Hockey Sweden and Round 21

“When we learned early last autumn that Börje was ill with ALS, we wanted to thank him for what he has meant to hockey and raise money for the Börje Salming ALS Foundation and round 21 was a good opportunity. The fact that we could also do it together with SHL and SDHL was extra nice,” says Erik Ryman, sports director at HockeyAllsvenskan.

Round 21, the same number as Börjes, was the last weekend of November for HockeyAllsvenskan and SHL. For the Swedish Women's Hockey League, the round lasted some time into December.

“The day before Friday's game, we received the news that Börje had left us and of course we were affected by the grief, but we stuck to our plan and also wanted to say goodbye during the games,” says Erik Ryman.

Standing ovation

During Friday's games, a minute's silence was held for Börje and the following day a standing ovation was conducted that was supposed to last 21 seconds, but never wanted to stop.

“This was a very strong experience for all of us, including players, referees and audiences. We had to say goodbye and pay tribute to Börje Salming,” says Gabriel Monidelle, CEO of HockeyAllsvenskan.

The jumbotron showed films featuring Peter Forsberg, Jonas Bergqvist, Håkan Södergren and Nicklas Lidström, among others, telling what Börje had meant to them.

Rikard Josefson and Karin Karlström, Chairman of the Board and initiator of the Börje Salming ALS Foundation, also participated in the presentation of the Foundation's work.

1 000 SEK for each goal

For every goal scored during round 21, the Allsvenskan, SHL and Damallsvenskan donated 1,000 kronor to the Börje Salming ALS Foundation. There were a total of 137 goals during round 21 and 137 000 crowns.

HockeyAllsvenskan, SHL and SDHL played with specially designed pucks with the Foundation's logo and all pucks used for decisive goals were auctioned on Tradera for the benefit of Stiftelsen.

Together with the swish contributions of the audience, the players and everyone else, a total of SEK 471,142 went to the Börje Salming ALS Foundation during round 21.

“It was very special and nice matches in memory of Börje and our hope is that we can do something similar this autumn,” says Gabriel Monidelle.