From: etxonss@ufsa.ericsson.se (Staffan Axelsson)
Subject: Re: U.S. "Dream Team"
Organization: Ericsson Telecom, Stockholm, Sweden
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 11:17:45 GMT

caldwell8102@mtroyal.ab.ca writes:
>In article <1992Nov9.110343.331@ericsson.se>, etxonss@ufsa.ericsson.se (Staffan Axelsson) writes:
>>  Sweden:
>> 
>> 	Tomas Sandstrom - Peter Forsberg - Mats Sundin
>> 	     Fredrik Olausson - Nicklas Lidstrom
>> 		      Tommy Soderstrom
>
>No Hakan Loob? Or do you figure he'd be too old by 1994? He was one of my
>favorite players when he played here in Calgary....
>

No, he wouldn't be too old but it would be a close call between Sundin and
Loob for the RW spot. However, I think that Sundin has the edge.

Second line could be:  Patric Kjellberg - Thomas Rundqvist - Hakan Loob
			      Calle Johansson - Tommy Sjodin

>>  Oh, and BTW, there won't be any "Dream Teams" in the Olympics, not even
>>  if NHL decide to allow their players to compete. The reason being is that
>>  IIHF won't allow it. IIHF's secretary-general, Jan Ake Edvinsson, told
>>  a newspaper that IIHF won't allow NHL pros *as long as* NHL will not
>>  allow their best players in the World Championships. And the chance of
>
>The NHL DOES allow their best players to play in the WC. The only problem is,
>the WC are held during the Stanley Cup playoffs, and there isn't a player in
>the league who's going to desert his team in the playoffs to rush off to Europe
>for the WC's. Canada and the USA are forced to ice teams made up of players
>from the minors and from teams that missed the playoffs. 
>

Sorry, it was a bad choice of words from my side. I knew that NHL players are
allowed in the WC, just that they aren't able to participate because of their
commitments to their teams.

>I can't see the NHL shutting down for either one. As much as I and most hockey
>fans would like to see it, it would mean stopping the NHL schedule for about
>three weeks, and what would the other players do in that time? They'd be out
>of shape, and any momentum that a team had before the Olympics would be lost.

This would not be a unique problem for NHL. Many leagues in Europe have to deal
with this problem every olympic year. And sure, some teams lose the momentum
they had before the olympics... tough luck for them.

>Not to mention that it puts a HUGE barrier into attempts to get a national TV
>contract. What network wants a sport with a big gap in the schedule in 
>February? There's only so many Cosby Show re-runs you can show. :-)
>
Hey, what's wrong with 'Dallas' re-runs? :)

>The biggest thing going for the Dream Team concept is that both Gil Stein and
>Wayne Gretzky want to see it happen. And Gretzky can be a huge influence on
>Bruce McNall. If the league president (Stein) and chairman of the board of
>governors (McNall) both support it, then the chances are better. But don't
>count on it. I'm sure not.
>

I admire the work Gil Stein have done in NHL so far, for example the Dream
team idea, new rules to decrease fighting and especially the fines that
teams receive if they start a fight at the end of a game.

However, I've read in 'INSIDE Hockey' that some GMs don't like Gil Stein
too much and that they would like to see him gone. Also, I believe that
the magazine mentioned that Stein's age would make him to resign in a near
future. Opinions on this, anyone?

>								Alan

Staffan
--
 ((\\  //| Staffan Axelsson                
  \\  //|| etxonss@ufsa.ericsson.se             
\\_))//-|| contact for Swedish hockey