"They say it's incredible to go over and do it," said Klefbom, who was selected by the Oilers in the first round (No. 19) of the 2011 NHL Draft. "Just to be out there playing in front of your friends and family, I haven't been doing that for six or seven years so it's going to be a day to remember.
"I've been very jealous of the teams that have been going over. Now it's our time so it's going to be a day to remember."
Klefbom said he's been told there's a building buzz for the game in Gothenburg.
"The interest for the NHL overall for the last three or four years, I'd say, has been going up like crazy," he said. "You've got the names like (Sweden-born defenseman) Victor Hedman (of the Tampa Bay Lightning), Erik Karlsson, who have come along with this good timing. And it's going to be growing, now that there are games in Sweden, Finland and Scandinavia overall, the interest is just going way up.
"And what an opportunity to go to play in Gothenburg, to spread it out a little. Stockholm has been having games, so now [it's time] for something different. I think the interest is going through the roof."
Though Larsson's hometown of Skelleftea is 700 miles from Gothenburg, he is expecting there to be high demand for tickets among his family and friends.
"Pretty much everybody wants to go see that game," Larsson said, "especially everybody back home that hasn't seen an NHL game yet."
Larsson said past Global Series games in Sweden have only heightened interest, including for players.
"I don't know if I'd say it's a dream come true but obviously when you see teams going over there, you want to experience it yourself," he said. "It's going to be a good time for us Swedes and for the whole team in general to kind of get together and go away for a little bit. From what I've heard from past experiences of going to Europe, everybody has enjoyed it. I think it's good for a team in the long run."
Klefbom's hometown of Karlstad is significantly closer to Gothenburg, about 150 miles away. He also expects he'll by trying to obtain extra tickets for the game.
Klefbom, 25, played three seasons for Karlstad-based Farjestad of what is now the Swedish Hockey League (2010-2013). He had three goals and four assists in 67 games.
"It's a good atmosphere," he said. "When I played in Sweden there (against Frolunda at the Scandinavium), it was probably the big rivalry, one of the closer games. There's been a lot of good battles there. Those are fun games, almost like going to Calgary playing with this team. Good crowds, and a lot of good memories."
Does he expect to get booed in Gothenburg?
"Probably not," he said. "I didn't score that many goals over there, so I'll probably be fine."
