Bratt Reflects on Three Swedes Entering Hockey Hall of Fame | FEATURE

The Canadian province of Ontario, where the Devils will be on Thursday night, is 14.57 million people.
The entire country of Sweden is 10.42 million people.
That is in part why it was such a big deal to see three Swedes enter the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday night, together.
Daniel and Henrik Sedin, along with Daniel Alfredsson all entered the Hall yesterday, and you can be sure that the hockey world in Sweden was feeling something special.
One province over to the East of Ontario, I caught up with Jesper Bratt in the visitors' locker room at the Bell Centre. Bratt is among the newest generation of high-flying Swedish talent that has taken the league by storm. It is not by accident either, because someone must lead the way. Like Nik Lidstrom before them, the Sedin brothers and Alfredsson are looked to in the same way.
"They've been a huge part of Swedish hockey overall," Bratt shared, "for so many years, they inspired so many people, including me, to kind of do the journey that they have done. From smaller towns, a smaller country like Sweden to make it over here (in the NHL)."

That might be the most significant thing in how Bratt holds these players in high regard. The year Bratt, 24, was born, Alfredsson was already in his third NHL season, so when I suggested that the former Ottawa Senators captain and the twin brothers were more impactful on a generation before Bratt, he was quick to make note that one of his best Swedish hockey memories involve all three players. It's one of the first things Bratt points out when asked about his fellow countrymen.
"I definitely watched them a lot, and I'll say especially in the lockout year in 2004-05. They all came back to Sweden. That was awesome watching that, that was probably the best, the best season that there has ever been in the Swedish Elite League."
What feels the most tangible when talking to Bratt about these three players is the way he talks about their characters. It feels as though only a player who comes from a small - yet mighty - hockey country like Sweden can really put it into words. It's part of seeing, and in turn, believing, that one of your own has made it, so why not you? Despite being generations apart, the dreams are still the same and are relatable.
It's why watching these three players enter the Hall is significant beyond what they've already accomplished in their careers. It's about what they inspire, especially seeing them with Hall of Fame jackets, can be. They embody the mentality and the drive that you can see in Bratt himself. The words he uses to describe their impact on players like him are the words we have heard Jesper use to describe his own journey.
"It's huge," Bratt said, "Especially (it shows) that anything is possible if you just work for it. It's been huge, you just understand that the hard work, if you just work hard for it, if you are dreaming it, it's going to be possible."

The Sedin's played their entire careers in Vancouver, Alfredsson played all but one of his 18 seasons in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators. And while we often think of Hall of Famers as Stanley Cup winners, the three Swedes fell short of that ultimate goal in their careers. Bratt acknowledges it's likely still 'their ultimate goal', despite their playing careers having concluded, but there is also an added significance to this moment because they've made it to the Hall without the allure of the Stanley Cup. Being able to see these players achieve what they have, to be recognized for who they are, despite not winning hockey's grandest prize, is a testament to their individual greatness.
"That excellence, working hard is what can get you to a level like that," Bratt said, "It's their own drive and their own intelligence that takes them that far, and obviously, the toughest ultimate goal, and that's how it's always going to be and that's probably the one thing in their career that, that last little thing that they're missing. That still was probably the motivating factor for them for so many years."

The Hall of Fame is not the NHL Hall of Fame, although they'd well deserve to be enshrined there too if it existed, but solidified now in the Hall is where they deserve to be.
Before Monday night just three Swedish-born players had been enshrined in the Hall. Mats Sundin in 2012 was the first, Peter Forsberg followed in 2014 and then Nik Lidstrom a year later.
From three to six overnight, a small country, doing mighty things in hockey and showing the continued impact of each generation.
All right where they should be if you ask Bratt:
"They've been some of the greatest hockey players that ever played."