The Swedish national junior hockey team took to the ice Sunday and Monday at the Olds Sports Complex, prior to playing an exhibition match tonight against Team Denmark. The match is a warm-up game to the International Ice Hockey Federation's annual men's Under 20 World Championships, scheduled to be played Dec. 26 through January 5, 2012 in Calgary and Edmonton.
The team arrived from Stockholm on Sunday before taking to the ice in the early evening, working on numerous drills in preparation for the tournament.
Roger Rommberg, the team's head coach, said the team would be getting in as much practice time as possible before leaving Olds on Thursday. He said there are several things that will help the players by being in Olds, including the eight-hour time difference.
“We had to fight through the jet lag. We have to get used to the small ice, it's a huge difference in (comparison) to the international ice,” he said.
One of the keys that the team is working on prior to the tournament is special-team play, Rommberg said.
The team was chosen on Dec. 17 after having run a five-day camp in Sweden earlier this month. The bulk of this year's squad is newcomers who haven't played for the U-20 national team before. A total of seven players returned from last year's ouster in the semifinals against Russia. Rommberg said those players are looking for a better result this time around.
“We felt we were playing good enough to make it to the finals but unfortunately we didn't do our best game the last game,” he said.
A total of 18 of the 23 players on the roster have been drafted by NHL clubs. One of those is Johan Sundstrom, a 19-year-old who was part of last year's team. The New York Islanders selected him 50th overall in this past June's draft. The six-foot-two, 200-pound forward is currently playing in Sweden with Frolunda.
“They are really excited to get over here and watch me play in front of their ice,” he said.
Sundstrom said despite being knocked out in the semifinals last year, the team is brimming with confidence.
“We know we can beat all the teams here, we just have to have our best game (in the) last game,” he said.
Sundstrom said part of the success this year will hinge on players' accepting their roles within the team's framework. For many players such as himself, having to deal with the smaller North American ice surface will be a challenge.
“I would call it a big difference, because it's smaller, faster, the hits is more,” he said, adding that he enjoys every opportunity to put on Sweden's colours in international play.
"We felt we were playing good enough to make it to the finals (of the world junior tournament last year) but unfortunately we didn't do our best game the last game."Roger Rommberg, head coach, Swedish national U-20 hockey team
