Börje Salming

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SwedenSweden  Börje Salming Ice hockey player
Hockey Hall of Fame , 1996
IIHF Hall of Fame , 1998
Börje Salming
Date of birth April 17, 1951
place of birth Kiruna , Sweden
size 185 cm
Weight 95 kg
position defender
number # 21
Shot hand Left
Career stations
until 1970 Kiruna AIF
1970-1973 Brynäs IF
1973-1989 Toronto Maple Leafs
1989-1990 Detroit Red Wings
1990-1993 AIK Solna

Anders Börje Salming (born April 17, 1951 in Kiruna ) is a former Swedish ice hockey player of Sami origin. The defender began his career at Brynäs IF , where he won two championship titles before playing over 1,100 games in the National Hockey League between 1973 and 1990 . During this time he was on the ice for 16 seasons for the Toronto Maple Leafs , where he holds a number of franchise records and which no longer award his jersey number 21 . He then ended his career with the Detroit Red Wings and AIK Solna in his home country. At the international level, he won the silver medal with the Swedish national team at the 1973 World Cup and took part in the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville , France .

Salming is considered one of the best defensive players of his generation and has been considered several times in the NHL All-Star Team . At the same time he is regarded as the first European star of the NHL and acted as the decisive pioneer for Swedish and European players in North America. In 1996 he became the first Swede to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame , before being elected to the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1998 . He also forms the defensive line in the IIHF Centennial All-Star Team together with Vyacheslav Fetissov .

Career

Beginnings in Sweden

Börje Salming was born in Kiruna, Sweden's northernmost city, and grew up in Salmi , about 40 kilometers to the north , at the eastern end of Torneträsk . The name of his family, who belongs to the Sami people on his father's side , is derived from their home village. His father died in a mining accident when he was five years old. His older brother Stig Salming was also an ice hockey player who - like Börje - was to become several Swedish champions and national players in his country.

In his youth, Börje Salming ran for Kiruna AIF in Division 2 before moving to Brynäs IF in Division 1 in 1970 , which was Sweden's top division at the time. In Gävle , the defender played alongside his brother Stig for three seasons and won the Swedish championship with the team in 1971 and 1972 . He was finally discovered in 1973 by Gerry McNamara , who was a scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs . McNamara originally observed Brynäs because of Inge Hammarström , but was also convinced of Salming's abilities, so that both players switched to the Maple Leafs in the 1973/74 season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Toronto Maple Leafs

Börje Salming (2007)

In his first NHL season Salming recorded 39 scorer points , which is still a franchise record among rookie defenders of the Maple Leafs to this day (as of 2017/18) . In the course of the following seasons he established himself as one of the best defensive players of his generation, where he was able to convince with a physically robust game as well as with above-average offensive qualities. At the same time, he eliminated numerous prejudices against Swedish and European players in general, which until his time still said that professionals from these countries were not up to the demands of the NHL. In this regard, described his countryman and Hall-of-Fame-mate Mats Sundin him as a "pioneer" (trailblazer) for Swedish players.

In total, Salming was on the ice for the Maple Leafs in 16 seasons and during this time he developed into a crowd favorite in Toronto. He also set a number of other records, some of which are still valid today. No player in the team's history has scored more assists (620) while leading all of Toronto's defenders in goals (148) and scorer points (768). Among the actors with the most appearances in franchise history, he ranks third behind Chief Armstrong (1188) and Tim Horton (1184) with 1099 games, and at the same time became the first European to play 1000 NHL games.

During his time in the Canadian metropolis Salming was appointed to the NHL Second All-Star Team five times , while after the 1976/77 season , with 78 scorer points, he was also a member of the First All-Star Team . In that year he finished - as in the game year 1979/80  - second place for the choice of the best defender of the league awarded with the James Norris Memorial Trophy , whereby he was defeated in each case by Larry Robinson ; he shouldn't get any closer to this award. The Swede also failed to win the Stanley Cup with the Maple Leafs or to reach the final, so the elimination in the semi-finals of the 1978 playoffs against Montréal was the best result of his time in Toronto. Nevertheless, the defender was honored three times with the Viking Award as best Swedish player in the NHL and also invited to the NHL All-Star Game just as often ( 1976 , 1977 , 1978 ). He was also awarded the Charlie Conacher Humanitarian Award in 1982 for his social commitment.

Salming received particular attention in the 1986/87 season when he was suspended for eight games after admitting in a newspaper interview that he had used cocaine several years ago . First he should be suspended for the entire season, but NHL President John Ziegler reduced the ban. A few months later he made the headlines for another reason when he was accidentally hit in the face by his skate in a game against his future employer, the Detroit Red Wings , after a duel with Gerard Gallant . The wound had to be sutured with 250 stitches, but he returned to the ice three days later.

In 2016 barred the Maple Leafs player's shirt number 21, after it previously as "honored" (Honored) was and is for the time being continue to be awarded.

End of career

After the 1988/89 season Salming left the Maple Leafs and joined the Detroit Red Wings as a free agent , where he ended his NHL career after a year. In total, he had completed 1148 games in the regular season and recorded 787 points. He then returned to his home country, where he played for AIK Solna in the Elitserien for a little more than two more years . He then finally declared his active career over. After the regular waiting period of three years, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996 as the first Swede and the second European after Wladislaw Tretjak . In 1998 he was also considered by the IIHF Hall of Fame , before he was given a special honor in 2008 when he was elected to the IIHF Centennial All-Star Team , which is supposed to represent the best team of the 20th century. After all, he has also been a member of the Swedish Ice Hockey Hall of Fame since 2012 .

After his active career, Salming founded a company that sells underwear and sportswear, among other things. In 1991 he published his autobiography entitled "Blood, Sweat and Hockey: 17 Years in the NHL". In addition, since 2008 he has been awarded the Salming Trophy , which is awarded annually to the best Swedish defender outside the NHL.

International

At the international level, Salming gained his first experience at the U19 European Championships in 1968 , 1969 and 1970 , where he won two bronze medals with the Swedish selection, while the silver medal was recorded in 1969 and he was personally awarded as the best defender of the tournament. A little later he also made his debut for the senior national team of his home country when he took part in the World Championships in 1972 and 1973 , where he also won a bronze and a silver medal. He was also appointed to the tournament's All-Star Team in 1973 after scoring as many points in ten games. He played his third and last World Cup in 1989 , when the Tre Kronor lost all three games in the championship round and thus took fourth place.

Salming also took part in the Canada Cups in 1976 , 1981 and 1991 , with the Swedish selection missing the medal ranks. In 1976, however, he was again considered in an All-Star team after he had seven points in just five games. His last international tournament was the 1992 Winter Olympics , in which he took part at the age of 40 and finished fifth there with his home country.

Achievements and Awards

International

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
season team league Sp T V Pt +/- SM Sp T V Pt +/- SM
1967/68 Kiruna AIF Division 2 8th - - - - - -
1968/69 Kiruna AIF Division 2 13 - - - - - -
1969/70 Kiruna AIF Division 2 16 5 5 - - - - - -
1970/71 Brynäs IF Division 1 14th 0 5 5 6th 13 2 1 3 16
1971/72 Brynäs IF Division 1 14th 1 1 2 20th 14th 0 4th 4th 30th
1972/73 Brynäs IF Division 1 14th 2 3 5 10 12 3 1 4th 24
1973/74 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 76 5 34 39 +38 48 4th 0 1 1 -2 4th
1974/75 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 60 12 25th 37 +4 34 7th 0 4th 4th ± 0 6th
1975/76 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 78 16 41 57 +31 70 10 3 4th 7th -2 9
1976/77 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 76 12 66 78 +45 46 9 3 6th 9 -3 6th
1977/78 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 80 16 60 76 +30 70 6th 2 2 4th +3 6th
1978/79 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 78 17th 56 73 +31 76 6th 0 1 1 -2 8th
1979/80 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 74 19th 52 71 +3 94 3 1 1 2 -5 2
1980/81 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 72 5 61 66 ± 0 154 3 0 2 2 -8th 4th
1981/82 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 69 12 44 56 +3 170 - - - - - -
1982/83 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 69 7th 38 45 -5 104 4th 1 4th 5 -5 10
1983/84 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 68 5 38 43 -32 92 - - - - - -
1984/85 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 73 6th 33 39 -23 76 - - - - - -
1985/86 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 41 7th 15th 22nd –6 48 10 1 6th 7th +13 14th
1986/87 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 56 4th 16 20th +17 42 13 0 3 3 -1 14th
1987/88 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 66 2 24 26th +7 82 6th 1 3 4th +1 8th
1988/89 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 63 3 17th 20th +7 86 - - - - - -
1989/90 Detroit Red Wings NHL 49 2 17th 19th +20 52 - - - - - -
1990/91 AIK Solna Elitserien 36 4th 9 13 46 - - - - - -
1991/92 AIK Solna Elitserien 38 6th 14th 20th 98 3 0 2 2 6th
1992/93 AIK Solna Elitserien 6th 1 0 1 10 - - - - - -
Division 1 / Elitserien total 122 14th 32 46 200 42 5 8th 13 76
NHL overall 1148 150 637 787 +170 1344 81 12 37 49 –11 91

International

Represented Sweden at:

year team event result Sp T V Pt SM
1968 Sweden U19 European Championship Bronze medal 5 1 0 1 4th
1969 Sweden U19 European Championship Silver medal 5 0 0 0 8th
1970 Sweden U19 European Championship Bronze medal 5 1
1972 Sweden WM Bronze medal 4th 0 0 0 6th
1973 Sweden WM Silver medal 10 4th 6th 10 8th
1976 Sweden Canada Cup 4th Place 5 4th 3 7th 2
1981 Sweden Canada Cup 5th place 5 0 2 2 10
1989 Sweden WM 4th Place 8th 1 1 2 8th
1991 Sweden Canada Cup 4th Place 6th 0 0 0 10
1992 Sweden Olympia 5th place 8th 4th 3 7th 4th
Juniors overall 15th 2
Men overall 46 13 15th 28 48

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1  play-downs / relegation )

Web links

Commons : Börje Salming  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mina damer och herrar, Börje Salming! ( Memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (Swedish, April 30, 2010, accessed December 28, 2018)
  2. ^ Risto Pakarinen: Borje Salming was hero in Toronto, Sweden. nhl.com, January 4, 2017, accessed December 28, 2018 .
  3. ^ Salming Suspended. nytimes.com, September 5, 1986, accessed December 28, 2018 .
  4. ↑ One On One with Borje Salming. hhof.com, December 5, 2005, accessed December 28, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Salming, Börje
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Salming, Anders Börje; Salming, Borje
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish ice hockey player
DATE OF BIRTH April 17, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Kiruna , Sweden