The New York Post e-Edition

How Sweden it is

Salming leaves behind lasting Leafs, NHL legacy

Larry Brooks

THE BEAUTIFUL part of it is that Borje Salming knew how the world perceived him before his passing as a victim of ALS on Thursday at age 71. The word “iconic” doesn’t quite do justice to the Hall of Fame defenseman. Salming was more that. He was revered.

He was revered not only as a player, but also as an individual. Love and adoration flowed to Salming as a groundbreaker who became a pioneering role model in opening the door for an influx of his fellow Swedes into the NHL after he conquered an unwelcoming, antagonistic environment that confronted him and any who might threaten the Canadian hegemony of the league.

Salming knew that. He knew that when he received a thunderous ovation at Maple Leaf Gardens during pregame introductions while representing Team Sweden prior to playing Team Canada in the 1976 Canada Cup. He knew that two weekends ago in Toronto on consecutive, emotional nights featuring one impromptu tribute and a second formal one that evoked tears.

Similarly, he knew that at the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation Centennial Gala celebrating the country’s all-time greatest players at Avicii Arena in Stockholm just over one week ago, when his introduction evoked an emotional response. Salming was not only a beloved hockey player, but also a beloved individual in the way of Rod Gilbert, Jean Beliveau and Gordie Howe, and a beloved cultural icon in the way of Maurice Richard.

Mika Zibanejad was born in 1993, three years after Salming retired from the NHL and the same year No. 21 stepped away from the Swedish League to which he had returned for his final three seasons. Zibanejad is of a different generation. But he’s not ignorant.

“From my personal experience, the guys I grew up watching were Nicklas Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin, Daniel Alfredsson,” Zibanejad told Slap Shots on Friday. “I was too young to see Salming play, and I’m sorry I never got the chance to interact with him, but I know what he did for our game.

“He opened doors for players from Sweden and Europe and changed everything for us, and that is because of his courage.”

Before Salming and countryman Inge Hammarstrom joined the Maple Leafs for the 1973-74 season, just three Swedes had played in the NHL. Ulf Sterner was the first, playing four games for the Rangers in 1964-65, but the slick center could not make the leap in an era in which European leagues did not permit bodychecking in the offensive zone.

Juha Widing, another center who played for the Rangers in 1969-70 before he was traded to the Kings for Ted Irvine, was next. Detroit defenseman Thommie Bergman joined the league in 1972-73. Salming and Hammarstrom came over a year later in a time during which those of his origin were painted as “Chicken Swedes.” By the way? In 2011, NBC analyst Mike Milbury called Daniel and Henrik Sedin “Thelma and Louise,” so there was that. Salming joined the Leafs in an era during which Bobby Orr was just going out; Denis Potvin, Brad Park, Serge Savard, Guy Lapointe and Larry Robinson dominated on the blue line; and Raymond Bourque was just coming into the NHL.

From 1974-75 — Salming’s sophomore season — through 1979-80, the Swede was the only defenseman to be named either first-team or secondteam All-Star in each of those six seasons. He was dominant at both ends of the ice, and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996.

Salming was one of a kind. He kicked the door down for people like Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson to join the Rangers in 1978-79 as the 12th and 13th Swedes to play in the NHL. They faced constant physical abuse. They endured the slings and arrows so others could follow.

Seventy-nine Swedes have played in the NHL this season.

“I know it was not easy for any of those players. All of us who are in the NHL now owe them a debt of gratitude,” Zibanejad said. “They paved the way for us.

“It’s not something I think about on a day-to-day basis, but I do try to keep that in mind. I’m very thankful for what they did. I want to be able to have the same positive influence and make things better for the next generation.

“That’s a way I can repay Borje.”

➤ The NHL gets younger and faster all the time, while Brian Boyle gets neither. But the 37-year-old center, currently unemployed as a free agent, should be a person of interest for Stanley Cup contenders looking to shore up their bottom sixes.

“I’m not retired,” the one-time Ranger and Devil said in a text exchange this week. “I’d love to be playing but so far the offers haven’t been there

Boyle, the 2018 Masterton winner, rehabbed from knee surgery after sustaining an injury in Game 6 of the Penguins’ first-round series against the Rangers.

“I was good in four weeks,” said Boyle, an inspirational figure after having conquered chronic myeloid leukemia. “I’m training hard and am staying ready. We’ll see.

“But all is great.”

In their first game at home in nearly two weeks, the Rangers left the Madison Square Garden ice to the sounds of boos.

It wasn’t surprising to hear from New York fans who had just watched what head coach Gerard Gallant called an “awful” and “embarrassing” final 20 minutes, in which the Rangers gave up four straight goals to allow the Oilers to bulldoze their way into a game they had no business being in after a strong two periods from the home team.

But as has been the case too many times this season, the Rangers lapsed for an entire period and it cost them in a 4-3 loss to Edmonton on Saturday afternoon at the Garden.

“We talk about it between periods, we talk about it to the players, sometimes it just happens,” Gallant said after the loss, which dropped the Rangers to 10-8-4. “It’s disappointing. We had a couple timeouts, we tried to reset here, let’s get it going again. Mistakes happen and then they get four goals in the third period for no reason besides us giving the opportunity. Two dumb penalties. Both goals. And then a couple goals in between that.”

The Rangers, who also lost Ryan Lindgren later in the third period, were sitting with a comfortable 3-0 lead when K’Andre Miller was sent to the box for hooking Warren

Foegele less than three minutes into the third period. After Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard scored his first goal of the season to get Edmonton on the board, the Rangers’ grasp on the game quickly weakened from there. Bouchard scored goal No. 2 roughly three minutes later, netting a slap shot through traffic to cut the Rangers’ lead to one.

Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin, who was in the hunt for his second shutout of the season until the 4:39 mark of the last 20, slipped up later in the third. Rookie Dylan Holloway tied the score at three-all with his first NHL goal off a wrist shot that Shesterkin usually stops.

The Rangers scrambled to stop the bleeding, but Alexis Lafreniere was penalized for removing Tyson Barrie’s helmet. Oilers star Leon Draisaitl capitalized on the power play to complete his team’s stunning rally with a gut-punch goal with just over two minutes left in regulation.

“I think once you back off, once you become a little passive, I thought we kind of got away from the things that we did so well in the first and the second and got us the lead,” Mika Zibanejad said. “They get 3-1 what? Two-and-ahalf minutes in? They start getting some momentum, they start getting the energy going and we couldn’t stop that.

“We couldn’t stop the momentum and try to get the momentum to go the other way. That’s obviously a tough one, a tough way to lose.”

Lindgren didn’t play for the final 13:04 after colliding with the Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. That forced the Rangers to switch up their defensive pairings and matchups, which had been working quite well for a majority of the game. The Rangers always seem to feel Lindgren’s absence more than that of most players, especially on defense.

There may have been a feeling of shock in the locker room, but there was also a level of frustration. The highly coveted 60-minute effort was within reach. The Rangers had limited the Oilers’ stars, Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, for much of the game. But another early goal to start a period threw the Rangers off and they allowed it to spiral from there.

“They better have a chat with them,” Gallant said of the veterans, who have likely experienced stretches like this. “There are a lot of guys responsible. It’s a team collapse. It’s not one guy. Sure, you’re disappointed with those penalties, but it’s a group of guys. That can’t happen. You’re playing the two best players in the world and we sit back and watch them dominate that third period.”

SUNDAY SPORTS

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2022-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://nypost.pressreader.com/article/282754885714550

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