Salming family takes in All-Star Weekend, raises awareness for father's foundation

For Anders and Teresa Salming, NHL All Star Weekend in Toronto was a homecoming.

Borje Salming's two oldest children, with then-wife Margitta, were born in Toronto and grew up there when Borje played for the Toronto Maple Leafs. They were in town with Valter Skarsgard, an actor from Stockholm, Sweden, who stars as Borje in the TV series "Borje -- The Journey of a Legend."

During the visit, Anders and Teresa helped raise awareness for The Borje Salming ALS Foundation founded in honor of their father, a Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman who died Nov. 24, 2022, at the age of 71, to help find a cure for and improve treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

"Dad loved the Maple Leafs, he loved the organization and the fans here in Toronto," Anders Salming said, "so for us who lived here for 17 years, it just feels great to be back and get to promote Borje's ALS foundation. The last time we were in Toronto was in November (2022), when Dad was honored here. He was very ill then, but he really had a wish to get back here and say goodbye to fans, friends and the Maple Leafs organization. It was as important to him as it was to be able to promote the foundation to try to find a cure for ALS."

Skarsgard hails from a family of actors; his father, Stellan ("The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," "Chernobyl" and more), and brothers Alexander ("The Legend of Tarzan," "True Blood," "Succession") and Gustaf ("Merlin," "Vikings"). When he got the offer to star as Borje Salming, that was a dream role come true.

"Back home in Sweden, the reception for the show has been overwhelming, but I don't know about here," Valter Skarsgård told NHL.com/sv. "But from what I've heard, it should be good and I'm very happy with that. The show is a respectful tribute to one of hockey's greatest players.

"We started talking about it back in 2018, so I accepted to play Borje almost six years ago. I learned everything about his life, I got to know him and his family ... it was amazing. It feels so very good to be a part of the tributes to Borje. I do my little part there in the corner and that alone has been a great honor."

Borje Salming took part in the production of the show from start.

"I met Borje several times and we talked about the project," Skarsgard said. "[Over] two years I learned to skate, among other things. Borje sometimes came to skate with me. … I would have loved to spend more time with him, but then he got sick in April, so it didn't turn out exactly as we hoped. But we still had the time to get close."

The series premiered in Stockholm on Nov. 14 before the 2023 NHL Global Series Sweden presented by Fastenal, when the Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild and Ottawa Senators played regular-season games at Avicii Arena from Nov. 16-19. 

Skarsgard is working with Anders and Teresa Salming to create a greater awareness of Borje's ALS Foundation, raise as much money as possible and make connections.

"It's fantastic to see in person what Borje meant here, how people really loved him," Skarsgard said. "Everyone is so full of respect and so friendly and willing to help with whatever they can contribute. For me, it has been valuable to meet so many people and to get to know the NHL and Toronto a little better."

For Anders and Teresa, All-Star Weekend was a time travel back to where their life's journey began. Borje competed at Maple Leaf Gardens, home of the Maple Leafs from 1931 to 1999.

"Yeah, it really was our second home, right from when we were very small," Teresa said. "And it feels so nice that we are still considered part of the Maple Leafs family. It's heartwarming. We still watch the games at home back in Sweden ... they are played late at night, but we try to watch so many of them as possible.

"We are here now to get back in touch with old contacts and make new ones for Borje's ALS Foundation. It's going very well. We are trying to develop everything around the foundation, so that even people here can contribute and be a part of the fight against ALS."

The Borje Salming ALS Foundation started in September 2022, two months before his death. It's distributed close to six million Swedish crowns to researchers working on cures.

"We also like to try to target families of those affected and find a way to help them better," Teresa said. "We're trying to focus on that right now, and for Dad that was important. Our family knows what it's like to have a family member sick with ALS, and we know how much you have to fight when you have an ALS patient in the family."

Anders and Teresa also attended the 2024 Honda (U.S.)/Rogers (Canada) NHL All-Star Game at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday to see, among others, Maple Leafs forward William Nylander.

"It really is so much fun; he's a favorite of ours," Anders said. "Obviously there is a long tradition of Swedish players in the Maple Leafs ever since Dad and Inge Hammarstrom came over (in 1973). "William has been fantastic this year and he continues the tradition of great Swedish players in the team.

"It's been sort of a roller-coaster ride for the Maple Leafs (25-14-8) so far this season, but hopefully the Leafs are just saving themselves for the [Stanley Cup Playoffs]."