PHOTO: Bildbyrån
He is the team captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs with over 1,000 NHL games on his resume.
Now superstar John Tavares reveals the best Swede he has met.
– He is perhaps the best ever, he says to Sportbibeln.
Sweden has a rich history of producing some of the best players in history. Börje Salming became the great pioneer not only for Swedes, but also for other Europeans, when he became a cult hero in the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Swedes in the NHL
After that it just continued, and over the years players like Nicklas Lidström, Mats Sundin, Peter Forsberg and Henrik Lundqvist belonged to the absolute top tier in the world.
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There are always big discussions about who is actually the best and most outstanding player of all Swedes in history. Last year, at the Tidernas hockey gala, Nicklas Lidstrom was awarded the prize as Sweden’s best player of all time, and when the prestigious The Athletic recently named the 99 best players in modern hockey, Lidström ended up in eighth place, second among all backs.
Tavares’ favorite
But when the NHL stars, active and retired, get to choose, the answers usually vary. Peter Forsberg, when he was injury-free, was perhaps the world’s most powerful forward, and Mats Sundin was the team captain everyone looked up to in Toronto.
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But when John Tavares – who is now the team captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and who has played over 1,000 games in the league – has to choose himself, and there is no doubt about the answer. Tavares still remembers what it was like to come up in the NHL and to meet Nicklas Lidström, who according to him is the best Swede he has played against.
– Nicklas Lidström stands out for me. It was so cool the first time I played against him. I remember what it was like when you were young, just coming into the league and getting to meet him. All the Norris Trophies he won, all the Stanley Cups, he tells Sportbibeln.
READ MORE: Nicklas Lidström and Mats Sundin name the best Swedes in the NHL – William Nylander second on the list: “He’s hotter”
John Tavares believes that Lidström is not only the best he has met, but one of the best of all time.
– His CV is really top quality. In my eyes, he is one of the best, if not the best, defenders in history. It was special to meet him, and not just a top player. I know how highly people think of him off the ice as well.
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