Hockey legend Börje Salming returned to Toronto, where he spent most of his playing career. He suffers from the rare disease ALS. Salming’s return brought an emotional moment before the Pittsburgh game.
Swedish hockey legend Börje Salming has a rare disease ALS motoneuron disease (you move to another service). A serious illness degenerates the functioning motor neurons of the muscles and in this way affects, for example, the ability to speak and move.
71-year-old Salming has already lost his ability to speak and communicate with loved ones via tablet (you switch to another service). His ability to eat and walk has also deteriorated.
In his career, Salming was one of the first European players to play a major role in the NHL. The defender is considered a pioneering factor for Swedish players breaking into North American rinks. He is also counted as one of the best Swedish ice hockey players of all time.
Salming is especially loved in Toronto, where his long NHL career began and for the most part was spent. He represented the Toronto Maple Leafs for 16 seasons and during his years he took possession of six internal club records. In total, he played 1148 NHL games, with 150+637 power points.
Salming, known by the nickname “The King” (Finnish: “Kuningas”), still holds, among other things, the club’s all-time and single-season points record for defenders.
Despite the challenges of ALS, Salming is back in Toronto this week. He wants to be present at the event of the hockey Hall of Fame in the city, where the Gallery of Honor will receive more new members. Swedes will receive the honor this year Henrik and Daniel Sedin mixed Daniel Alfredsson. Finland is selected for the gallery Riikka Sallinen. Salming himself was the first Swede elected to the Hall of Fame in 1998.
Last night, Finnish time, Salming also returned to the Toronto game. He was introduced as part of a group of Hall of Fame inductees who had arrived for the regular season game between the Maple Leafs and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
For Salming, the Toronto audience stood up to show their appreciation. The Swede received a long round of applause, which rose again and again into a storm of screams. An old teammate standing next to Salming Darryl Sittler burst into tears and raised the Swede’s hand in the air. Salming was also moved to tears and those standing on the other side Mats Sundin wiped her tears.
You can watch a moving moment of the main picture of the story in the video on the spot.
The ALS disease was revealed the other summer
Salming told about his ALS diagnosis in the summer of 2021. The disease has progressed aggressively for the puck legend, as he got the first signs of the disease in February. The speech difficulties started in May 2021.
ALS has progressed to Salming’s throat, making it difficult for him to eat. He has been fitted with a feeding tube that goes all the way to his stomach.
An incurable disease eventually leads to death. For Salming, the values taken from the spinal cord were exceptionally high. People with the disease have been estimated to live up to seven years with a value of 500. The value obtained from Salming’s sample was 1500.
In Finland, 450-500 people suffer from ALS, according to the Muscle Association.
Salming’s moment in the Toronto match was also noted after the struggle itself.
– He is an icon. Both here and at home in Sweden. I have had the opportunity to meet him a couple of times and talk with him. He is a person that everyone looks up to, Toronto’s Swedish defender Rasmus Sandin described after the match Yahoo Sports (you are moving to another service) by.
The match between the Maple Leafs and the Penguins ended with the guests winning 4–2.
Toronto announced that it will remember Salming separately before the Vancouver Canucks game on the night between Saturday and Sunday.