“Keep on honoring those here instead.”
TAMMERFORS. Tre Kronor has not received any thanks from a number of NHL players.
But Johann Garbinlov is tired of questions about those who don’t.
– Keep praising those here instead. This is important, says national team captain Trey Kronor.
Yesterday I got Johann Garbenlove Four new numbers of NHL players. Marcus Johansson and Johan Larsson due to contract status, Joel Erickson Eck due to injury and finally Jonas Prudden who refused.
Adrian Quimby has been ruled out and awaits answers from William Nylander and Niklas Backstrom.
Prudden was the ninth player to say no. In addition, seven players were turned down due to injury and 14 players were dismissed due to expiring contracts and insurance issues.
At the same time, seven players from the NHL have so far agreed to play in the World Cup.
These are the things that Johann Garbenlov puts all his focus on:
– You said from the start that you didn’t want to go home and represent your country and play for it three crowns Then one should not do that. I want to focus on those who come here. Oliver Ekman-Larson makes his seventh toilet. Adam (Larson) fourth. Rasmus (Dahlin) a young man makes his first toilet.
– This kind of player is of course important for Swedish ice hockey, they really come here and line up and play for their country. It is really appreciated, but also for Swedish hockey it is important.
When asked if Garbinlov feels that interest in the national team has decreased, he replied:
– You should ask this question to players who say no. But I don’t think so, I think there is interest, because we have players here so there is a lot of interest. I know Tre Kronor is important to players and they are excited to play Tre Kronor. Then there are always players who say no. Why do you have to ask them this question.
But are you not interested in why? Do not ask them the question?
– Yes, but it is not me who should say why they say no. They have to do it themselves.
But you can give a general picture of …
– No, I don’t think this is my business. I ask the question if they want to play and they want players here who want to play with Tre Kronor. Those who did not come you can ask the question.
“not a problem”
Could you do something different?
– No, we worked the same way, I did it for many years and did exactly the same way. From our side, it makes no difference when we have many players. Sometimes it’s unfortunate that many contracts expire, and sometimes it’s the situations that make people say no. Sometimes players who haven’t won anything decide that they want to win something. In 2017 and 2018, there were a lot of players who won their first World Cup gold, and when you do, you might be happy to win that World Cup gold. I don’t know. But again: why do they say no, you have to ask the guys. I’m not the one who answers these questions.
Do you think that from the point of view of Swedish hockey this is a problem that many reject?
The problem is that we want the strongest possible team. We want the best players here, but that’s not a problem. We have a team here and we have a good team here. We have players out there (from the NHL) who say yes and are ready to play. And these are the players that I think we need to pay tribute to in this and not just talk about those who don’t come here.
But we also do that, talking and writing about those here?
– Yes, of course. But keep praising them. This is important.
But we should also be able to ask questions about those who did not come?
– But I answered the question.
But you say we should focus on those who are here.
– I think so, but I do not decide what you should write about, says Garbenlov.