WJC: Sweden announces WJC roster

[dr-nix]

One more question, does he always play on a line with MPS? Does it seem that he needs MPS to be effective or is it more that they feed off each other? Thanks in advance

They do have a good chemistry but they are by no means dependant upon each other.

 

[vippe]

A few years ago Lander was seen as the player with the most promise in his age group ahead of Hedman, MPS and so on.

I'm not sure if that is true? As far as I can remember all the talk was still about Hedman and MPS but Lander was talked about in the same sentense but not as much.

I might be mistaken but I cant really remember that he was praised as a superprospect even ahead of Hedman and MPS

 

[Garl]

I'm not sure if that is true? As far as I can remember all the talk was still about Hedman and MPS but Lander was talked about in the same sentense but not as much.

I might be mistaken but I cant really remember that he was praised as a superprospect even ahead of Hedman and MPS

Lander at one point was considered as the country's best 91 player. Hedman is 90 and was always more hyped than Lander.

MSP quickly got ahead of Anton, when he transferred to Timra.

 

[romelson]

Ekholm a lock?

For sure. I rank Ekholm ahead of for instance Urbom, Bertilsson and Kilstrom. Obviously Marts does too, which Im not that overly surprised about. Well, I'm pretty sure Kilstrom was the last d-man in, out of the six chosen. I've seen him many times in allsvenskan, he's solid.
Also, Mattias Ekholm, being a d-man, is the leading scoring junior player in Allsvenskan. He's even ahead of Oliver Ekman-Larsson in scoring.

 

[KRM]

For sure. I rank Ekholm ahead of for instance Urbom, Bertilsson and Kilstrom. Obviously Marts does too, which Im not that overly surprised about. Well, I'm pretty sure Kilstrom was the last d-man in, out of the six chosen. I've seen him many times in allsvenskan, he's solid.
Also, Mattias Ekholm, being a d-man, is the leading scoring junior player in Allsvenskan. He's even ahead of Oliver Ekman-Larsson in scoring.

Yea I know who he is and I had him pegged on the roster for over a year now, but I don't think he was considered a lock. Locks are/were Hedman and Karlsson if available, Larsson, OEL, Erixon, and Rundblad (unfortunately).

 

[joe89]

Wasn't Boustedt furious about the fact that some players choosed to leave juniors/some elite-program in Sweden to play juniors overseas? In my opinion, to leave out Urbom is nothing less than a punishment of exactly this matter. I don't know if the outburst from Urbom is accurate(if you read it), but it was something about MÃ¥rts never actually went to see him play and only watched him while they(J20) were playing some mediocre college teams, where there was only room to shine offensively.

Well, one can only speculate..

 

[romelson]

Yea I know who he is and I had him pegged on the roster for over a year now, but I don't think he was considered a lock. Locks are/were Hedman and Karlsson if available, Larsson, OEL, Erixon, and Rundblad (unfortunately).

But our postings referred to weren't from a year ago, they were from the days just before the squad was announced and then we knew that Hedman wasnt going to the JWC so if Hedman was a lock a year ago, that is quite irrelevant. If we count in Karlsson to the squad, Ekholm is clearly a top 6 d-man. IMO, the only question-mark was the 7th d-man spot, which went to Kilstrom. Well, of course the question-mark around Karlsson's appearance is still around of course too.

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

But our postings referred to weren't from a year ago, they were from the days just before the squad was announced and then we knew that Hedman wasnt going to the JWC so if Hedman was a lock a year ago, that is quite irrelevant. If we count in Karlsson to the squad, Ekholm is clearly a top 6 d-man. IMO, the only question-mark was the 7th d-man spot, which went to Kilstrom. Well, of course the question-mark around Karlsson's appearance is still around of course too.

Does this mean I made a huge gaffe selecting Peter Andersson ahead of Ekholm in my sim league draft this past summer? They were both on the board, and I went with Andersson because I liked the look of him at the U18 last Spring.

 

[Garl]

Does this mean I made a huge gaffe selecting Peter Andersson ahead of Ekholm in my sim league draft this past summer? They were both on the board, and I went with Andersson because I liked the look of him at the U18 last Spring.

Ekholm is 19, Andersson is 18.

 

[Hossa]

Very good. He's big, a good skater and a brilliant passer. But he should improve his defensive game and play tougher. Should play in SEL or AHL next season.

Thanks Pellegrino.

It seems like he's been progressing at a pretty accelerated rate the last couple of years. Passed over in his original draft year, took a real step forward last year, and another this year. What's the story there? And just how good could he be? After the big names, Urbom is the Swedish defenceman that has been getting a lot of attention, not Ekholm.

 

[CharlieGirl]

Landeskog and Patrik Andersson (teammates at Kitchener) are both on the reserve list in case someone is injured prior to the rosters being set.

http://therecord.blogs.com/rangers_rap/

Please stay healthy Sweden!

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

I guess Bryan Murray will inform Sweden by the end of the week if they'll have Karlsson or not.

 

[Pellegrino]

Thanks Pellegrino.

It seems like he's been progressing at a pretty accelerated rate the last couple of years. Passed over in his original draft year, took a real step forward last year, and another this year. What's the story there? And just how good could he be? After the big names, Urbom is the Swedish defenceman that has been getting a lot of attention, not Ekholm.

It's difficult to say how good he could be. So far, Ekholm reminds me of Lars Jonsson, who is a good SEL player but never made it in North America, rather than any NHL player, but he has showed good improvement during the last years and who knows what can happen if he continues like that.

It's going to be exciting to see him against world class juniors in WJC. SEL-2 is a good league, but it's not SEL, and it's definitely not KHL/NHL-level.

Just like Ekman-Larsson, Ekholm gets a lot of ice time in SEL-2 and shines. Ekholm has also showed good leadership skills, despite the fact that he's a lot younger than most team mates, which has to be a good thing in my opninion.

Urbom isn't hyped in Sweden. I can't see the big deal about him. Just another big D-man, there are plenty of those in North America. Ekholm is not the same type of player.

 

[helicecopter]

I guess Bryan Murray will inform Sweden by the end of the week if they'll have Karlsson or not.

Ehm.. it's the new week already.. and i didn't read any news about that

 

[tyler_sens]

Listening to the Ottawa Senators pre game show on the radio (They play the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight), www.team1200.com, and Bryan Murray just annouced that Erik Karlsson will not be released for the WJC because he is playing on the big club.

 

[Jim Morrison]

Listening to the Ottawa Senators pre game show on the radio (They play the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight), www.team1200.com, and Bryan Murray just annouced that Erik Karlsson will not be released for the WJC because he is playing on the big club.

Ok, good luck to him!

Now Philly fans will see Bertilsson play He's got that edge to him too.

 

[deanosaur]

Urbom should have made it.

 

[Pentothal]

Sweden's D will still be impressive, but it's no doubt a huge loss to miss out on Karlsson. At this level he's immense.

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

Good to see Bertilsson make it, although I guess that 7th D will not get much ice time, like Tim Erixon last year.

 

[DJB]

Now that the Swedish team is pretty well set, if they have been praciticing, any updates on what the lineup is looking like?

 

[Blender]

Urbom isn't hyped in Sweden. I can't see the big deal about him. Just another big D-man, there are plenty of those in North America. Ekholm is not the same type of player.

I believe he is hyped over here because when he came over, he had little offensive skills but almost made the Devils because of how good his defensive game is. He put up very few, if any, points in Sweden. He was known as a big, defensive guy, that's all. He is currently a +18 and is on pace for a 40 point season. To draw comparisons, Luke Schenn's best season in the WHL was 28 points and a +5, he's struggling this year but he still made the NHL and had a lot of hype around him in his draft year. Tyler Myers best season was 42 points and +31 and he is now on his way to becoming a top defenseman in the NHL.

 

[JetLi]

No WJC for Bertilsson because of kneeinjury

 

[britdevil]

No WJC for Bertilsson because of kneeinjury

Leaving Urbom off the roster is looking even more ridiculous right now.

 

[Hossa]

No WJC for Bertilsson because of kneeinjury

So, who is the 7th? No Karlsson, no Bertilsson, who is taking that vacant spot.

 

[joe89]

By this logic, Urbom wasn't even top9(?). Not in the current top6, and with Hedman, Karlsson and Bertilsson picked before him not going. That is kind of hard to grasp.