4-Nations Face-Off Series: All-Time NYR Team Sweden Roster
The 4 Nations Face-Off is upon us. Let's take a look at the players, past and present, who would make up an all-time Rangers roster for Team Sweden.
As the first ever 4 Nations Face-Off kicks off today, we here at Blueshirt Banter wanted to put together a full all-time Rangers roster for each of the four nations being represented in this tournament. In doing this, we not only get to see what all-time lineups would look like for respective nations, but get to rekindle some fun stories about a great deal of Rangers legends, both past and present.
Without further ado, lets get things started with Sweden!
First Line: Jan Erixon - Michael Nylander - Anders Hedberg
One of the first European born players to make an impact in North America, Anders Hedberg spent four seasons with the Winnipeg Jets of the former WHA, in which he won a pair of championships. Herberg went on to spend the entirety of his NHL career with the New York Rangers. With 465 games played, 172 goals, and 226 assists, Hedberg was a prominent player for the Rangers throughout the late 70s’ and early 80s’. While he wouldn’t win a Cup, he did collect a number of medals in his international play and participated for the NHL All-Stars team that took on the Soviet Union in the ‘79 Challenge Cup, just before the games in Lake Placid.
They don’t call the early 2000s’ the dark ages for nothing. The Rangers really struggled in the post ‘94 years right through the lockout of 2005. One of the first bright spots to come from that was the trade that brought them Jaromir Jagr. However, it wasn’t just Jagr who was responsible for that transition, but also his linemates, Martin Straka and Michael Nylander. The veteran center came to New York to be their top line center and surely succeeded in his short time in New York as he was a point-per-game player across those two seasons—hard not to when Jagr was putting up hundreds of points himself. One of my favorite Nylander stories involved Henrik Lundqvist and how he used to play street hockey with Nylander’s sons. Those sons, of course, now have their own success stories in the National Hockey League, one of which being one of the best wingers in the Eastern Conference.
Of course the inaugural winner of the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award would be on this list. Jan Erixon had a relentless motor and was the shutdown center for the Rangers for a decade in an era where scoring was absurdly inflated. A late second round pick by the Rangers in 1981, Erixon spent all 556 of his career NHL games with the Rangers across the decade leading up to 1994.
