Sweden was praised for the nice gesture during the JVM premiere – the move that made the home crowd cheer loudly

Sweden got off to a dream start at this year’s JVM.
But now the confederation captain Magnus Hävelid is being celebrated – for a completely different reason.
A nice gesture just before relegation made the home supporters cheer.

A premier match in the JVM always means tension and nervousness, and this year’s tournament is also at home, which makes it even bigger. Sweden went in as super favorites against Latvia, but had the worst possible start to this year’s tournament.

The Swedish dream start

Sweden received a match penalty after only 25 seconds, and a numerical disadvantage for five minutes awaited. But Sweden sorted it out and managed to avoid conceding a goal – and then they showed that there is quality in the offensive as well. Jonathan Lekkerimäki scored two goals as Sweden crushed Latvia, winning 6-0.

Before the tournament, Sweden had question marks on the goalkeeping side, but Hugo Hävelid kept a clean sheet in his debut and played big.

– We grew from it and were very effective in our game. Hugo made a great match. It was fun to watch and the best possible start for him, especially the first five minutes, says national team captain Magnus Hävelid.

Nice gesture

But it wasn’t just the win, the clean sheet and the six goals that were celebrated afterwards. The atmosphere in Gothenburg was incredible from the puck drop and throughout the opening game. And besides, Magnus Hävelid himself stood for a gesture that was appreciated by the home crowd in Scandinavium. Usually it is Frölunda’s hometown in the SHL, and when the Junior crowns played for the first time on Tuesday, three Frölunda players were in the team, in the form of David Edström, Otto Stenberg and Isac Born.

Hävelid therefore chose to start all of them in the same chain, so that the trio had to receive the cheers from the home fans during the very first presentation – which was highly praised on social media.

“Confederation captain Hävelind lets Frölunda’s three players take the first presentation in JVM. It’s nice!”, writes Gothenburg Post’s Johan Rylander.

“Magnus Hävelid gives three Frölundaites the chance in the first change and get the cheers of the home crowd: Edstrom, Stenberg and Born. Fingertip feeling”, writes Rakapuckar’s Henrik Leman.

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