PHOTO: Bildbyrån
The tributes to Börje Salming during the Canada Cup 1976 have not gone unnoticed.
But the fact is that it was extremely close to not happening.
– I wondered if it would be useful for Börje, says the then national team captain Hans “Virus” Lindberg to DN.
The tributes to Börje Salming knew no bounds during the 1976 Canada Cup, when the icon received applause and a standing ovation from the crowd in Toronto. But the fact is that the tribute was not forthcoming, due to an unexpected move by the then national team captain Hans “Virus” Lindberg.
The tribute to Börje
The occasion when Salming was celebrated was designated in 2022 as the “Moment of the Ages”, and Hans Lindberg believes that people in Sweden did not understand how big it was at the time.
– In Sweden, there were probably many people who didn’t understand how big Börje was in Toronto, there were no TV broadcasts at the time. I had a pretty good idea of his greatness, but we didn’t think it was true when the tributes just kept going. Will it never end, we thought. And there the entire Canadian super team sat on the bench and watched, I wonder what they were thinking, says Lindberg to DN.
The article continues after the picture.
But the story could have turned out very differently. Hans “Virus” Lindberg was close to moving Börje Salming from the first chain. This is precisely because he would not be on the ice when the players in the first five were presented in the lineup.
READ MORE: Börje Salming’s beautiful greeting to two little guys shows how incredibly missed the icon is: “So terribly nice”
“I had my hunches”
Lindberg suspected that there would be tributes.
– I had a hunch that there would be some kind of tribute, and I wondered if it would be useful for Börje. I asked Börje what he thought, he said “do as you wish”. After much thought, I still chose to play him.
The article continues after the picture.
READ MORE: Kenta Nilsson’s emotional tribute to Börje Salming – honest words about the disease: “Shouldn’t have to happen”