1999 IIHF World Junior Championship

# NAME POS CLUB BORN HT. WT. NHL STATUS
1 Andreas Andersson G HV 71 09/04/79 6'1 192 Anaheim
30 Johan Asplund G Brynas IF 15/12/80 6'2 187 Eligible 1999 Draft
3 Christian Backman D Vastra Frolunda HC 28/04/80 6'2 192 St. Louis
6 Johan Halvardsson D HV 71 26/12/79 6'3 200 Eligible 1999 Draft
4 Sanny Lindstrom D Huddinge IK 24/12/79 6'2 195 Eligible 1999 Draft
8 Henrik Melinder D MoDo Hockey 06/01/79 6'5 225 Eligible 1999 Draft
25 Henrik Tallinder D AIK 10/01/79 6'3 206 Buffalo
10 Viktor Wallin D HV71 17/01/80 6'3 205 Anaheim
14 David Ytfeldt D Leksands IF 29/09/79 6'1 192 Vancouver
19 Christian Berglund F Farjestads BK 12/03/80 6'0 190 New Jersey
16 Per Hallin F Sodertalje SK 17/10/80 5'11 187 Eligible 1999 Draft
28 Jakob Johansson F Rogle BK 03/01/79 6'1 182 Eligible 1999 Draft
26 Mattias Karlin F MoDo Hockey 04/07/79 6'0 198 Boston
15 Gabriel Karlsson F HV 71 22/01/80 6'2 200 Dallas
22 Marcus Kristoffersson F HV-71 22/01/79 6'2 205 Dallas
24 Jimmie Olvestad F Djurgardens IF 16/02/80 6'1 195 Eligible 1999 Draft
21 Niklas Persson F Leksands IF 26/03/79 6'3 200 Eligible 1999 Draft
20 Henrik Sedin F MoDo Hockey 26/09/80 6'3 198 Eligible 1999 Draft
12 Daniel Sedin F MoDo Hockey 26/09/80 6'2 187 Eligible 1999 Draft
17 Mathias Tjarnqvist F Rogle BK 15/04/79 6'2 182 Eligible 1999 Draft
18 Mattias Weinhandl F IF Troja/Ljungby 01/06/80 6'0 182 Eligible 1999 Draft

PERSONNEL

Manager: Stefan Persson
Head Coach: Mats Hallin
Media Host: Carina Sigurdsson
Assistant Coach: Peter Elander
Equipment Manager: Nicklas Carlsson
Team Physician: Bjorn Waldeback
Physiotherapist: Jan-Ingvar Nilsson

"Talent wins games but team work and intelligence win Championships," says Team Sweden Head Coach Mats Hallin.

Hallin says Sweden is not bringing the 20 best individual junior players. "The team is built by hard working team players who know their roles in the team. We know it will be very tough and we don't bring any coward players -- being afraid is not allowed."

Hallin and Team Sweden GM Stefan Persson, who were teammates with the New York Islanders in their Stanley Cup-winning era in the early 1980s, certainly do have a wealth of individual talent, however.

The talent begins with highly skilled forwards such as Daniel and Henrik Sedin, twin brothers, who both demonstrated World Class skills at the World Junior Championship last year as 17-year-olds. Daniel Sedin was the second-leading scorer on his team with five points.

Another player from whom much is expected is defenceman Christian Backman, the first-round choice of the St. Louis Blues (24th overall) in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft.

Sweden won the European Junior Championship in April 1998 and Backman was among the standouts who contributed to that gold-medal performance.

Sweden will be motivated to go hard for the gold in Winnipeg. Despite a steady flow of eye-popping talent, Sweden has won the championship only once -- in 1981. The last two years it finished sixth and eighth, respectively.

Top 3 Prospects: Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Per Hallin