The Sweden men's national ice hockey team is governed by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association. It is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and the United States.
The United States men's national ice hockey team is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with its U18 and U17 development program in Plymouth, Michigan. The team is controlled by USA Hockey, the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United States. The U.S. team is currently ranked 6th in the IIHF World Rankings.
The Finnish men's national ice hockey team, nicknamed Leijonat / Lejonen, is governed by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Finland is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the United States, Czechia, Russia, and Sweden.
The German men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of Germany and is controlled by the German Ice Hockey Federation. It first participated in serious international competition at the 1911 European Hockey Championship. When Germany was split after World War II, a separate East Germany national ice hockey team existed until 1990. By 1991, the West and East German teams and players were merged into the United German team. The team's head coach is Harold Kreis.
Mats Torsten Näslund, nicknamed "Le Petit Viking", is a Swedish former ice hockey player. He played as a left winger. Despite his small size at only five feet and seven inches, Näslund is best known for being one of the top forwards with the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens from 1982 to 1990. In addition to the Canadiens, Näslund played for Timrå IK, Brynäs IF, and Malmö IF of the Swedish Elite League, and HC Lugano of the National League A between 1975 and 1994. He made a short NHL comeback attempt in 1995 with the Boston Bruins following the 1994–95 NHL lockout, and retired after the season's conclusion.
Sport is considered a national pastime in Sweden, and about half of the population actively takes part in sports activities. The most important all-embracing organisations for sports in Sweden are the Swedish Sports Confederation, and the Swedish Olympic Committee. In total over 2 million people are members of a sports club.
Djurgårdens IF Ishockeyförening, commonly known as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården Hockey, Djurgården, is a professional ice hockey team based in Stockholm, Sweden, affiliated with the Djurgårdens IF umbrella organization. Djurgården compete in the Swedish second-tier ice hockey league, the HockeyAllsvenskan. The men's team is the most successful Swedish ice hockey team of all time, as 16-time Swedish champions, 12-time runners-up, 26-time finalists, and leaders of the marathon table for the top flight of Swedish hockey. The ice hockey section was first established in 1922 and has since been playing in the Swedish league system, with the exception of four years in the 1930s when the hockey section was temporarily dissolved.
The Switzerland men's national ice hockey team is a founding member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and is controlled by the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation.
Boris Petrovich Mikhailov is a former Russian ice hockey player.
Bengt-Åke Gustafsson is a Swedish ice hockey coach and former ice hockey player. Gustafsson is a former head coach of the Sweden men's national ice hockey team, a post he held from February 2005 to May 2010.
Södertälje Sportklubb, also known as Södertälje SK and often referred to as SSK, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club playing in HockeyAllsvenskan, the second highest level of pro hockey in Sweden. Södertälje were charter members of Elitserien when the league was founded in 1975 and have since played 24 seasons in the league. Södertälje SK's fan club is known as Supporterklubben
Hannu Aravirta is a Finnish ice hockey player and an ice hockey coach for the Finnish national men's team, SM-liiga and Elitserien.
Ralph Douglas Charles "Challe" Berglund is a Swedish former ice hockey player and coach.
Ştefan Birtalan was a Romanian handball player, coach and sports official.
Karl Håkan Södergren is a retired professional ice hockey player, often a recurring color commentator in Viasat's ice hockey broadcast productions.
Bert-Ola Nordlander is a retired Swedish ice hockey player and head coach. During his career he played for Wifsta/Östrand IF and AIK. In 1967 he was awarded the Golden Puck as the best player of the season. Nordlander began his coaching career in 1976 when he signed with Hammarby IF. In 1979 he moved to Djurgårdens IF and stayed there until 1981. AIK retired the number 5 in his honour.
Stig Larsson is a Swedish retired ice hockey player.
Robert John McLeod was a Canadian ice hockey player and coach. He played professionally for the New York Rangers for parts of six seasons from 1949 to 1954, and played eight seasons of senior hockey between 1953 and 1965, where he competed at multiple Ice Hockey World Championships, winning the gold medal in 1961. He served as head coach of the Canada men's national ice hockey team from 1966 to 1969, leading them to two bronze medals at the World Championships and a bronze medal at the 1968 Winter Olympics. He later coached the Saskatoon Blades in the Western Canada Hockey League from 1971 to 1979 and coached the Canada men's national junior team to a silver medal at the 1975 World Junior Championships. He was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame in 1984 and inducted as a player into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1999.
Bo Tovland was a Swedish ice hockey coach and executive. He was the general manager of the Sweden men's national ice hockey team at seven Ice Hockey World Championships, three Winter Olympics and three Canada Cup tournaments. Under his leadership, Sweden won gold in ice hockey at the 1994 Winter Olympics, and three gold medals at the Ice Hockey World Championships. He previously coached the national junior team to a gold medal at the 1981 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, and won multiple medals coaching the under-18 men's team. He began working for the Swedish Ice Hockey Association in 1961, sat on its board of directors from 1981 to 2002, and was its vice-chairman for eight years. He was also a member of the Swedish Olympic Committee from 1985 to 2005, and was a member of International Ice Hockey Federation committees from 1998 to 2008. Tovland received multiple honors for his career in hockey, which included H. M. The King's Medal in 1996, the Paul Loicq Award for contributions to international ice hockey in 2006, and induction into the Swedish Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012.
