the game against canada was a group game. against belarus not enough players went to the net. thats something wernblom and nilson would have helped with, both of them where good players aswell. they could do anything johansson and jonsson did but bring other stuff aswell.
I know they were good players and what you’re saying is fine, conventional hockey cliches after any loss: but Sweden had plenty of toughness on that roster, and it’s not why they lost to Belarus in 2002.
Sweden was expecting an easier ride than they got and were shocked and in disarray each time Belarus scored. They were not mentally prepared for a tight game and the uphill struggle from allowing bad goals against an underdog team on a mission.
Sweden only really played well in the second period where they should have buried their opponents if not for Andrei Mezin having the game of his life in net. Plenty of Swedes drove the net: guys like Sundin, Alfredsson, Renberg, Dahlén, Jönsson, Holmström, etc, were not afraid of the opposing players and got in close to create screens and havoc, and to bat at rebounds in front of Mezin. Ruslan Salei was giving Holmström a hard time but it’s not as if it was anything extreme or out of the ordinary for him.
Should also be noted that international competition usually is refereed more strictly (and badly, to be frank), deterring overly physical play, with this game not being an exception, and the refs missing blatant dives and embellishments which Belarusian players successfully exploited to draw penalties several times.
I cannot look at that roster and go “well there’s the problem, that’s just a bunch of perimeter skill guys”, no: that roster should beat Belarus seven days a week and twice on Sundays. Belarus rode a hot goalie and fought and clawed and dove, whereas Sweden received a shoddy performance from its goaltender, and their skaters entered the game arrogant and unprepared, and generally just crapped their pants in face of adversity.
Yes, Sweden beat Canada in the group stage, but that was beautifully designed. The torpedo system was a wonderful idea and that was arguably its greatest moment. It was specifically designed to combat the neutral zone trap employed by something like 80% of NHL teams, but also had been a successful system for Frölunda in Sweden. The trap was also used by Team Canada in 2002 and it was glorious seeing it deconstructed the way Sweden managed in the group stage.
I can’t say Sweden would beat Canada again in an elimination game, as they completely blew it with a ridiculous display against an inferior team, and as they would continue to fail under Hardy’s tenure, but it’s a real shame we never got to experience that game.