By the end of Hardy Nilsson’s tenure as the head coach of Team Sweden in 2004, a Swedish newspaper ran a fierce campaign to get him fired. They printed “Resign, Hardy” buttons on the pages of the paper to openly show their disrespect of the coach.

He, after all, was the coach that didn’t win anything. In four years, Nilsson’s Tre Kronor brought home two World Championship bronze medals, and two silvers. In the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, Sweden was ousted in the quarterfinals by Belarus, and in the 2004 World Cup, the Czech Republic.

His successor, Bengt-Ake Gustafsson has lost three bronze medal games in four years – but he also has an Olympic gold medal and a World championship gold from 2006. If Sweden is left off the medal podium in Switzerland, the three medalless years make up the longest such streak since the early 1980s (1982-1985, with an Olympic bronze in 1984, though).

But of course, there’s that "if".

Goal

Johan Holmqvist, best goalie in the 2006 tournament. Stefan Liv, one of a handful of players who won both Olympic gold and World Championship gold in 2006. Jonas Gustavsson, nicknamed “the Monster”, made a new Elitserien shutout record in the playoffs this season. Fine goalies, and yet, the consensus is that Sweden has a goaltending problem.

Both Holmqvist and Liv looked shaky in the dress rehearsal in the Czech Hockey Games, while Gustavsson had to travel bacj to Sweden due to a family emergency.

All three, though, have the potential to be truly great. The problem coach Gustafsson has is that he was expected to ride Holmqvist all the way, and now he will probably have to give Liv and probably Gustavsson, too, a chance to prove themselves.

Gustavsson, a World Championship rookie, has had an excellent year, with a phenomenal 96.08 save percentage and five shutouts in 13 games, and may turn out to be true wild card for Sweden.

Defence

Once again, the Swedish line of defense is built on the shoulders of Kenny Jönsson, the former NHLer who returned to Sweden during the NHL lockout in 2004-05, and stayed with Rogle, in Swedish second-tier league. Playing on the second highest level for three season didn’t hurt Jönsson’s play as he won Olympic gold in 2006, and was voted Best Defenceman in the 2006 World Championship.

This season Jönsson was back in Elitserien, after his Rögle earned promotion last season.

While Jönsson’s back in the bright lights, the second most important defenseman of the team, Dick Tärnström, spent his season with AIK in the second-tier league,but like Jönsson, he's still a world-class player.

The Swedes have several good defenseman to have at the point in power play - Jönsson, Tärnström, Magnus Johansson, Johan Åkerman, Tobias Enström - while NHL addition Nicklas Grossman brings a physical element to the blueline.

Interestingly, highly touted prospect Victor Hedman didn’t make the cut, but his big brother Oscar did.

Offence

The Swedish dynamic duo Tony Mårtensson - Mattias Weinhandl is back. Last season, they created havoc in Elitserien finishing 1-2 in the league scoring. This season, they played in different teams in the KHL, and the magic hasn’t been there in their games with Tre Kronor. Not yet, anyway.

In the 2008 tournament, Weinhandl collected 13 points in nine games, this season’s KHL champion Mårtensson nine in nine.

Loui Eriksson finished 11th in the NHL goals scoring - the best Swede – with 36 goals in 82 games. The 23-year-old Gothenburg native plays in his first World Championship but is expected to lit the red light for the Swedes just as he did in the NHL.

Niklas Persson will make his World Championship debut at 30. Other World Championship rookies in the Swedish offense are Christian Berglund, Niklas Nordgren, Linus Omark, and Johan Harju. Keep an eye on Omark, and don’t blink. Anything is possible in every shift.

Coach

Bengt-Ake Gustafsson knows what it takes to go all the way in the World Championships. He’s done it both as a player and a coach, and while his teams have fallen short of the goal in the past two tournaments, there’s no doubt that he still can create an atmosphere that makes his players play at their best.

That’s what makes a great coach.

Of course, with better players at his disposal - such as Forsberg, Sundin, Lidström in Turin, and Zetterberg, Nylander, Franzen in Riga 2006 - that’s all he has to do. Whether that’s enough with this year’s roster remains to be seen.

Projected result

Even if the Swedes have had to return home emptyhanded from two consecutive tournaments, it’s worth noting that they have also made it to the top-4 eight years in a row.

Tre Kronor typically start slow, then pick up speed as the team gets its final shape and gels during the first week of the tournament.

A hot goalie will help Gustafsson get some peace of mind - and a medal. He must be tired of staring at the one from 2006 by now.

RISTO PAKARINEN