So far, the Swedes can count on seven reinforcements from the NHL, but before the start of the championship in Finland, they are solving the dilemma of how many players to enter on the roster. It can accommodate 22 players in the field and three goalkeepers, but almost all teams will not fill all the vacancies.
Especially with regard to the development of the situation in the NHL, the selection of Tre kronor, however, also due to the delayed culmination of the domestic league. Minimum of players registered before the first match of the World Cup? Two goalkeepers and fifteen skaters …
Jiří Smejkal is fighting for the puck with the Swedish captain Joakim Nordström at the Swedish Games.Photo: Henrik MontgomeryCTK / AP
The Czech extra league also follows the rule that the champion must be known no later than one week before the start of the championship. However, the Swedish top competition received an exception from the local hockey association this year. Due to the occurrence of covid-19, several matches were postponed in January, the end of the basic part and the start of the playoffs were thus delayed.
Which Gärpenlov now pays for when composing the national team. After all, for example, he took four players from Färjestad to Beijing for the February Olympics (Jacob de la Rose, Linus Johansson, Gustav Rydahl, Theodor Lennström).
“I don’t think the people who made this decision have thought. It puts us in a damn bad situation, because four matches in five days await us at the beginning of the championship, “recalls Gärpenlov’s demanding program, when the Swedes will challenge the Czech team on the Sunday after the duel with Austria.
Swedish hockey players rejoice in the victory over Finland at the Czech Games.Photo: Vladimir PrycekČTK
“And we don’t know yet which finalists will come. And if so, when, “Garpenlöv shakes his head.” It’s a cruelly bad decision for the people in charge, “the coach added.
“It is an unfortunate situation for both parties; “People and the association, and therefore the national team,” admits the director of Sweden’s top competition, Johan Hemlin. “But we decided to do so after consulting with the hockey association at the end of January.
