Team Sweden plays Austria today at 2 PM EDT (on TSN and the NHL Network), but I had a little bit of a scare before reading through the translation of this practice report from HockeySverige.se’s Rasmus Kagstrom.
In the 1 AM-Eastern Time-posted article, Kagstrom reports this from Sweden’s practice on Thursday in Edmonton:
Stakkestad and Edvinsson did not practice:
Neither Simon Edvinsson nor Ake Stakkestad practiced with the team on Thursday, but there, [coach Tomas] Monten leaves a reassuring message.
“There’s no danger with Simon. He’s ‘good to go.’ We had some players who were only on the ice for a while, some who weren’t on at all, and some who were on and practicing. It’s about optimizing their days,” says Monten.
Edvinsson played 26:09 in Sweden’s 3-2 win over Switzerland, so if he had an “off day,” that’s okay, but he’s also a little over a month out from participating in the Wings’ prospect tournament and training camp, so I got worried.
A bit more clarification comes from HockeyNews.se’s Henrik Sjoberg:
Edmonton. Simon Edvinsson was just out on the ice and skated, and Ake Stakkestad stood over the practice after the crash he had during the Swedes’ premiere game.
But, on the other hand, Anton Olsson participated in his first ice session with the team after the injury he suffered in the exhibition games.
“He won’t play against Austria, but he’s green to run the rest,” says national team coach Tomas Monten to HockeyNews.se.
The Junior Krona won their WJC opener vs. Switzerland, but it was far from over after the team went from a 3-0 lead to 3-2 in the third period.
Austria awaits today (20:00 Swedish time, on SVT), and national team coach Tomas Monten has a number of players dealing with their injuries between games.
Simon Edvinsson came to play in the premiere, but was only out on the ice for a short while before Thursday’s practice started–but Monten left reassuring news about the defensive star.
“It’s the same as last time, he is ‘good to go.'”
Whew! I hate it when these practice reports post at 1 AM EDT so that they pop up at 7 AM in Stockholm!
