PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Tommy Salo is one of our top goalies in Swedish hockey.
But he never forgets when he was taken by the police – and Kenny Jönsson acted in the best way.
– He means a lot to me as a friend, Salo admits to HockeySverige.
Far too often, the goalkeeper becomes the legend Tommy Salo most associated with the unforgettable fiasco against Belarus. When he misjudged a shot from long range and let the puck in in the deadliest way.
Salo’s success
But we must never forget all the amazing things that Salo accomplished between the posts and what an incredibly successful career he had as a cage keeper. The goalkeeping icon has won both Olympic gold and World Cup gold with Tre Kronor and won eight championship medals during his 112 international matches in the blue and yellow national team uniform.
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Three times in a row during 1997-99, Salo has been named the WC’s best goalkeeper and he is also one of the few to be awarded six wasps by Expressen after a match. The career took off in Västerås before the move went to North America where the Swede guarded the box in 526 NHL games.
The friend Jönsson
It was five seasons in the New York Islanders and Tommy Salo found a nice friendship with his teammate Kenny Jonsson.
– Kenny is three years younger than me. He came to the Islanders from Toronto in my second season there. We both hung out a lot. Most of the time, I, Kenny and Niklas (Andersson) went to training and matches together. Often a lot of tan in the car. We took turns driving, the goalie hero tells HockeySverige.
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But one day Salo got into trouble when he was driving to practice and was caught by the police.
– One day when I was driving, I picked Kenny up. Then I went there for speeding. Kenny didn’t laugh but just sat there and was silent. I told the guys in the team about the speeding. Then they told me to have goalkeeper sticks with me in the car, so you can give one to the police and maybe avoid a fine, he says in the interview.
READ MORE: Tommy Salo reveals when Peter Forsberg completely outed him – and went on the attack: “He went completely crazy”
That would turn out to be a really stupid idea. But Jönsson responded in the best way by showing great respect for his friend and teammate.
– Of course I went there in the same place on day two. Kenny wasn’t laughing now either, but was silent. I tried to bribe the police with that goalkeeper stick, but then I went there for both bribery and speeding. When I got down to the hall I said “thanks guys, now I’ve also gone there to bribe the police”. Actually, I was supposed to go back that summer to participate in a police investigation, but I didn’t. At least I had to pay the fine. Everyone in the locker room except Kenny laughed at me. Now I really want to underline what a good guy Kenny is and he came to mean a lot to me as a friend both in New York, but also when we played in the national team together, admits Tommy Salo.
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