Swedish NHL Icon Borje Salming Remembered Warmly in Premiere of New Series

If you were a Toronto kid in the 1970s and 80s, you basically had no choice but to be a fan of Borje Salming. 

Whether or not you rooted for the Maple Leafs, you knew Salming, and you respected what he brought to the NHL – skill, stamina and steely resolve. Try as they might, Salming’s opponents failed to get the best of him, and he gave as good as he got – in the prime of his days in hockey’s top league, he had 192 penalty minutes in a single season, a number that would cost him dearly in today’s game.

We’re talking about Salming about one year after he died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a devastating motor neuron disease. Salming bravely made the trip across the Atlantic Ocean from his home in Sweden to appear at a Leafs game in November 2022, but less than two weeks later, he passed away at age 71.

Around the same time last year, THN spoke to Amir Chamdin, a Swedish director who was the driving force behind Borje: The Journey of a Legend, a docudrama that premiered Tuesday night in Stockholm. A slew of famous hockey players, including Swedish players and some teammates from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild, attended the premiere.

It’s important to note the new Salming series does not include his tragic final days but rather his upward trek from humble beginnings in northern Sweden. That said, Chamdin filmed the show in Ontario, and he spoke about the importance of capturing the legitimate love Canadians have for the late Leafs superstar.

“Everywhere we shoot (the series in Canada), everyone has a Borje story or a Leafs story,” Chamdin told THN at the time. "He (worked) in another country, having to learn the language and raise a family and still be an elite player. He was breaking many barriers in his career. So (the series) is an underdog story.”

Salming’s widespread appeal was in part due to him being a pioneer for European players. While small-minded xenophobes moaned about Europeans becoming part of the NHL game, Salming simply put his head down and plowed through the obstacles put in front of him. He didn’t have playoff success, but that was all about the terrible Leafs teams he played on and not at all about his talents as a player. He played 1,148 regular-season games and posted 637 assists and 787 points, and if it weren’t for him, elite Swedish players such as Nicklas Lidstrom and Peter Forsberg might never have embarked on an NHL career.

The Leafs wore a "Borje" patch on their jerseys last season, and this new docuseries is an additional reminder of his legacy and his imprint on the game he loved so much. He brought a dignity with him that could not be diminished by those who only wanted North American athletes in the NHL. 

Imagine all the European talent we would’ve been robbed of watching in the past half-century. Imagine an NHL without Salming, Peter Forsberg, Nicklas Lidstrom, Mats Sundin, Daniel Alfredsson and so many more Swedes. They all owe Salming a debt of gratitude, and they all know that, without his courage and determination, the European influence on the NHL might never have happened.

The Swedish-produced Salming series is currently available in Canada through Viaplay, and while it's uncertain when it could air on TV in North America, Toronto’s pride in Salming, the city’s adopted son, is as strong as ever. He left an unforgettable legacy as a Maple Leaf, as an NHLer, and as a human being. It’s been a year since he left us, but he’ll always live on as an icon, on and off the ice.