{"id":128155,"date":"2022-04-29T16:33:07","date_gmt":"2022-04-29T20:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=128155"},"modified":"2022-04-29T16:33:07","modified_gmt":"2022-04-29T20:33:07","slug":"swedish-red-wings-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2022\/04\/29\/swedish-red-wings-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Swedish Red Wings Success: A Decades-Old Tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2022\/04\/24\/filip-zadina-out-appendicitis\/\" target=\"_self\">Detroit Red Wings<\/a> have not had a lot to celebrate in the last 6 years.\u00a0 Their fortunes have soured, but soon might be much more Swede.\u00a0 As recently as the start of the semifinals of the SHL playoffs, it was clear Detroit would have a Swedish champion among their prospects.\u00a0 Swedish Red Wings success was back on the rise:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"sv\" dir=\"ltr\">SHL semifinal matchups are set:<\/p>\n<p>R\u00f6gle (Wallinder) vs. F\u00e4rjestad (Johansson)<\/p>\n<p>Lule\u00e5 (Andreasson) vs. Fr\u00f6lunda (Edvinsson\/S\u00f6derblom\/Niederbach)<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LGRW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#LGRW<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IcehockeyG\/status\/1513995274158489610?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 12, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Red Wings Relied on Swedish Success for Decades<\/h2>\n<p>The sudden influx of talent from Sweden is not shocking to Red Wings fans.\u00a0 The dependability of Swedish stars in Detroit goes back a long way.\u00a0 Drafted in the third round in 1989, 53rd overall, was arguably the most notable of all: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/l\/lidstni01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nicklas Lidstrom<\/a>.\u00a0 Dubbed &#8220;The Perfect Human&#8221;, Lidstrom&#8217;s presence helped bolster a team coming out of one of its worst slumps in history.\u00a0 Detroit was known for the better part of two decades as the Dead Wings until <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/y\/yzermst01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steve Yzerman<\/a> was drafted in 1983, but the early 90s is where the Wings started to fly again.<\/p>\n<p>While Yzerman was the heart and fellow 1989 draftee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/f\/fedorse01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sergei Fedorov<\/a> was the offensive punch, it was Lidstrom who shored up the defensive end of things.\u00a0 By the 1996-97 season, another Swedish defender would help lock down opponents in the form of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/e\/eriksan01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anders Eriksson<\/a>.\u00a0 They also added the man from Pitea who is synonymous with net-front presence: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/h\/holmsto01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tomas Holmstrom<\/a>.\u00a0 By June of 1997, those three would help the Red Wings raise their first Stanley Cup in 42 years.\u00a0 The trio would do it all over again the next season as Detroit won their second consecutive championship.<\/p>\n<p>Even after the departure of Eriksson in the 1998-99 season, the new millennium offered new opportunities.\u00a0 Enter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/o\/olausfr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fredrik Olausson<\/a>, who joined the Red Wings in search of a championship.\u00a0 The Cup had eluded Olausson for 14 NHL seasons before coming to Detroit.\u00a0 The new Swedish triumvirate fit in well on a stacked Red Wings squad that would boast no less than 10 future Hall of Famers on its way to a third Stanley Cup in six years.<\/p>\n<h3>Silver Success, Gold Glory: From Stanley to Turin<\/h3>\n<p>Before Detroit would again prove themselves best in the NHL, it was on the international stage where the Swedish Wings would showcase themselves.\u00a0 At the 2006 Winter Olympic Games, team Sweden iced five Detroit Red Wings: Lidstrom and Holmstrom, as well as defenceman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kronwni01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Niklas Kronwall<\/a> and forwards <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/samuemi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mikael Samuelsson<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/z\/zettehe01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Henrik Zetterberg<\/a>.\u00a0 No individual club had more representation on the 2006 Olympic team than Detroit.\u00a0 Team Sweden also had goaltender Stephan Liv, a Red Wings prospect, on their roster.\u00a0 He never debuted in the NHL before tragically passing away in the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash in 2011.\u00a0 Sweden went on to defeat rival nation Finland in the gold medal game 3-2 to stand at the top of the podium for only the second time, their first time since 1994.\u00a0 Nicklas Lidstrom was the team&#8217;s alternate captain, an honour that would help prepare him for what was to come.<\/p>\n<h3>The Red Wings&#8217; Swedish Mafia: Stanley Cup Champions<\/h3>\n<p>Two years later, the Red Wings would be back on the hunt for the Stanley Cup.\u00a0 With an astounding eight skaters, they were stocked as heavily with Swedish talent as they&#8217;d ever been.\u00a0 The five gold medal winners from Turin in 2006 were accompanied by three new additions: blueliners <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/e\/ericsjo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jonathan Ericsson<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/l\/liljaan01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andreas Lilja<\/a> and\u00a0power forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/f\/franzjo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Johan Franzen<\/a>.\u00a0 The group became known among the fanbase as the Swedish Mafia, and at the head of the table was Lidstrom who was now captain of Detroit.<\/p>\n<p>The majority of the 2008 playoffs certainly felt like the Wings were pulling all the strings, even getting away with a change in starting goalies two games in.\u00a0 As head coach Mike Babcock said at the time, teams are usually fishing a few days later when that becomes necessary, but it was the push that got the winged wheel wagon rolling.\u00a0 Across all four rounds, they would only surrender 6 losses, sweeping rival Colorado and beating Pittsburgh in the finals four games to two.\u00a0 Henrik Zetterberg would earn the Conn Smythe trophy for playoff MVP, while Nicklas Lidstrom became the first-ever European-born captain to hoist the Stanley Cup.<\/p>\n<h3>Can the Sequel Live Up to the Original?<\/h3>\n<p>There were no players from the 2008 championship team this season, let alone anyone from the Swedish Mafia.\u00a0 The next generation could be on the way if the Red Wings&#8217; prospects in the SHL playoffs are any indication.\u00a0 The return may have started with the fourth pick in the 2020 NHL draft.\u00a0 Could <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/r\/raymolu01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lucas Raymond<\/a> turn into the Gothenburg Godfather?\u00a0 Instead of a Godfather, maybe Gothenburg provides the team with a Goliath in six-foot seven-inch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockeydb.com\/ihdb\/stats\/pdisplay.php?pid=225171\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Elmer S\u00f6derblom<\/a>? Perhaps the new leader comes from the blueline as it did decades ago.\u00a0 Maybe what Detroit needs is a Kungsbacka Kingpin like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockeydb.com\/ihdb\/stats\/pdisplay.php?pid=238749\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Simon Edvinsson<\/a>, who may make his NHL debut next season.\u00a0 The candidates are many, but regardless of who ends up the face of the group they will be surrounded by family, talented and dangerous.\u00a0 Swedish Red Wings&#8217; success was a way of life in Hockeytown.\u00a0 Signs point to that success returning soon.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"cA4IHnLKR_FaXRMrmo_5aA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/113851003\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'cA4IHnLKR_FaXRMrmo_5aA',sig:'cOcHgHPSdkvBagzfj-U88iZ-0-nO6WJtC6_P1CseLGc=',w:'594px',h:'418px',items:'113851003',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Detroit Red Wings have not had a lot to celebrate in the last 6 years.\u00a0 Their fortunes have soured, but soon might be much more Swede.\u00a0 As recently as the start of the semifinals of the SHL playoffs, it was clear Detroit would have a Swedish champion among their prospects.\u00a0 Swedish Red Wings success [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4167,"featured_media":128190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4547,4548,2963],"tags":[292,3404,758,4224,2161,447,4257,6740,399,5149],"class_list":["post-128155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-olympics","tag-henrik-zetterberg","tag-johan-franzen","tag-jonathan-ericsson","tag-lucas-raymond","tag-nicklas-lidstrom","tag-niklas-kronwall","tag-sergei-fedorov","tag-simon-edvinsson","tag-steve-yzerman","tag-tomas-holmstrom"],"modified_by":"Noah Foster, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4167"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}