Sweden’s elimination from 4 Nations ‘a tough one for us to swallow,’ Hedman says

BOSTON -- Victor Hedman is picking Canada to win the 4 Nations Face-Off.

But the Swedish captain feels the tournament final that pits the Canadians against the United States at raucous TD Garden is going to be as tight a contest as you’ll find in the sport of hockey.

Hedman’s Swedes had just defeated the host United States 2-1 Monday when he was asked who his choice would be to win the championship game if he was an analyst for Swedish television.

He squirmed at hearing the question, knowing his answer would be dissected and discussed in the coming days prior to the title contest. All the while, he wore a mischievous grin, knowing he would be hearing from his Tampa Bay Lightning teammates whichever way he leaned.

He’s won two Stanley Cup championships with Tampa Bay with Canadian coach Jon Cooper. Lightning forwards Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel play for Canada while forward Jake Guentzel plays for the United States.

“Wow, that’s a tough one,” he said, a wry grin on his face. “You know, I got ‘Haggie,’ I got a lot of guys on Team Canada, and I got Guentzel on the U.S. so I can’t really pick a winner …”

He paused.

“Looking at it, U.S. on home ice but I think Canada gets the revenge.”

Hedman was referring to Canada getting payback for its 3-1 loss at Bell Centre in Montreal on Saturday.

But it’s the game earlier that day that the Swedes lost 4-3 to rival Finland in overtime that irritates him the most.

Had Sweden scored the deciding goal instead of Finland’s Mikael Granlund, maybe they would be one of the team’s playing in the title game.

Instead, they found themselves eliminated from the tournament despite being the only one of the four teams that did not lose in regulation. Sweden finished 1-0-2-0, having also come out on the short end of a 4-3 overtime decision to Canada.

With three points for a regulation win and one point each for the two overtime losses, Sweden ended up with five points, the same as Canada (1-1-0-1). Canada advanced because it beat Sweden head-to-head.

“We’re just disappointed we’re not one of the teams,” Hedman said. “Not losing a game in regulation and not being there is a tough one for us to swallow.

“But there are a lot of good building blocks for us to look forward to. Moving forward, the three crowns can look forward to the World Championships at home and the Olympics next year moving forward.

“I’m sure the hockey world will be tuning in Thursday.”

For coach Sam Hallam, the tournament was an opportunity lost. The Swedes took steps in terms of team chemistry but were plagued by inconsistency in the slimmest margins that ended up costing them.

“I mean, we had a sense of relief, of hope, that comes from winning and going into the room and seeing some happy faces,” Hallam said.

“Overall, we’re OK for our performance. I think the Canada game, we grew into it and showed we can really play good hockey against a tough team in a tough building in its home nation. But the Finland game, we were disappointed. All credit to them.”

It was, defenseman Mattias Ekholm said, something to build on heading to the Olympics.

“There were some good things,” he said. “We just didn’t play well enough from start to finish in this tournament.”