Photo: Bildbyrån
Peter Forsberg is forced to guess which team will win the Four Nations in February.
Then he says something that no Swede really wants to hear.
– I don’t know if I can be honest, then I might be killed at home in Sweden, he says to the Canadian TV channel Sportsnet.
He is one of Sweden’s all-time best and most popular hockey players. Peter “Foppa” Forsberg51, has won two Olympic golds with Tre Kronor – one of which he single-handedly arranged with his world-famous penalty in Lillehammer 1994 – and also two World Cup golds. In addition, he won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in both 1996 and 2001. He became member number six of the famous Triple Gold Club, for the world’s best player who won the three aforementioned tournaments.
Peter Forsberg’s criticism of Tre Kronor
When “Foppa” was a guest on the Canadian TV channel Sportsnet recently, some of the questions to him were about the upcoming four-team Four Nations tournament to be played in February next year. Sweden, Finland, the USA and Canada settle for the honor. Last week the squads were presented to the respective national teams and Forsberg was quick to raise a problem he had seen Sam Hallams Three Crowns.
– We have a skilled team. The slopes are amazingly good. We lack a bit of toughness among the forwards Mikael Backlund which might have been accommodated. If we look at the first two chains, there are no giant buffaloes right away. It is important that these guys are in shape when the tournament starts, if you don’t have that and are a little smaller it becomes difficult. We’ll see if we can get past the fantastic slopes in the other teams, he said in Viaplay.
READ MORE: Sam Hallam answers Peter Forsberg’s speech after the criticism
He still thinks that it is a big problem that Sweden is grappling with before the tournament.
– The only thing I’m worried about is that we have some skilled players but I don’t know if they are big enough. In my time we had (Mats) Sundin and (Fredrik) Modin who were big guys. Now we have (Jesper) Steep, (William) Nylander and Elias Petterssonthey’re not the biggest guys. We’ll see how it goes, he says to Sportsnet, according to Expressen.
Peter Forsberg’s verdict on Three Kronor
Unfortunately, the NHL legend does not think that it will go so well for Sweden in the Four Nations. When the Canadian host forces him to choose the winner of the tournament, he says something that makes all of us Swedes very sad.
– I don’t know if I can be honest, then I might be killed at home in Sweden.
He believes that either the United States or Canada, who are both home in the tournament, will win. Finland and Sweden are “underdogs”.
– The USA and Canada are favourites. Sweden and Finland have the chance, everyone can win, but they are probably third and fourth right now. If I look at the points league, there are not many Swedes in the top 30. Not because the team is bad, but I think we will have a tough journey. I don’t want to bash the Swedish team, but it’s more about the other teams being so good. It will be difficult, he says.
READ MORE: Challe Berglund’s funny revelation about Peter Forsberg
Sweden starts against Canada on February 12. Then Finland awaits on February 15 and the USA on February 17.
We are crossing our fingers that Peter Forsberg is not right. We cheer for Tre Kronor and hope they are strong when the time comes. Come on Sweden!
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