Alfredsson return leads NHL-heavy roster for Sweden

Tuesday, 01.07.2014 / 10:48 AM

By NHL.com Staff -  / Road to Sochi blog

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Road to Sochi blog
Alfredsson return leads NHL-heavy roster for Sweden

Sweden announced its roster for the 2014 Sochi Olympics on Tuesday, naming a team heavy on NHL players, including veteran Detroit Red Wings forward Daniel Alfredsson, who gets a last shot at Olympic glory.

Sweden will have 12 players back from the team that lost in the quarterfinals four years ago in Vancouver.

Among that group is Alfredsson, who will be playing in his fifth Olympic Games. He had three goals in four games in 2010 in Vancouver. The 41-year-old forward has 11 goals and 30 points in 37 games this season with the Red Wings.

He'll be joined in Sochi by five Red Wings teammates, including four who were on the team in Vancouver: Goaltender Jonas Gustavsson, defenseman Niklas Kronwall and forwards Johan Franzen and Henrik Zetterberg. Also named to the team was defenseman Jonathan Ericsson.

One of Alfredsson's former teammates with the Ottawa Senators will be on the same team with him again in Sochi, Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson. The 2012 Norris Trophy winner is tied for the lead among NHL defensemen with 10 goals and his 39 points are second.

Henrik Tallinder of the Buffalo Sabres and Johnny Oduya of the Chicago Blackhawks also will return to the team from four years ago in Vancouver. Oduya's defense partner with the Blackhawks, Niklas Hjalmarsson, also made the team.

Among the returning forwards is Nicklas Backstrom of the Washington Capitals, who led the team in scoring with six points in four games. Other forwards back from the Vancouver team are Loui Eriksson of the Boston Bruins and Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks.

The only non-NHL player to make the roster was forward Jimmie Ericsson, who plays for Skelleftea in the Swedish Hockey League and is Jonathan Ericsson's brother. Jimmie has 10 goals and 21 points in 31 SHL games and has represented Sweden at the 2010, 2011 and 2013 IIHF World Championship.

Expected to start again in goal is Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers. Lundqvist has had an up-and-down NHL season, but he was stellar in 2010, posting a 1.34 goals-against average and .927 save percentage in four games.

Gustavsson and the Buffalo Sabres' Jhonas Enroth will compete for time as the backup goaltender.

Here is the full roster:

Goaltenders: Jhonas Enroth, Buffalo Sabres; Jonas Gustavsson, Detroit Red Wings; Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers

Defensemen: Alexander Edler, Vancouver Canucks; Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Phoenix Coyotes; Jonathan Ericsson, Detroit Red Wings; Niklas Hjalmarsson, Chicago Blackhawks; Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators; Niklas Kronwall, Detroit Red Wings; Johnny Oduya, Chicago Blackhawks; Henrik Tallinder, Buffalo Sabres

Forwards: Daniel Alfredsson, Detroit Red Wings; Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals; Patrik Berglund, St. Louis Blues; Jimmie Ericsson, Skelleftea AIK (SWE); Loui Eriksson, Boston Bruins; Johan Franzen, Detroit Red Wings; Carl Hagelin, New York Rangers; Marcus Kruger, Chicago Blackhawks; Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche; Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks; Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks; Jakob Silfverberg, Anaheim Ducks; Alexander Steen, St. Louis Blues; Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings

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