Swedish players speak out against Olympic playing time

Of all the teams that competed at the Olympics, no team has more reason to be dissatisfied with its result than Team Sweden.

Widely tabbed as the third most talented team in the tournament behind the United States and Canada, the Swedes did not even play for a medal after falling to Team USA in overtime in the quarterfinal.

While facing the Americans before the semifinals was a tough draw, it happened because the Swedes failed to win their group and secure a bye into the quarterfinal round.

In a run that saw them narrowly defeat Team Italy before falling to archrival Team Finland and defeating Team Slovakia by too small of a margin to take the tiebreaker, head coach Sam Hallam caught extensive flack from throughout the hockey world for some puzzling lineup decisions.

Now that players from the team have returned to their NHL clubs and spoken with reporters about the experience, it seems those critical sentiments may have been shared inside the Swedish locker room.

Nashville Predators winger Filip Forsberg returned to the team Monday, and he addressed the situation surrounding his ice time at the Olympics with the media, including beat reporter Alex Daugherty of The Tennesseean.

“Yeah, it was (surprising),” Forsberg said. “When I got there, saw the lineup, I was obviously a little surprised. But as I said, there are a lot of really good players on that team, and I certainly believe that I am one of them as well. It’s tough competition, and at the same time, I would have preferred to play a little bit more, not just that game, but through the whole tournament.”

Forsberg was sparsely used throughout the tournament, often dressing as the 13th forward. Hallam opted not to use the extra forward and defenseman that tournament rules allowed teams to dress.

“But the guys did well,” Forsberg continued. “We won the first game and obviously against Finland, they changed it up a little bit. I got to play a little bit in that second half and play the rest. It’s a tight tournament, so I get it. You understand it to a certain point.”

When the Swedes fell in overtime to Team USA, it was striking that the team’s top defenseman, Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres, did not take a shift in the extra frame.

It was assumed that he may have been shaken up after a collision with Brady Tkachuk, but he told Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News otherwise on Monday.

“I was good to go,” Dahlin said. “It’s not my decision. I wanted to be out there that’s for sure. It is what it is. I can’t do anything about it.”

Then there was Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Rasmus Andersson, who took a more succinct approach to his response but likewise seemed displeased with the way the roster was managed.

“From a personal standpoint, I’ll leave it at no comment,” Andersson told Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Prior to this tournament, the Swedes had medaled in two of the previous three Winter Olympics that featured NHL participation, earning gold in Turin in 2006 and silver in Sochi in 2014.