Swedish Prospects in the World Championships

By pbadmin

Goalies

Mikael Tellqvist, Djurgården – drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs

The highly-touted Toronto prospect was the back-up goalie for Tommy Salo. Tellqvist did only get to play one game and it was Sweden’s final game against the USA. He allowed two goals, stopped 30 and had an impressing .938 SVS%. Mats Sundin was one of those who were really astonished with Tellqvist’s great play. But Sundin didn’t seem very anxious to get Tellqvist over the pond considering the fact that he would most likely see limited ice-time behind Curtis Joseph. If Tellqvist would have been sent down to the AHL he’d perhaps play 60-70 games, but the question is if he wouldn’t have a better development in the Swedish Elite League with Djurgården.

Stats: GP: 1, GAA: 2.00, SVS%: .938

Defensemen

Daniel Tjärnqvist, Djurgården – belongs to the Atlanta Thrashers

Daniel was the best Swedish defenseman along with Kim Johnsson from the NY Rangers. Tjärnqvist played a first-class two-way game. He was registered for 6 assists and several of those came on the power-play where Tjärnqvist was terrific. Although he has a good shot he didn’t manage to score a goal throughout the tournament, but on the other hand several of his shots were deflected by Swedish forwards who then scored. It will be a huge sensation if the Atlanta Thrashers won’t try to get Daniel over to the NHL next season. He was the best defenseman for the duration of the regular season in the SEL and he was the best defenseman in the SEL playoffs as well.

Stats: GP: 9, G: 0, A: 6, TP: 6, PIM: 6

Forwards

Kristian Huselius, Frölunda – drafted by the Florida Panthers

Huselius had a marvellous season in the SEL but his play wasn’t very convincing during the World Championships. In the first games Huselius was more or less invisible, not demonstrating his fine skating or his excellent moves. Then in the last group game when Sweden were up against Finland it seemed as he had finally woken up, and everyone saw the Huselius that they were used to see. He scored a goal, he skated hard, delivered some fine passes and fooled the Finnish defensemen with great moves. But in the quarterfinal his for “one-night” great play was gone. He didn’t played totally awful, but Huselius is a player that usually carries a lot of puck and creates scoring chances, which now didn’t. He was silent against the Czech Republic in the semifinal as well. In the bronze game Huselius against the USA, Huselius played stronger and scored a beautiful goal. Although he was registered for 5 points, which isn’t really that bad, we have the right to expect more of this SEL star. He will most likely sign with the Florida Panthers any time soon.

Stats: GP: 9, G: 2, A: 3, TP: 5, PIM: 0

Henrik Zetterberg, Timrå – drafted by the Detroit Red Wings

Top prospect Zetterberg started the tournament well. He played on the 4th line along with Henrik and Daniel Sedin. This wasn’t the best line but they stilled played well.

After the third game, when Daniel Sedin was injured, the Swedish 4th line saw very limited ice-time. This meant that Zetterberg only played about 7 min/game which isn’t much time to create quality scoring chances. In the last three games Zetterberg was more or less benched and didn’t see ice-time at all. He is still young and we can expect that he will be more ready in next years World Championships, which is held in Sweden. Zetterberg is hoping for the same development that Huselius had this past season.

Stats: GP: 9, G: 1, A: 3, TP: 4, PIM: 2

Kristofer Ottosson, Djurgården – drafted by the NY Islanders

Arguably the best Swedish forward! Ottosson surprised everyone with his very mature and confident play during the tournament. We all knew that he was capable of creating great offense in the Swedish Elite League, but no one thought that he was ready to do it in the World Championships as well. In fact most people thought that Ottosson would be among those players that would see very limited ice-time, but instead he was among those who played most. Ottosson was very valuable in the power-play, where he worked hard along the boards and at several occasions got in front of the goalie, which helped the defensemen to score. He was also rock-solid in his own end.

He has definitely had his big international breakthrough now and the rumours say that the NY Islanders are very anxious to have him joining the team next season. Ottosson has also spoken to the media and he said that he was looking for a contract where he was granted to stay with the NY Islanders all season long, and not risk to be sent down to the minors.

For some of the best coverage of the SEL be sure to check out Elite Prospects!