Jakob Silfverberg saved Marko Anttila from being hit during the WC

Two days have passed since Sweden won on penalties over Finland. The hot rival meeting has now been canceled by Tre Kronor; the video material has been analysed, the briefings have been completed and now the eyes are directed towards Hungary, which Sweden will meet on Thursday afternoon.

– I don’t really have any super skills, we’ll go through them after lunch today. We will go in with the same attitude as the previous matches. It is very hard work. We must be humble before the task, says Jakob Silfverberg, who just like the rest of Tre Kronor completed an ice session on Wednesday morning.

What many blue-and-yellow fans don’t know is that Sweden’s captain got to play a minor role during Monday’s match between Tre Kronor and Finland.

Just after the coin toss, when the penalties were about to start, he saved Marko Anttila, Finland’s captain, from being hit by one of Nokia Arena’s ice machines.

– He shouted, “don’t go there”. I want to thank him for that. I was very surprised, a grateful Marko Anttila added the Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat after the final whistle.

Silfverberg remembers the incident, which could have ended badly for Anttila.

– We singled money and the ice machines were out to rinse. Then I don’t know what he did. He looked back while driving forward, the ice machine was just about to crush him. So I grabbed him, and then he saw it. Otherwise, he would have gotten a good plug from the ice machine.

– It wasn’t super close, but it was close.

Considering how big Anttila (203 cm) is, maybe he can still take a hit from the ice machine?

– Haha, yes, it might be worse for the ice machine.

Paying tribute to the teammates

Jakob Silfverberg was appointed team captain a few days before the WC adventure started in Tampere. This is the first time he leads a Swedish team with a C on his chest.

He himself claims that it is an easy task, thanks to his teammates.

– It’s easy to be captain of this team, there are a lot of good guys in there.