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WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY MEDIA CONFERENCEMarch 2, 2016Tommy BoustedtPeter ForsbergQ. My question would be for Tommy. I would just like to know how team management has addressed the very good depth that you have on defense which is obviously causing John Klingberg not to be on that first roster of players. TOMMY BOUSTEDT: Yeah, we need both good offense and defense on our team, and I think we have that right now with these six players, these six defensemen. We have very skilled players like Erik Karlsson and Oliver Ekman‑Larsson, and we have very good defense skill players like Hjalmarsson and Kronwall, and both Stralman and Victor Hedman can play well in both ends of the ice. I think these six guys play well together, and I think it's a situation about competing about this sport. And these six players have also played many important games in playoffs and in world championships and Olympics and so on. It will be a tough round for that seventh D spot, and John Klingberg, of course, is one very strong contender for that seventh spot, but I think so far we have picked the best six defenders. When you're building a team, you can't only look at like having very skilled defensive D‑men, you need some guys to block shots and shut down the opponent's best line and so on, and we have players that can do that, too, and we have very offensive skilled D‑men, as well, like an Erik Karlsson and Oliver Ekman‑Larsson, so so far I think we have picked the six right names to build a strong team from behind from the D‑man position. Q. You mentioned quickly that those guys and their experience in big games, whether it's playoffs or international hockey. Was maybe that lack of experience something that might have cost, as well, John Klingberg given the fact that he's fairly young? TOMMY BOUSTEDT: Yeah, he's not as experienced as these six D‑men yet, but he'll probably be experienced in a couple of years' time. But so far he's not off the team. He can be on the team with a good end of the season and a good playoffs, as well. But I think that experience in these six D‑men that we have chosen so far is very important, and that's one of the reasons that they are picked to be on the team. Q. Peter, what are your thoughts about the amount and depth of talent that you're able to put together on this team in a nice, balanced mix of youngsters and veteran guys? PETER FORSBERG: I think I have to address this question to Tommy or Rikard because I'm not the man to pick out the team, so I think it's better you do it with Tommy or Rikard when he comes in here. Q. Tommy, what do you make of‑‑ you've got a nice mix of talent; it has to be difficult to get to 16 and have some younger forwards on the team like Filip and some of the guys. TOMMY BOUSTEDT: Yeah, well, it's like when you're building a team, you need different skills on the ice and different skills in the dressing room. You need veteran players that have been around, and you also need young players. Young players, they are a little bit different than old players, and the mix is very important. You can not only have old players that have been around for a long time, and you can not only have young players that have not been around for a while. So you need both of them, and I think we have a good variety of players to choose from. We have 83 players in the National League right now, and I think we can put together a pretty strong team, both with older players and younger players and offensive players and defensive skilled players and tough players and more technical players and so on. So I think we have the variety of put the strong team together. Q. And as a follow‑up, what do you make of the depth of the pool that you can choose from? I know you've had solid teams in the past, but where do you gauge where Sweden's depth of talent is compared to say Turin or going back 20 years? TOMMY BOUSTEDT: I my we have totally more players to choose from today because we have 83 players in the National League. We've never had that many players before. And that's a new world record for European countries. I think the Czechs had the old record with like 75 or 80 players, something like that, 10, 15 years ago. But we have 83 players today, and we've never been close to that before. I think last year we had 70, 72 players or something like that, and if you go back 10 years, we had 40 players in the National League. If I look at players like Mats Sundin, Nick Lidstrom, Daniel Alfredsson, Peter Forsberg, that quality of players is really tough to have in a small country every year. It's like a 10‑year cycle, I think, with these really big stars. So maybe we don't have a Nick Lidstrom on the team but very close with a couple of other defenders, and maybe we don't have a Peter Forsberg on the team but very close with a couple of other offensive guys there. But I think we have a strong group of players today, maybe one of the strongest ever in Swedish hockey history. Q. Tommy, I just wanted to know who should we look at as candidates for that third goalie spot on the roster? TOMMY BOUSTEDT: We are looking at like five, six goalies right now that are competing about that spot. It's hard for us to decide today, because the end of the regular season is important and the playoffs is important, as well. It's a hard run right now for that third spot, and I think it's around between five or six goalies right now. Q. I would guess Robin Lehner will probably be among them; the fact that he hasn't played much thus far, I'm guessing you'll be looking closely at what he does for the rest of the season? TOMMY BOUSTEDT: Yeah, after his injury and before the injury, he played very well, and we expect him to play very well the rest of the season, too. He's obviously one of the candidates that we are looking at. Yeah, that's sure. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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