PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Hockey Sweden has really been affected by Börje Salming’s health in recent weeks.
Now his former back colleague Peter Andersson steps forward with a beautiful tribute to one of Swedish hockey’s greats.
– Börje was something else, more like a demigod, he says according to Hockeypuls.
In recent weeks, the tributes and support have poured in Börje Salming who is fighting against the tough nerve disease ALS. All of hockey Sweden and also North America have joined forces to support one of Sweden’s best hockey players of all time.
The role model Salming
The 71-year-old is truly a pioneer in Swedish hockey and many have grown up with him as the great idol and role model. So also the SHL profile Peter Andersson who grew up in Örebro and had a big picture of Börje Salming at home in the boys’ room.
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The hockey coach’s last job was at Börje’s old club Brynäs, but Andersson was fired before the club’s fateful qualifier against HV71 in the 20/21 season. Since then, the 57-year-old has been without a job and it has been quiet around him, but now he is coming forward again to pay tribute to the one who deserves it the most – namely Börje Salming.
– He was almost a myth, you couldn’t watch the NHL here at home then, there was no daily reporting. You just knew he was damn good, that he could measure up to the legends over there. And there were stories about how tough and good he was. Börje was the only really great role model, in a class of his own, he says in an interview with Hockeypuls.
– Börje was something else, more like a demigod. When we played field hockey, everyone wanted to be Salming, there was no one else around.
READ MORE: Börje Salming’s doctor’s first words about the icon’s illness – then a cure may come: “It’s very tough”
Played with Börje
Peter Andersson also remembers when he got the chance to play with his great idol in the national team shirt. At the age of 26, he was selected for Tre Kronor to make his very first Olympic tournament in Albertville in 1992.
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Then he had to form a back pair with 40-year-old Börje Salming, who made his last Olympic appearance for Tre Kronor. The SHL profile, who coached Örebro, Malmö and Brynäs, also remembers a special moment from the Olympics in Albertville when the hockey icon showed his big heart and took care of his younger back colleague.
– It was at the opening, a big deal to be part of an Olympics and everything around it. Then Börje came and told me that “I’m sitting next to you, Peter, we’re a back couple after all”. So there we sat, and I remember thinking that it doesn’t get any bigger than this, if I die now, it’s okay, Andersson says in the interview and remembers it with warmth.
READ MORE: Swedish hockey unites in a beautiful decision – so the whole country must help Börje Salming: “One of the foremost”
“Is fantastic”
Many years later, Peter and Börje were also reunited far away from the ice rinks when both unexpectedly appeared in “The Prisoners at the Fort”. Just like in the 1992 Olympics, they were on the same team during the TV show.
– It was a different thing, incredibly fun and easy. Börje is a fantastic person, happy, pleasant, social – a very warm person who is easy to get along with and who is extremely caring, says Andersson and talks about his own feelings when he heard about Salming’s illness.
– I’ve obviously read about it, and it’s really nasty. A nasty disease, and it seems to go so damn fast too. It also feels strange, for me Börje is so totally associated with energy, freshness, and so this appears.
The SHL has decided to dedicate the entire round 21 to Börje Salming and will raise money for the hockey icon’s own foundation to promote research into ALS.