It’s been eleven years since the terrible plane crash that took the lives of 38 players, coaches and staff of the KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Today, HockeySverige’s Ronnie Ronnqvist marked the anniversary by speaking with Henrik Lundqvist, Mats Sundin, and several other teammates of goaltender Stefan Liv, including Nicklas Lidstrom.
Here’s what Lidstrom had to say about having Liv, who played in one season for Grand Rapids, as a teammate, mostly in international hockey with the Tre Kronor:
Nicklas Lidström , teammate on Tre Kronor [Swedish national team]:
“Stefan was always very happy, and had an easy laugh, and it was always a light atmosphere to be around him. My strongest memory together with Stefan is actually the entire Olympic tournament (in 2006). Especially the celebration after the final. Partially on location in Italy, and partially when we came home to Sweden.”
“He was the third goaltender in that tournament. Nevertheless, he had a cheerful mood and joked a lot with the other players. It is precisely this light-hearted and jocular jargon that I think a about a lot when I remember Stefan.”
“In a tournament like the Olympics, you probably want to be there and play. He was the third goaltender, but was just happy to be in the tournament, the national team, and to be around the team. They joy he spread…The attitude he had was that he was overjoyed to be there. He contributed a lot with his joy and light-heartedness, which somehow made it easier for the rest of us on the team.”
“We didn’t play together that much, but what I remember from practice, Stefan was very competitive. You could see the desire he had to get better all the time.”
Continued; if you missed it, Liv’s son, Herman, is a goaltender in Orebro’s system, and Expresen’s Magnus Nystrom posted a massive profile of the 16-year-old.
