SAN JOSE – Among the numerous awards that Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson has won throughout his career, there’s one that perhaps some hockey fans in the United States and Canada have never heard of before.
It’s called the Viking Award, and it’s given out annually to the best Swedish-born hockey player in North America. Karlsson has won it three times, most recently in 2016-17.
What helps make the award so significant is that it was first given to Börje Salming after the 1975-76 season, when the trailblazing defenseman was quickly becoming the first player from the Scandinavian country to star in the NHL. Salming won the award three times, just like Karlsson.
Salming died Thursday at the age of 71. He had announced in August that he had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease.
“I think, especially for Sweden, he was a pioneer for us,” Karlsson said of Salming. “It doesn’t matter what team you play for, I think he represents us all. He was always one of those people that cheered for the players, not necessarily what team you played for, and he treated everybody the same.”
Salming came to North America from Sweden in 1973 at the age of 22 and played 17 NHL seasons, including the first 16 with the Toronto Maple Leafs before he joined the Detroit Red Wings for one year.
Salming was named an NHL All-Star six times and was the runner-up for the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman in 1977 and 1980. His skill, success, perseverance, and toughness helped open the door for fellow Swedish players from more recent generations to come to the NHL.
In 1996, Salming became the first Swedish player inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Karlsson, a two-time winner of the Norris Trophy, said he always cherished his interactions with Salming.
“Everybody that had a chance to meet him had even more admiration and respect,” Karlsson said. “It’s going to be sad not to be able to see him during the few times that we were able to be in touch.”
In one of the more heart-wrenching moments of the NHL season so far, Salming made a final public appearance on Nov. 12 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto before a Maple Leafs’ game with the Vancouver Canucks.
Salming, with his family and former teammates by his side, received a standing ovation and a video tribute in what was both a celebration of his career and a chance to say goodbye. Unable to speak, Salming was still able to show his appreciation as he looked up and motioned toward the thousands of fans in attendance.
Salming was in Toronto that week for the Hockey Hall of Fame’s induction ceremony that saw three Swedish players, Daniel and Henrik Sundin, and Karlsson’s former Ottawa Senators teammate, Daniel Alfredsson, immortalized in the sport’s history.
“To see him in that state was not fun to do,” Karlsson said of Salming. “But I think at the same time, talking to the people that were there with him, he was still there, and he understood everything that was going on, and he wanted to be there. I think that he deserved that, and more.”
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
