Aftonbladet’s Hans Abrahamsson posted an article noting that Axel Sandin Pellikka’s status as being named the best defenseman at the 2025 World Junior Championship gives the Swedish team captain status as a member of an exclusive company. What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:
The Swede earns a place with the icon
Ottawa. Axel Sandin Pellikka didn’t earn a medal at the WJC–but he will be comforted because he became part of a unique collection.
After the icon Vyacheslav Fetisov, he is the first to be named the tournament’s best defenseman two years in a row.
“I just want to make sure to keep up with all the nice guys on the team this last night [in Ottawa],” he said after the loss to the Czechs.
Last year, Axel Sandin Pellikka earned a silver medal after the final loss against the United States. In Gothenburg he was named the tournament’s best defenseman, and now it’s happened again.
After the U.S. final victory against Finland, it was revealed who won the title. And again, it was the Swedish defenseman who earned the prize.
As such, “ASP” is the first player after Russian icon Vyacheslav Fetisov to earn the award two years in a row. Fetisov first earned the award almost 50 years ago in 1977 and 1978.
After his [hat trick] start of the tournament, the Skelleftea AIK defenseman was likely to step onto the unique team early on, but he chose to pay his attention to his team [instead]:
“I don’t put any focus on it. I’m here to win a championship with the boys and not to earn any personal achievements,” he told Sportbladet.
“I’ll keep up with the guys”
After the bitter loss in the bronze medal game against Czechia, Sandin Pellikka didn’t know he’s earn the prize.
He was mostly disappointed with the loss:
“It sucks, of course. But I’m still proud of the guys. We’ve fought the whole tournament long, and it’s in the small margins that we lost. It was like a lottery back and forth, I must say, with 3-on-3 in overtime and the shootout. The third period against the Finns, I dare say, was the best period of any team at the entire tournament. We have done very well and should be proud of ourselves,” says Pellikka, who still thought that he should enjoy his last evening together [with his team].
“It’s a great honor for me to keep up with all the boys on the team. It’s a bunch of good guys, and I’ll make sure to hang out with everyone this last night [in Ottawa].”
With his 10 points in the tournament, he topped the internal points league along with teammate Felix Unger Sorum.
👑 Axel Sandin Pellikka utsedd till JVM:s bästa back. Det är andra året i följd som Axel får utmärkelsen ⭐️ Den bedriften har bara Axel och Vjatjeslav Fetisov lyckats med i JVM-historien.
— Tre Kronor (@Trekronorse) January 6, 2025
Tack för allt du gjort i juniorlandslagen, Axel! Hoppas vi ses framöver i Tre Kronor 🇸🇪 pic.twitter.com/UIwm9xkw7O
