PHOTO: Bildbyrån
He is a true hockey hero from the past.
We will never forget what Tomas Sandström has accomplished on the ice.
But when he himself appoints Sweden’s best hockey player of all time, the three big giants are nobbed.
It was an impressive 857 points in 983 games in the NHL for the Swedish legend Tomas Sandström. Which makes him one of the top Swedes in North America of all time.
Sandström’s career
“The battleship from Fagersta” played for the NHL teams New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings and Anaheim Ducks for 15 seasons on the other side of the Atlantic. If you ask him himself what was the greatest moment in his career, the answer is given.
– To win the Stanley Cup, of course. That’s what you’re passionate about and I was lucky enough to experience it with Detroit, he says in an interview with the magazine Sportmagasinet.
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Sandström won the Stanley Cup title with the Red Wings in 1997, such an incredibly long-awaited title after making his NHL debut as early as 1984. The Swedish hockey hero also won World Cup gold with Tre Kronor in 1987.
Tomas chooses the best
The Swedish legend also became known in the NHL as a mean devil on the ice and provoked a lot of beatings from the infamous bullies.
– Yes, but I don’t know if I was ugly. They gave and took. me and Uffe Samuelsson got a lot of shit but it was because we played like the Americans, but without fighting maybe, he admits in the interview.
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Tomas Sandström has played with and against some of the world’s best hockey players over the years, but when he himself gets the chance to name Sweden’s best hockey player ever, the answer is given. Because he nobs the three blue-yellow giants Nicklas Lidström, Mats Sundin and Peter Forsberg for another unforgettable icon.
– I have to say Börje Salming. He was in a class of his own. We don’t know how tough he was when he came over. He became one of the league’s best backs even though Europeans were not liked at all, says Sandström in the newspaper interview that was done in 2006.
READ MORE: Tomas Sandström’s new life – far away from hockey’s fine room: “It didn’t suit me”
Börje Salming passed away in the aftermath of the disease ALS on November 24, 2022. He will forever be remembered as one of Swedish hockey’s greatest players of all time and as a fantastic human being.
Who do you think is Sweden’s best hockey player ever? Share the article and have your say!
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