You’ve heard of goalies standing on their heads? Well, at the 1962 IIHF World Hockey Championship, Swedish netminder Lennart Haggroth grabbed some air.
Held March 8-18 in Denver and Colorado Springs, when all was said and done, Sweden had posted a perfect 7-0-0 record to win its first world title since 1957. And the Swedes celebrated in five style. Gathering at center ice, they hoisted netminder Haggroth up and then tossed him skyward.
Sven "Tumba" Johansson with Vaclav Nedomansky. Tumba was 1st European trained player to attend #NHL camp. Vaclav was 1st to defect to #NHL pic.twitter.com/CqLghKTwZa
— Jen (@NHLhistorygirl) October 19, 2016
Haggroth posted a 2.00 goals against average during the tournament and was named the tournament’s top netminder. Sven (Tumba) J0hansson, who produced 7-7-14 totals, was named the tournament’s top forward.
In 1957, he attended the training camp of the Boston Bruins, becoming the first European-trained player to participate in an NHL camp. Johansson, who also played internationally for Sweden in soccer and golf, retired with 80-52-132 totals in 90 world championship games, at the time a record.
On this day in 1965, Swedish winger Ulf Sterner became the first European-trained player to play in the NHL. Sterner played four games for the Rangers #Hockey365 #PlayLikeANewYorker pic.twitter.com/n2QE8jxUMz
— Mike Commito (@mikecommito) January 27, 2020
Forward Ulf Sterner collected 16 points and was named to the tournament all-star team. On Jan. 27, 1965, playing for the New York Rangers against the Bruins, Sterner became the first European-trained player to participate in an NHL regular-season game.
Canada (6-1-0) captured the silver medal, with the host USA (5-2-) earning the bronze. Political friction over the construction of the Berlin Wall led to the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and East Germany all boycotting the tournament.
