PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Börje Salming is one of Swedish hockey’s greatest.
Now his former club Brynäs IF will give him the ultimate tribute.
– He is perhaps the greatest player we have had in Swedish hockey of all time, and he did everything like a brown nosed, says the club’s chairman Bosse Johansson in a press release.
The career may have started in the hometown of Kiruna, but it was in Gävle and Brynäs IF that Börje Salming got his big break as a hockey player. The iconic defender won double SC gold before moving on to North America and becoming an invaluable NHL pioneer for Swedish hockey.
Tributes Salming
Swedish hockey was united on that sad day, November 24, 2022, when Börje Salming so tragically passed away from the effects of the nerve disease ALS. Tributes have since poured in for the late icon and now comes the ultimate tribute from his old club.
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Brynäs has made the decision to perpetuate Salming’s memory on the roof of the home arena Monitor ERP Arena. In connection with the tribute match “Game for Börje” on February 11, his jersey number 17 will be raised in the form of a broom to the ceiling.
READ MORE: Bianca Salming reveals father Börje’s last gift to her – the beautiful gesture: “It was nothing for him”
“Start an icon”
There are already funerals for 13 former club icons, including Börje’s older brother Stig Salming.
– Börje is a Brynäsikon. One of our very largest. Now he will be allowed to take a seat on the roof together with the other heroes. His contributions to Swedish hockey are legendary and what he accomplished during his career will never be forgotten. He is perhaps the greatest player we’ve had in Swedish hockey of all time, and he did everything as a brunæser, says the club’s chairman Boss Johansson in a press release.
– It was here in Brynäs that his career took off and through his way of being as both a person and a hockey player, he has put us on the map. We want to perpetuate his memory when you look at what Börje has meant to Swedish hockey and Brynäs IF – what wouldn’t be more appropriate than in a place on the roof with our absolute greatest?
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In the past, Börje Salming has been celebrated with brooms on the roof of the parent club Kiruna AIF and the NHL club Toronto Maple Leafs. But now it’s time for Brynäs to give the icon the finest tribute in the sport of hockey.
– In addition to Börje being one of the world’s best players of all time, he represented much of what we at Brynäs want to stand for. He was a leader on and off the ice who always put the team before self. A great role model for me personally but also for many others, says the club director Håkan Svedman in a press release.
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READ MORE: Ingemar Stenmark receives the fine honorary assignment – after the death of his friend Börje Salming: “A matter of course”