Anders Hedberg

Anders Hedberg is regarded as one of the Swedish pioneers in North American professional hockeyArticle in SportbladetRead the sourceArticle in HockeysverigeRead the sourceClose. Anders Hedberg grew up in Svedjeholmen, where Svedjeholmens IF was his first clubArticle in HockeysverigeRead the sourceArticle in Swedish Ice Hockey AssociationRead the sourceClose. He played youth and junior hockey there, starting in goal before becoming a skater, according to DIF Historia’sArticle in DIF HistoriaRead the sourceClose historical profile. In a 2016Article in HockeysverigeRead the sourceClose interview with Hockeysverige, he recalled playing senior hockey in Svedjeholmen at just 12.

Hedberg said in the same interview that he waited to join MoDo until he had been promised the chance to train with the senior teamArticle in HockeysverigeRead the sourceClose. He also recalled 22 October 1967, when he played for Ångermanland in the TV-puckenTV-pucken is a Swedish youth hockey tournament played between regional representative teams.Article in HockeysverigeRead the sourceClose youth tournament and then flew on to make his senior debut for MoDo that same day.

In the 2016 interview, Hedberg described Kabben BerglundArticle in HockeysverigeRead the sourceClose as an idol and said he had learned from Berglund’s newspaper columns. He also recalled Nicke JohanssonArticle in HockeysverigeRead the sourceClose, his teammate in both football and hockey at MoDo.

Hedberg also said that he had done a project on MoDo’s youth hockey while at upper secondary schoolArticle in HockeysverigeRead the sourceClose. When he was later admitted to GIH, both his place there and proximity to the school influenced his decision to move to Stockholm and play for DjurgårdenDjurgården, short for Djurgårdens IF, is a sports club in Stockholm. Here, the name refers to its ice hockey team, which has developed many Swedish NHL players.Article in HockeysverigeRead the sourceClose.

An opportunity to go to North AmericaArticle in HockeysverigeRead the sourceClose in 1972 had to wait because he wanted to finish his studies, Hedberg said in the 2016 interview. DIF Historia’sArticle in DIF HistoriaRead the sourceClose profile, adapted from a 1989/90 match programme, records that he completed his GIH studies in 1974 before moving to Winnipeg.