Frolunda Gothenburg left winger Carl Grundstrom has had himself a pretty good start to the season in the CHL, SHL and now World Junior Championship with Team Sweden. He spoke about the current situation in the elite U20 tournament and his season so far.

by Dominik Jakubec

MONTREAL – After three straight wins to start the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship, Team Sweden has clinched first place in Group B. Besides knowing they will enter the knock-out portion of the tournament in a good position on the bracket, it also assures the team that it will remain in Montreal for the remainder of the tournament, rather than having to travel to Toronto for a quarter-final game and then back again. 

“It feels great. This one gives us confidence to build on,” left winger Carl Grundstrom said after the team's 3-1 win over rival Finland. “It's really good for us because it means we don't have to worry about packing up and travelling, but we can stay here in Montreal and prepare for the upcoming games.”

Grundstrom had an assist in the game, and now has a goal and 4 helpers after three games. 

The team still has one more group stage game to play, on New Year's Eve against the Czech Republic. 

“Obviously we want to win that game too,” said the Frolunda Gothenburg forward. “The pressure's off us a bit now because we don't have to win, but of course we're going to do everything we can to win it.”

Based on past international experience, Grundstrom's scouting report on the Czechs is: “They're always pretty fast on the counter-attack, so you have to be very focused when you're entering their zone and make sure you give support to the guy with the puck so they don't get a breakaway.”

Grundstrom, 19, is a native of Umea, in northern Sweden. He is a product of Modo Ornskoldsvik, the club that has produced many Swedish hockey legends such as Peter Forsberg and Markus Naslund. After playing 73 SHL games with Modo over the past two seasons, he has now moved to Frolunda, where he has 13 points in 27 league games so far this season.

He describes his season so far as “(R)eally good. It's fun to play hockey right now.”

Surely making the season even more fun is the fact that the Indians are on top of the SHL standings and gunning for a second straight national title.

“The team's doing really well, so they can play without me for a while,” he joked about his departure to the Swedish national junior team. “That's not a problem.”

So far in his first Champions Hockey League season, Grundstrom has 3 goals and 4 assists, having played in all 10 of Frolunda's games.

“It's always fun to play against other countries, whether it's national teams or clubs,” he said of the experience. Looking ahead to the Semi-Finals against Fribourg-Gotteron, he said, “It's a pretty tight tournament, so we're expecting it to be a tough series.”

Turning his attention back to the World Juniors, Grundstrom knows that the Swedes still have work to do. Despite winning their group for a 10th straight year – and racking up a 39-game winning streak in that time – they have had trouble carrying that success over into the knock-out round. Over the course of the last nine years, the Swedes have won one gold, four silvers, and one bronze medal. Grundstrom himself was a member of last year's team that finished a disappointing 4th in Helsinki.

“We've got to play our game all the way,” he said determinedly. “We've got to expect it to get a bit harder when we get to the quarter- and semi-finals, so we've got to play tougher and keep that in mind.”