Börje Salming was about to join the NHL.
Then what was not allowed to happen happened.
But he withdrew from Toronto – and that may have saved his entire career.
Börje Salming had made a big impact at home in Sweden and in Brynäs, but the step over to North America was big. Hardly any European had succeeded, and not many people believed in Salming and his friend Inge Hammarström this time.
Dominated immediately
But Salming – and Inge for that matter – was not like everyone else. Before the trip over to North America, Salming had been training hard, and the same could not be said about his new teammates. It was a different time – a time when NHL players were as good at drinking beer as playing hockey, and that gave Salming a real advantage.
He came to Toronto and already during his first training sessions he understood how big a difference there was between his physical status and that of his new teammates. Salming quickly realized that he would get a place on the team, but then something happened that was not allowed to happen. During training camp before the NHL premiere, Salming picked up an old back injury.
Withheld the secret
In the 80’s, a Swedish newspaper was on site in Toronto to meet Salming, and he then told that it “cuts like knives in the back” every time he played. However, Salming chose to keep it a secret from the Toronto Maple Leafs, as he was afraid of losing his place in the team. Salming had problems – but he stood out in 17 matches.
According to the newspaper, then a “corset maker and vertebrate” will get their back problems in order, and the rest is, as they say, history. Despite the back problems, Toronto was overjoyed with his finding, and had Salming not been silent about the back injury, he might have lost his place, and thus also his incredible NHL career.
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