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Sedin denies Sweden tanked game in 2006 Olympics

Ice Hockey - Sweden v Switzerland

TURIN, ITALY - FEBRUARY 22: Henrik Sedin #20 of Sweden is congratulated by teammates after his first period goal to take a 1-0 lead over Switzerland during the quarter final of the men’s ice hockey match during Day 12 of the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games on February 22, 2006 at the Torino Esposizioni in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

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Did Sweden throw a game in the 2006 Winter Olympics in order to get a preferential path to the gold-medal game?

Peter Forsberg seems to have insinuated his team intentionally lost to Slovakia – or at the very least, didn’t give it a full effort – in order to avoid a matchup with Canada or Russia in the medal round.

But Canucks captain – and fellow member of the gold medal-winning 2006 Swedish Olympic team – Henrik Sedin says Forsberg is mistaken.

“No, not at all,” Sedin told reporters today. “I was really surprised when I read it. We didn’t talk about it in the room, the coaches didn’t talk about it. I was surprised. When you put that jersey on, you want to win games. I don’t think we thought about that before the game. Maybe with a few minutes left it came up, but not during the game.”

Mats Sundin, Sweden’s captain in 2006, has also refuted what Forsberg said.

Anyway, the truth probably lies somewhere between outright tanking and putting it all on the line to beat Slovakia.

“You have to remember, too, that we were already in the quarter-finals,” added Henrik. “It wasn’t a big game for us, so to speak. So that might have been part of it.”