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| Saturday, December 22 Swedes save roster spot for Forsberg Associated Press |
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STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Sweden, one of the favorites to win the Olympic hockey gold medal, selected 11 NHL players Saturday for its final 13 roster spots. Johan Hedberg of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Mikael Tellqvist of the Toronto Maple Leafs were picked as backup goaltenders behind Tommy Salo of the Edmonton Oilers. Also selected were Magnus Arvedson of the Ottawa Senators, P.J. Axelsson of the Boston Bruins, Ulf Dahlen of the Washington Capitals, Tomas Holmstrom of the Detroit Red Wings, Kim Johnsson of the Philadelphia Flyers, Kenny Jonsson of the New York Islanders, Fredrik Olausson of Detroit and Marcus Ragnarsson and Niklas Sundstrom of the San Jose Sharks. Picked from Sweden's Elite League were center Mathias Johansson of Farjestad and forward Henrik Zetterberg of Timra, the league's rookie of the year last season. Earlier defense picks were Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit), Mattias Ohlund (Vancouver) and Mattias Norstrom (Los Angeles). Early forward picks were Daniel Alfredsson (Ottawa), Peter Forsberg (Colorado), Markus Naslund (Vancouver), Mats Sundin (Toronto) and former NHLer Jorgen Jonsson of Farjestad in the elite league. Forsberg, who scored the game-winner against Canada in the 1994 Olympics, hasn't played since September, when he said his body hurt. According to IIHF rules, the Swedes can keep a roster spot for Forsberg until Feb. 14, the day before the Olympic tournament starts. |
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