Gold, Nilly gold!

When the Vancouver Canucks season ended in early April, Anders Nilsson shut it down after a tough year, physically and mentally. He took a couple weeks away from the rink and wasn't skating or working out and even planned a vacation to Los Angeles to help him unwind. That's where he was when the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation called to see if he'd be willing to join the team for the 2018 IIHF World Championship in Denmark.

"I had the mindset that if they would ask me, I would go," Nilsson explained. "I felt like I had more hockey in me and I wanted to play more this season, but the goalie situation in Sweden is that we have a lot of really good goalies and you never know who they're going to ask and who is going to say yes. So, I was very happy when they called and asked. I said yes right away."
He scrambled to get his gear and get on the next flight to Sweden to join the team before they headed to Copenhagen for this year's tournament. Three weeks later, the 28-year-old goalie, who had participated in three previous world championships earning a silver and a bronze, is now a world champion as Sweden defeated Switzerland 3-2 in a shootout in the gold medal game this past weekend.
Tweet from @Canucks: Cool under pressure, Anders Nilsson makes one last save to win GOLD for ����#IIHFWorlds #SWEvsSUI pic.twitter.com/OTR0lPDcsL
Although he didn't start the tournament as Sweden's number one goalie, once he got his chance, he quickly made a case for himself with shutouts against France and Austria. When Magnus Hellberg struggled against Slovakia, Sweden's head coach Rikard Gronborg decided to start Nilsson against Switzerland and again against Russia with first place on the line as the preliminary round came to a close early last week.
"Anders came in and had been on vacation for three weeks, so it was important for us to get him some games and ease him in a little bit," Gronborg explained. "Helberg had been playing almost a month with us so he understood our systems. So we started out with Hellberg, but with Nilsson and the way he's been playing, he's done a great job for us and has helped stabilize our defense because when you have that kind of presence out there it helps the defenders make better decisions."
In seven games played, Nilsson only allowed eight goals and finished the tournament with a .954 save percentage, a 1.09 goals against average and three shutouts. Good enough to earn tournament All-Star Team honors and the shiny new gold medal hanging around his neck.

"He's got a huge body and is pretty flexible," Gronborg said of the 6-foot-6, 230 pound goalie. "He's pretty intimidating when you're coming down on him one-on-one. He's saved a couple breakaways. As a coach I'm not happy we gave them up, but it's great to know that we have him back there to clean it up and make those save. We can play a little more aggressive offensive game if you know he's going to make saves like that."
Nilsson was integral in the championships win making 25 saves though 80 minutes of play and four more in the shootout to secure back-to-back world championship titles for Sweden in front of a largely hometown crowd as Sweden is just a 20 minute drive over the Oresund Bridge away.
"These fans have been incredible," Nilsson said. "Every game feels like it's back in Sweden and we're so thankful for their support and that they could share in this with us. Hearing the national anthem was awesome tonight with everyone singing... It's something I won't forget."
As he heads into the second year of his contract with the Canucks, Nilsson is looking to build on the confidence he gained in Denmark.
"I want to work on my quickness and try to be more explosive and have better agility," he said. "I want to bring this positive feeling with me into camp next season and build from there because winning is fun. This is just such a great feeling. It's tough to put into words, but I'm just really happy."