Toronto Maple Leafs against Detroit Red Wings in Stockholm.
Then Börje Salming was praised before the start of the match.
Börje’s son Anders received deafening cheers when he dropped the puck in a ceremonial drop.
Four NHL teams are in Stockholm during the week and much of the talk has been about tributes to the icon Borje Salming. The Toronto Maple Leafs, the team where Börje played his entire NHL career and where he became one of the most popular players of all time, is one of the teams in Stockholm, and on Friday night they played the first game on Swedish soil for the week, against the Detroit Red Wings .
Highly praised
Earlier this week, Swedish superstar William Nylander and team captain John Tavares were on hand during the gala premiere of Viaplay’s new major venture “Börje – The Journey of a Legend”. During Thursday, a ceremony was also held where Nicklas Lidstrom became the first recipient of the newly instituted NHL prize “The Börje Salming Courage Award”, which will pay tribute to Salming’s courage – and is awarded every year to a former NHL European.
But tributes to the Swedish icon, who passed away last year from complications from ALS, continued ahead of Toronto’s game against Detroit on Friday night. When the puck was to be released, Börje’s son, Anders, stepped out to release the puck in a special ceremony.
Börje’s son on the ice
A packed Avicii Arena stood up and gave Anders Salming a heartbreaking and deafening ovation, while dropping the puck in a ceremonial faceoff between the Swedish stars of both teams, William Nylander and Lucas Raymond.
See video here:
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