Loui Eriksson Would Be an Unlikely Gold Medalist for the Bruins
By Duncan Day
Sweden’s Loui Eriksson (21) skates against Finland’s Ossi Vaananen (4) in the men’s Oympic semifinals. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports
Eriksson and Bruins at the Olympics
This year’s Winter Olympics have been exhilarating to watch, especially when Bruins’ fans can keep track of their hometown favorites in Sochi. Loui Eriksson, one of the B’s fresh, new faces this season, has tusseled his way into the gold medal game vs. Patrice Bergeron and Team Canada.
Before the Sochi Olympics, it was easy to pick a Bruins’ player most likely to capture a gold medal. You could basically rule out Zdeno Chara because his Slovakian team was just plain weak. David Krejci could help the Czech Republic, but ultimately, his country was too old across the board. Tuukka Rask is a spectacular goaltender, and one could’ve thought that maybe Finland would sneak into a position to seize the gold. I realized that Eriksson was part of a fairly talented Swedish team. Still, his squad was definitely less skilled than Canada’s.
That brings us to one final Bruins’ player, good ol’ Bergeron, who laces up the skates for Team Canda. By and large, Canada has been the expected gold medal team. After defeating USA in the semi-finals 1-0, they will, in fact, take part in the Olympic finals game. Bergeron has totaled two assists and a +2 rating in five games so far. We certainly knew that the Bruins’ alternate captain would be vying for the top spot in Sochi.
On the other hand, Sweden’s Eriksson could’ve completely dropped out of the running for any medal. However, supplemented by fantastic play from Ottawa Senators defensemen Erik Karlsson, Sweden has been exceptional at the 2014 Winter Games.
Considering his injury-prone 2013-14 NHL season, few would think that Eriksson has the capability to capture a Olympic gold medal. Even fewer would think that Eriksson would put forth significant influence to give his country that first place prize. The 28-year-old, though, has been instrumental for Sweden, scoring two goals, tallying one assist and gathering a +2 rating.
When you’re watching the Olympic finals, keep in mind that Eriksson was the player who tied the Sweden-Finland semifinals game 1-1 with a timely finish. Maybe he can work some magic in hopes of knocking off Canada.