Sweden wears gold helmets to celebrate World Championship win

Winning the gold medal at the 2017 IIHF World Championship may have gone to Sweden's head.
Sweden's players wore gold helmets as part of their welcoming at Sergels Torg, the central square in Stockholm, in celebration of their 2-1 shootout win against Canada in Cologne, Germany on Sunday that clinched the country's first tournament championship since 2013.

"Winning the gold medal like that is an important thing for Sweden and the Swedes," Sweden Prime Minister Stefan Löfven said at the celebration Monday. "It shows that we work best when we do it together and stand together and that we are able to face tough challenges."

"Thanks Sweden for your amazing support. Now we celebrate," forward Gabriel Landeskog (Colorado Avalanche) wrote in Swedish in a tweet.
Pictures and video of the celebration filled social media after the win Sunday, particularly a photo of Landeskog jumping into a hot tub in full uniform, then soaking in the tub while showing off his gold medal.

A celebratory leap by forward William Nylander (Toronto Maple Leafs) that knocked over Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers), after the Sweden goalie sealed the victory by stopping Canada's Mitchell Marner (Maple Leafs) in the fourth round of the shootout, also was among the images that went viral Sunday.
Nylander said he was privileged to have that moment compared to Peter Forsberg's iconic shootout goal in the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, which also defeated Canada for a gold medal and was turned into a postage stamp in Sweden.

"I sort of overdid it," Nylander said. "I apologized to Henrik afterwards and it was no problem. I haven't seen the pictures, but to make a stamp out of it, wouldn't that be nice?"
Lundqvist, who stopped 42 shots and four more in the shootout despite hip, shoulder and knee pain, won his first championship since helping Sweden win the gold medal at the 2006 Torino Olympics. It made his loss with the Rangers against Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference Second Round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs easier to digest, particularly since he could share the win with his twin brother, Joel Lundqvist, who was Sweden's captain.
Tweet from @aj_ranger: 12 years in the making... pic.twitter.com/I6PW7TSqhk
"It feels awesome now," Lundqvist said. "I wasn't satisfied with the way it all ended in New York and I felt I had more to give. To be able to do this along with my brother, it's worth so much to me."
NHL.com/SV Senior Writer Janne Bengtsson contributed to this report