Greatest Swedish Players of the Portal Era Pt. 1

[SirRupertBarnes 217]

Today we’re going to be continuing the series of looking at the greatest players of the portal era. For today’s country we’re going to be looking at Sweden and will be split into two parts. The format I’m going to use is the five skaters of any position and one goalie. If there’s a player I feel is worth mentioning that didn’t make the cut I’ll put them into an honourable mention category. Now that we have that out of the way let’s get into it!

F - Sebastian Ironside 1200 TPE (@DollarAndADream)
To start off this list we have none other than Sebastian Ironside, one of the best players in his draft class. This dynamic player could give you a full 200-foot-game night in and night out. In 576 career games he put up 263 goals and 423 assists for an astounding 686 points. During his 8 year career he recorded four 100+ point seasons in a row. In those 8 seasons he had over 2000 hits and more than 500 blocked shots. In 45 playoff games he was almost a point-per-game with 20 goals and 23 assists for 43 points. In S63 he took home the Scotty Campbell Trophy for league MVP, Kevin Brooks Trophy for being the leading goal scorer, and the Dustin Funk Trophy for being the most improved player. After his outstanding performance in S63 he was able to continue that success the following season and capture his only Continental Cup in S64. Although he isn’t a Hall of Famer, he is one of the best Swedes to ever play the game.

F - Theo Axelsson 1003 TPA (Unknown)
Next up we have one of the best Two-Way players of all time, Hall of Famer Theo Axelsson. In Theo’s 8 year career between S50-57 he amassed 331 goals and 386 assists for 717 points in 576 career games. I’m not sure where he ranks in all time points but he has to be the greatest Swedish born player of all time. He had over 2700 hits in his career and if takeaways were calculated I’m sure he would be in top 5 of all time in that category. In 75 career playoff games he had 46 goals and 45 assists for 91 playoff points. He’s a two-time Continental Cup winner along with a Daisuke Kanou Trophy winner for playoff MVP. He won the Scott Boulet Trophy 3 times in 4 seasons for the league’s best two-way forward. One thing I found interesting in his career is that he amassed 999 penalty minutes.

F - Elias Dahlberg 1051 TPE (@Nykonax)

Up next we come to Elias Dahlberg. Although Dahlberg had a shortened career at only 6 seasons he made the most of his time in the VHL. In 431 career games he was able to put up 208 goals and 229 assists for 437 points. Anytime you can be a point-per-game in the regular season, that is fantastic. Although he couldn’t find post-season success he was able to record 22 goals and 20 assists for 42 points in 49 playoff games. He did however win the Dustin Funk Trophy in S65 when he jumped from 36 points in S64 to 105 in S65. Maybe if he stuck around another couple seasons he could’ve had a shot winning a cup but alas for one reason or another his career was cut short.

 

That’s all we have today for part one of the greatest Swedish players from the portal era today but be sure to check back in soon for part 2! Thanks for reading, let me know what you think of the players so far down below!