Last night, three of Swedish hockey’s greatest were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Then there were tears – but also laughter.
Above all, when Daniel Sedin made a clever joke about his brother Henrik, in the middle of the most powerful tribute.
No hockey lover could have missed that there have been Hall of Fame celebrations in Toronto over the weekend. Above all, so far a lot has been about Börje Salming. The Swede has been back in the city where he spent his 16 best hockey years. He got to receive the crowd’s ovations both during the Maple Leafs’ games on Friday and Saturday.
The joke to the brother
But last night it was time for more Swedes to receive tributes and step into the history books. Last spring, Daniel Alfredsson, Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and last night it was finally time to be formally welcomed into the exclusive community. When Daniel Alfredsson got to step on stage, he was introduced by another Swedish legend, Mats Sundin.
The Sedin brothers have played with each other their entire careers, and are two of the Vancouver Canucks greatest ever. It’s not often that they are separated, but when they were inducted into the Hall of Fame last night, they got to step up one by one on stage. They paid tribute to each other copiously in two emotional speeches – but there was also an unexpected joke from Daniel Sedin.
– Henrik, quite honestly: I see you as a better hockey player and a better person. I say that fully aware that in ten minutes you will be standing here and giving your own speech, says Daniel Sedin, and continues:
– So I look forward to what you have to say about me.
READ MORE: When Tre Kronor panicked in the dressing room for Henke Lundqvist – and saved everything with a gallows and tape
Clever replica
And the line came directly from Henrik Sedin when it was time for him to step on stage.
– I have just recovered from Covid and it was on the verge of not being able to come, but at the last minute I went anyway. Because as our coaches always said: “A Henrik at 70 percent is better than a Daniel at one hundred percent”.
But it wasn’t all fun and laughter. There were also strong scenes during the gala, where much of the talk was about Börje Salming. For Daniel Alfredsson, part of the speech was dedicated to mother Margareta, who died a few years ago. Former Hall of Fame icons such as Nicklas Lidström, Dominik Hasek and Teemu Selänne were also present.
READ MORE: NHL expert Håkan Södergren almost breaks down when he pays tribute to Börje Salming with five fantastic words