MONTREAL (AP) — If Sam Hallam wants to rile up a Finn of a certain age about Swedish hockey, he'll just bring up Anders “Masken” Carlsson. For a younger generation, it's Mats Sundin.
It works the other way around to Swedes if someone mentions Finland's Saku Koivu. And people will keep doing it, too, because the intense rivalry between the two Nordic nations separated by one sea has been passed down by generations at the Olympics, the world championships and now at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
“It’s a brotherly kind of love-and-hate relationship going back for a long time,” said Hallam, who's coaching Sweden at the NHL-run tournament. “You want to beat your brother. That’s the way it is. We have tons of respect for the way they play the game, the character they have. That goes for hockey and that goes for life, too. Look at where they are on the map, and they never back down.”
Still, they can't even agree on which brothers.
“I think you if ask them, they say they’re the big brother, and if you ask us, we’re the big brother,” Sweden captain Victor Hedman said.
Finland's Erik Haula said this week, “I think I heard Hedman say that they’re the big brother, but I guess we’ll find out.”
Gustav Nyquist pointed out that the hatred dates to when his country of Sweden and Finland were formed. Their long, shared histories are more complex than those of the United States and Canada — longtime allies away from the sports world. It's peacetime now, except for on the ice when the puck drops for a game pitting Tre Kronor against Suomi.
“It’s more personal, I feel, maybe because with the games through the years in the past, as well, against them, there’s been multiple tight games,” Finland defenseman Esa Lindell said. "And obviously I would say because they’re the country next to us. That adds up (to) extra tension against them.”
There have been plenty of big, tense moments over the years, and never were the stakes higher than at the gold-medal game at the 2006 Olympics. Sweden beat Finland 3-2 in a thriller after Nicklas Lidstrom scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and Henrik Lundqvist made the most important save of his career on Olli Jokinen with 25 seconds left.
“I remember that game,” Sweden goaltender Samuel Ersson said. “And it feels like when we play each other, the whole country, they stop and you want to watch those games.”
And the players want to take part in them. Hallam thinks the rivalry builds because by age 20, Swedes and Finns have already faced off in some form or fashion 20 to 25 times.
Sweden's Elias Lindholm still thinks about losing to Finland in the the 2014 world junior championship final on home ice in Malmo. But he also agrees with rivals from Finland about how the dislike is contained on a sheet of ice between the boards and glass.
“You cross paths with a lot of Finns: Huge respect for them, but there’s always something there when we played against each other that had a little extra,” Lindholm said Friday. “You’re going to be competitive out there, and when the game is over, you can all enjoy and you can have a beer or whatever and be friends. But when it’s game time, it’s no friends.”
The 4 Nations Face-Off is a unique event that does not have the history or tradition of the Olympics and is more a celebration of the return of elite competition with the NHL's best players. But with those players' return to the Games on the horizon in Milan, the tournament has value as a show of superiority a year away from that major test.
Finland is the defending Olympic champion, and Hedman acknowledged that the Finns' success from 2022 in Beijing and at recent world championships have evened things out against Sweden.
“I don’t feel like they’ve bullied us or anything like that,” Lindell said. “I feel like lately I think we’ve played very well against them.”
Saturday afternoon is the next chance for Sweden and Finland to add another chapter to their storied rivalry.
“It’s history,” Sweden defenseman Rasmus Dahlin said. “It’s something that means a lot to the Swedish nation. It’s a must-win.”
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press