IIHF Hall Of Fame Induction 2025
Sweden 2006 Men’s Olympic/World Championship Teams
IIHF Milestone Award
Sweden’s roster for the 2006 Olympics in Turin might well have been the finest in that nation’s history, yet the way the team began the tournament was anything but sensational. Tre Kronor won three of five games, respectable, to be sure, but losses included 3-0 to Slovakia and 5-0 to Russia. The team gained momentum in the quarter-finals, however, taking a 1-1 score against the Swiss midway through the first and powering to a 6-2 victory. In the semi-finals, the same pattern emerged against the Czechs. Tied 1-1 in the first, Tre Kronor pulled away to an impressive 7-3 victory, setting up a gold-medal game against arch-rivals Finland.
That game was as tight as one might have expected. Suomi led 1-0 after the first, and it was a 2-2 game after 40 minutes. The faceoff to start the third saw Finnish centre Saku Koivu break his stick. As he went to the bench to get a new one, Mats Sundin made a drop pass to Nicklas Lidstrom coming in over the Suomi blue line, and Lidstrom ripped a shot past Antero Niittymaki, just ten seconds into the period. The game ended in that 3-2 score, giving Sweden their first Olympic gold since 1994. Less than three months later, coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson had to piece together a different roster for the Men’s World Championship, one that, as it turned out, included eight players from the Olympics but many not in Turin. Whereas the Olympics is best-on-best and fully played out in 12 days, the Men’s Worlds was a 16-team event over 17 days and 56 games.
This time the Swedes got off to a strong start, earning five of six points in the preliminary round and losing only to Slovakia in the qualification round. In the quarter-finals, they posted a dominant 6-0 win over the United States, John Holmqvist with the shutout and Mika Hannula with a hat trick. In the semi-finals, they eked out a thrilling 5-4 win over Canada in Sidney Crosby’s WM debut. The victors jumped into a quick 2-0 lead and were up 5-2 in the second, but Canada fought valiantly back, falling a goal short in the end. In the ultimate game, Holmqvist posted another shutout, and four scorers gave Tre Kronor a 4-0 win over the Czechs, producing a second gold for the country in a matter of weeks. It was the first time in IIHF history that a team had won both gold medals in a single season.
That game was as tight as one might have expected. Suomi led 1-0 after the first, and it was a 2-2 game after 40 minutes. The faceoff to start the third saw Finnish centre Saku Koivu break his stick. As he went to the bench to get a new one, Mats Sundin made a drop pass to Nicklas Lidstrom coming in over the Suomi blue line, and Lidstrom ripped a shot past Antero Niittymaki, just ten seconds into the period. The game ended in that 3-2 score, giving Sweden their first Olympic gold since 1994. Less than three months later, coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson had to piece together a different roster for the Men’s World Championship, one that, as it turned out, included eight players from the Olympics but many not in Turin. Whereas the Olympics is best-on-best and fully played out in 12 days, the Men’s Worlds was a 16-team event over 17 days and 56 games.
This time the Swedes got off to a strong start, earning five of six points in the preliminary round and losing only to Slovakia in the qualification round. In the quarter-finals, they posted a dominant 6-0 win over the United States, John Holmqvist with the shutout and Mika Hannula with a hat trick. In the semi-finals, they eked out a thrilling 5-4 win over Canada in Sidney Crosby’s WM debut. The victors jumped into a quick 2-0 lead and were up 5-2 in the second, but Canada fought valiantly back, falling a goal short in the end. In the ultimate game, Holmqvist posted another shutout, and four scorers gave Tre Kronor a 4-0 win over the Czechs, producing a second gold for the country in a matter of weeks. It was the first time in IIHF history that a team had won both gold medals in a single season.