NEWS

(Sep. 7, 2004) - Czech Republic 6  Sweden 1 - So much for home ice advantage.  Milan Hejduk scored twice, while Martin Straka, Martin Havlat, Marek Zidlicky and Radek Dvorak tallied for the Czechs, who led 5-0 before the Swedes pulled one back when playing short-handed late in the third period.  Tomas Holmstrom had the lone goal for Sweden.  Team Czech Republic will now await their semi finals opponent, which will either be Canada, Russia, or the U.S.A., and Sweden is eliminated.

(Sep. 4, 2004) - Finland 4  Sweden 4 - They needed a win to secure a first place finish in the European pool, but Team Sweden was lucky to escape with a tie, as Tomas Holmstrom scored the tying goal with just 11 seconds left in the third period.  Miikka Kiprusoff, as he did so many times during the last NHL season, shut the door in OT.  Finland will now have the honor of playing last place Germany, and Sweden will play the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals.  Even though Finland scored less goals than Sweden, Finland clinches due to a lower goals against with four.

(Sep. 1, 2004) - Sweden went into the third period leading the Czechs, 4-0. With five minutes remaining the score was 4-3, and the Swedes were on the verge of panic, but would hold on for the win.

(Aug. 31, 2004) - In Stockholm, Sweden, hometown hero Mats Sundin had one goal and two assists, leading Sweden to a 5-2 victory over Germany.

(Aug. 27, 2004) - Tomas Vlasak, Martin Straka, Tomas Kaberle, Vaclav Prospal and Jiri Slegr scored as the Czech Republic beat Sweden 5-3 in their last World Cup warmup on Friday. Sweden captain Mats Sundin scored two goals.  "The result is not of major importance in such a friendly," Czech assistant coach Marian Jelinek said. "But we're satisfied with our performance."  Markus Naslund opened the scoring 4:42 in with a power-play goal after a pass from Sundin.  Petr Cajanek set up a power-play tying goal for the Czechs with a perfect pass to unmarked Vlasak -one of only two members of the Czech World Cup team based in Europe -who scored from close range with 16 seconds remaining in the first period.  Straka gave the Czechs a 2-1 lead at 6:50 in the second when he wristed the puck between the legs of Sweden goalie Mikael Tellqvist. Radek Dvorak set up the goal.  Kaberle added the third for the Czechs from close range at 16:52 in the second.  Prospal made it 4-1 at 6:31 in the third period, capitalizing on a Tellqvist blunder.  Sweden replied just 45 seconds later with Sundin's first goal.  Sweden coach Hardy Nilsson pulled off Tellqvist at 16:53 and Sundin scored his second with 41 seconds remaining to reduce the Czech lead to 4-3.  Slegr finished the scoring into an empty net nine seconds before the final whistle.  Major stars of both teams, Jaromir Jagr of the New York Rangers and Peter Forsberg of the Colorado Avalanche, did not play.

(Aug. 25, 2004) - Markus Naslund scored two minutes into overtime to give Sweden a 2-1 victory over archrival Finland in a World Cup tune-up match at the Globe Arena in Stockholm.  Olli Jokinen staked Finland out to an early lead with a goal just 46 seconds into the contest. Sweden equalized at 6:44 of the third with a Jorgen Jonsson goal.  Sweden outshot Finland, 32-22. Kim Jonsson was named Man of the Match for Sweden while Jokinen received the same honor for Finland.

(Aug. 22, 2004) - Daniel Sedin and NHL teammate Markus Naslund scored as Sweden blanked Slovakia 2-0 on Sunday in a warmup for the World Cup.  Mikael Tellqvist, who recently re-signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, earned the shutout. He stopped 17 shots.  Sedin's twin brother Henrik, who also plays with the Vancouver Canucks, and Henrik Zetterberg of the Detroit Red Wings set up the first goal 2:24 in.
 

ROSTER
# NAME POSITION
Head Coach: Hardy Nilsson
2 Mattias Ohlund D
3 Kim Johnsson D
5 Nicklas Lidstrom D
8 Christian Backman D
10 Andreas Johansson F
11 Daniel Alfredsson F
12 Daniel Sedin F
13 Mats Sundin F
14 Mattias Norstrom F
17 Marcus Ragnarsson D
18 Marcus Nilsson F
19 Markus Naslund F
20 Henrik Sedin F
21 Peter Forsberg F
22 Per-Johan Axelsson F
26 Samuel Pahlsson F
28 Dick Tarnstrom D
29 Nils Eckman F
30 Henrik Lundqvist G
32 Mikael Tellqvist G
33 Fredrik Modin F
35 Tommy Salo G
36 Daniel Tjarnqvist D
40 Henrik Zetterberg F
72 Jorgen Jonsson F
96 Tomas Holmstrom F