PHOTO: Bildbyrån + TT Nyhetsbyrån
He was there when the NHL was at its toughest.
Now Dan Labraaten says what everyone needs to hear about Börje Salming.
– I think there is almost too much talk about how tough he was, he tells Expressen.
All die-hard hockey fans in Sweden know who, of course Dan Labraaten but for some generally interested in sports in our long country, he is probably an anonymous name. But it is a true legend with a fine hockey career at the highest level.
The career of the labraate
He took his very first skates in little Grums IK before he got his big breakthrough in Leksand. Where there was a total of 363 points in 377 matches and three SM golds for Labraaten in Dalarna.
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He is still the fourth best goalscorer in the club’s history and that says a lot about the Swede’s greatness. He is also one of the few blue-and-yellow players who both played in the teamless professional league WHA and when the NHL was at its worst in the 70s.
The words about Salming
Labraaten represented the Winnipeg Jets, Detroit Red Wings, Calgary Flames and had to take a lot of beating.
– I was knocked down a few times. The best way to give back was to score goals. And not to show that you were scared. And then it was about letting the legs go. The worst pranksters weren’t very good on their skates, he says in an interview with Expressen.
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Along with an icon that Börje Salming Dan Labraaten and a few other Swedes were pioneers in brutal North America and paved the way for so many Swedes to follow. Now the Leksandsikonen says what many Swedes need to know about the late Börje.
– I was in Tre Kronor in the Canada Cup in 1976 when he was praised by the crowd in Toronto and he deserved all the applause. But I think there is almost too much talk about how tough he was. Of course he was, but above all he was a very skilled player with his long club, you thought you were past Salming – and then that long club came, he tells the evening newspaper.
READ MORE: Dan Labraaten pushed Wayne Gretzky up against the rim – and heard six words he’ll never forget: “He was pissed off”
Labraaten also wants to highlight two other NHL Swedes from that time.
– Thommie Bergman! He’s kind of forgotten, strangely enough. He came to the NHL the year before Salming and Bergman was also very good over there. He was tough, he could fight, he says in the interview.
– Then we must not forget Lars-Erik Sjöberg. He was small, but so damn fit and such a safety to play with. He became team captain straight away in Winnipeg, was extremely skilled and then he had his hip tackles.
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