Sweden's gold medal victory over Canada at the 1994 Olympic Games in Lillehammer had a profound effect on Anaheim's Samuel Pahlsson as a teenager.

Pahlsson pumped about
Olympic debut
By Doug Ward | NHL.com correspondent
Feb. 17, 2006

Back before he was a member of Team Sweden, back when he viewed the Olympics strictly as reality television at its best, Samuel Pahlsson never missed a game. If Sweden was playing, Pahlsson was there right along with his countrymen, experiencing all the emotions of hockey's biggest tournament in absentia.

When the 28-year-old center dons his nation's classic blue and gold jersey with the three crowns in Torino, he will technically be an Olympian for the first time. But, through the magic of television, Pahlsson feels like he has already been through it all before.

Pahlsson's eyes were glued to the television back in 1994, when Peter Forsberg put the puck past Team Canada goaltender Corey Hirsch on a shootout to give Sweden its first Olympic gold medal in hockey at the Lillehammer Games.

"The shootout for the gold medal in 1994 is a big memory for me," says Pahlsson, clad in shirtsleeves and looking a long way from his Scandinavian roots on a sun-swept Southern California February day. "I was probably 16 at the time of the Lillehammer Games, and I remember watching the gold-medal game with some friends. It was a great moment. Unbelievable. Sweden getting a gold medal in the Olympics was a very big thing for everyone back home."

That was the summit. Four years ago, Sweden fell deep into to the valley below. In a quarterfinal game against Belarus, the heavily favored Swedes fell, 4-3, when a 70-foot shot by Vladimir Kopat deflected off goaltender Tommy Salo's head and found the back of the net with 2:24 remaining in the contest.

The newspapers back home referred to it as "Sweden's worst-ever Olympic fiasco," a description no one disputed.

"I don't understand how we could lose to this team," Sweden''s captain, Mats Sundin, said at the time.

"I watched that game, too," Pahlsson says, somewhat sheepishly. "I was over here at that time, on a little vacation. It's a reminder that if you don't play good, any team can beat any other team. If one team gets lucky and has a good game, and the other team has a bad game, anything is possible. That's what can happen in such a short tournament."

Pahlsson would much rather talk about his nation's gold-medal glory of '94. But, as painful as the memories of four years ago in West Valley City, Utah, are to relive, Pahlsson admits they are probably more constructive than going over Forsberg's '94 heroics.

"It's history, yes," Pahlsson says, "but we sill get reminded of it all the time. I don't think anybody wants to go through that again. Of course, we have to take the positives from that, and take it with you. We will use that game in a positive way."

Pahlsson, a center, was originally drafted by Colorado in the seventh round (176th overall) in 1996 before being sent to Boston as part of the Ray Bourque deal in March of 2000. Eight months later, the Bruins shipped him to Anaheim, where he is now in his fifth season with the Ducks.

In his first trip to the Olympics, Pahlsson is determined to see the positive in most everything.

"It's my first Olympics," he says, "and it's such a big tournament. All the best players are going to be there, so I'm really looking forward to it."

While Pahlsson views defending champion Canada as one of the tournament's biggest obstacles, he says he and his teammates won't make the mistake of taking anyone lightly this time around. Not after what happened in Utah.

"There are a lot of good teams," Pahlsson says, "and Canada is always a really good team. But there are a lot of teams that can win the gold if they get it going and play their best hockey."

"It's my first Olympics, and it's such a big tournament. All the best players are going to be there, so I'm really looking forward to it." -- Samuel Pahlsson

In his first 54 games with the Mighty Ducks this season, Pahlsson had a mere three goals and 11 points. But with Pahlsson, a checking forward, offensive production is a bonus. That means someone other than Pahlsson will need to step up to take up the slack left by the absence of one of Sweden's best offensive players. Vancouver left wing Markus Naslund recently opted out of the Games, due to a groin injury.

"We wanted to have Markus play," Pahlsson admits, "but we've another guy (Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom) in who can play, too. Of course, we'll miss Markus, but we'll still do our best without him."

Sweden's chief hockey export, center Peter Forsberg has battled a nagging groin injury, but hopes to play in his third Olympics. He and Pahlsson have Ornskoldsvic, a town of 56,000 located about 340 miles from Stockholm on Sweden's northeast coast, in common.

"I moved there when I was 15," Pahlsson says of the hockey-crazed town that also produced Naslund, as well as twin brothers Daniel and Henrik Sedin. Ornskoldsvic is also home of MoDo Hockey (named for a company that produces paper and pulp), where Pahlsson played for six seasons.

"I didn't really grow up there," Pahlsson says, "and Peter is a older than me, so I didn't know him back then, but I've played with him before, and he's in an unbelievable player. Playing with Peter will be very fun. I really feel lucky to be able to play with him because he changes everything and makes it fun."

In Sweden, international hockey tournaments are fun for most everyone.

"Hockey is a big thing in Sweden," Pahlsson says. "Playing for Sweden is a big honor. Everyone will be watching the Olympic Games, so you want to do your best."

Through both the best and the worst of times, Pahlsson has always been with the Swedish Olympic team in spirit. This time, he'll be there in body, too.