The day after tomorrow, the junior WC in ice hockey starts in Ottawa, Canada – a tournament that Sweden has not won in 13 years.
Now the routine in the squad can be decisive. Nine players have participated in the tournament before and for team captain Axel Sandin-Pellikka it will be the third time.
– It’s a tournament you really want to play. These are cool matches, says Axel Sandin-Pellikka.
Only 19 years old, Axel Sandin-Pellikka has managed to play a hundred SHL matches and become an important cog in the reigning champion team Skellefteå AIK. He is making his third JVM, the tournament where he previously decided matches and was named the best defender.
– If you look at other teams, I would say that it is a fairly old team. We have many 05s with us. We are powerful. We are difficult to face, says Axel Sandin-Pellikka.
For confederation captain Magnus Hävelid, the 19-year-old was an obvious choice for team captain.
– He radiates joy in the game. He is a very good person, off and on the ice. He shows the way through action, says Magnus Hävelid.
“Small margins”
It has been almost 13 years since Mika Zibanejad, with his long backhand, secured Sweden’s only second gold in the tournament’s nearly 50-year history. Whether Sweden wins its third JVM gold on the other side of the year remains to be seen.
– There are such small margins every match. It’s extremely tight in matches all the time. It doesn’t matter which team you face. All teams are good teams, especially with our group, says Axel Sandin-Pellikka.
The road to gold
But Magnus Hävelid has a plan to reach the gold.
– It is important to be on our toes all the time and keep ourselves in structure. It’s such small details, so it’s important that everything fits when it matters, says the national team captain.
To get there requires teamwork.
– We need to help each other, me, the players and the other coaches, to create the environment where we get the flow everyone is looking for, says Magnus Hävelid.