In a loving tribute to the Toronto Maple Leafs legend who is battling ALS, the club had all six of their Swedish players start the game.
It was going to be hard for the Toronto Maple Leafs to top the tribute for their legend one night after Borje Salming was acknowledged as part of Hall-of-Fame weekend on Friday.
But they pulled it off in spades.
Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe named William Nylander, Pierre Engvall, Calle Jarnkrok, Timothy Liljegren, Rasmus Sandon and goaltender Erik Kallgren his starters for the game. All six players are Swedes and were on the ice as Borje Salming made his way to center ice to be honored for the ceremonial puck drop ahead of their game against the Vancouver Canucks.
"If you didn't know [before], you got a sense of how important he is here in Toronto," Keefe said. "I thought there was a great opportunity to talk about that with our group.
"I just thought it made sense to pay tribute to him in that way."
A special tribute video voiced by Toronto Maple Leafs radio color analyst Jim Ralph was played on the screen at Scotiabank Arena before an emotional Salming, accompanied by his family made his way to center ice where Nylander and Canucks defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson joined him for the ceremonial faceoff.
The Hall-of-Fame defenseman is currently battling ALS, a disease for which there is no cure. Swedish media outlets have reported that the defenseman has struggled to receive desired medication to help treat his symptoms. Family members had attempted to bring medication over, only to be stopped by Swedish customs.
While seeking treatment to get the medication he needs, Salming was able to be honored in consecutive Leafs games, first against the Pittsburgh Penguins, followed by Saturday's game against the Canucks.
"All of us just looked at each other, just smiling," Sandin said of the gesture. "We all talked about it, that it was tough for all of us to hold back tears tonight and yesterday. The win tonight was definitely for Borje.”
Liljegren added that the room erupted in cheers when Keefe announced the six Swedes as starters.
We at the Sports Illustrated Media Group are hoping for the very best for Borje Salming and his family as the legend continues in his fight against ALS.
More to come...