Salo in Sweden's Olympic plans

By Alan Adams, Sportsnet.ca

Tommy Salo may have retired from the NHL but he is a part of Sweden's plans for the 2006 Winter Olympic tournament in Italy in February.

Salo was one of five goaltenders and 65 players named to Sweden's preliminary Olympic roster. Salo retired after last season but he changed his mind and joined Frolunda of Sweden's Elite League after the team lost Henrik Lundqvist to the New York Rangers.

Salo has seen the best of times and the worst of times under the Olympic banner for Sweden. He was in net for Sweden's dramatic shootout win over Canada in the gold medal final of the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway. And he was the goat when he was beat on a weak shot from outside the blueline allowing Belarus to eliminate Sweden in the quarter-finals of the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.

Salo's last NHL team was the Colorado Avalanche in 2003-04. The Edmonton Oilers sent him there in a trade deadline deal in March, '04. He played for MoDO during the NHL lockout and retired after MoDO crashed and did not make the playoffs.

Lundqvist and Mikael Telqvist of the Toronto Maple Leafs are the only NHL goalies in the mix for Sweden's Olympic team.

The Swedish list offers no real surprises and it includes Mats Sundin of the Maple Leafs, Peter Forsberg of Philadelphia, Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson, Nik Lidstrom of Detroit and twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin of Vancouver along with teammate Markus Naslund.

There are some former NHLers on the list, including Jonas Hoglund and Mikael Renberg, who both last played for the Maple Leafs. Defenceman Kenny Johnsson, who left the New York Islanders over the summer, is on the list and would be a strong candidate for the team.

The Swedes have until Oct. 24 to submit a list of candidates to their National Olympic Committee for the '06 Games in Turin, Italy. The list can have an unlimited number of entries, but a player who is not on the list as of Oct. 24 cannot be added to the Olympic team at a later stage. 20 trade deadline deal in March, '04. He played for MoDO during the NHL lockout and retired after MoDO crashed and did not make the playoffs.

Lundqvist and Mikael Telqvist of the Toronto Maple Leafs are the only NHL goalies in the mix for Sweden's Olympic team.

The Swedish list offers no real surprises and it includes Mats Sundin of the Maple Leafs, Peter Forsberg of Philadelphia, Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson, Nik Lidstrom of Detroit and twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin of Vancouver along with teammate Markus Naslund.

There are some former NHLers on the list, including Jonas Hoglund and Mikael Renberg, who both last played for the Maple Leafs. Defenceman Kenny Johnsson, who left the New York Islanders over the summer, is on the list and would be a strong candidate for the team.

The Swedes have until Oct. 24 to submit a list of candidates to their National Olympic Committee for the '06 Games in Turin, Italy. The list can have an unlimited number of entries, but a player who is not on the list as of Oct. 24 cannot be added to the Olympic team at a later stage. All players on the list will be subject to doping tests by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

December 22 is the deadline for official Olympic rosters (20 skaters and three goaltenders). Players who are injured after this date can be replaced until the final rosters are submitted 24 hours before the start of the Olympic tournament.

Reprinted with permission from Sportsnet.ca