweden didn’t play. They did, however, play in Sydney, defeating Finland, 3-1, so there’s that. The next time an international event came to Halifax was 20 years ago, the 2003 edition of the World Juniors. And it was one everyone in Sweden would like to forget. 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. 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.
To be fair, these were not memorable days for the Swedish junior program all around. 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. Several players were on both those junior teams, notably Tobias Enstrom, Alexander Steen, Robert Nilsson, and Andreas Valdix.
These results were reflected in the NHL draft as well. In 2003, only Nilsson was drafted in the first round, and the previous year Steen was the highest Swedish selection at 24th overall (by Toronto). The 2003 World Juniors was a huge success at the box office, attracting a then-record 242,173 fans. As a result, the IIHF awarded the 2004 Women’s World Championship to Halifax and Dartmouth, but that produced only more disappointment for Sweden.
In the second round of round-robin play they faced Canada and the United States, again at the Metro Centre, and you can imagine how that went against the North American powerhouses – losses of 7-1 and 9-2. They then lost the bronze-medal game to Finland, leaving the 2004 WW with an 0-3 record in Halifax.
Halifax was front and centre again in 2008 for the IIHF’s Centennial celebrations, co-hosting the World Championship with Quebec City. Thankfully for Tre Kronor they played all their games in Quebec, although Finland beat them, 4-0, to claim the bronze at Le Colisee.
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. Across Canada, Sweden’s success at the U20 has been better, but not sensational. They have won only two golds at U20 play all time, but one came in Edmonton in 2012, ending a 31-year drought. Canada has hosted the World Juniors 15 times, and Sweden has also won two silver medals (1978 Montreal, 2009 Ottawa) and three bronze (1995 Red Deer, 2010 Saskatoon, 2022 Edmonton).
The results speak loud and clear, however. For Sweden, playing in Canada, west is best and east is least!