Login

StamkosFan · 08-29-2019, 11:15 PM

Ola Wagstrom reached 30 points for the first time in his career last season, which was his fourth in the big leagues. But the second overall pick from S44 isn't done growing yet, at least that's what his career year this year would suggest. Wagstrom has surpassed the 40 point mark for the first time ever, and has set career highs in goals, assists, and hits too. But there's 5 games to go; Wagstrom has a shot at getting 20 goals and/or 30 assists, perhaps even 50 points, although he'd need 7 points over the next 5 games to do so. But it's certainly not impossible, and would put him not only among the highest pedigree youngsters in the SHL, but the all-around most elite stars in the league. As the TPE leader for his rather small draft class, he has been waiting to see the true dividends of his efforts for awhile.

"It takes an extremely long time to get good in the SHL, but I worked hard year in and year out, gritted my teeth, and dug in my heels when it got challenging. That's really the message from my breakout year this year, to all the youngsters who are feeling discouraged as they struggle in their rookie year, just know that with diligent hard work, you can get better and become one of the best. I got 8 points my first year in the league, and look at me now, top 20 in league scoring. The name of the game in the SHL is patience, and it's really a test of who is willing to wait to achieve greatness. I'm hoping to continue to do big things next year and this year in the playoffs; would be great to set some personal playoffs record too!" said Ola Wagstrom.

The Jets came tantalizingly close to winning the Challenge Cup last year, falling just short to the Buffalo Stampede, but the conference champs have been rather disappointing this year. The West is rather chaotic right now, but the Jets will more than likely take either the fourth or fifth seed. Being on the bubble certainly doesn't inspire confidence, so if they want another crack at the title, they're going to have to play much better. With recent additions such as Goku Muerto and Osbert Whacker, they might have a chance, but the loss of Lil Manius certainly dealt a heavy blow to the core. Wagstrom has been one of the players who has tried to step up in his absence, but he says that they are some "awfully big shoes to fill."

"Manius was the sort of guy that you thought would be on the Jets forever, he'd been around so long, with his old player Big Manius too. We miss him a lot, and he was arguably the best player on our team. Nick Brain might hopefully reach that level in the very near future but we are missing Manius so much right now and I fear that him not being around might slow us down. A lot of people will have to step up and start playing above their pay grade if we want to win; none of these playoff series will be easy. As such a low seed, we'll be playing the best teams out of the gate, so this is our only chance," said Ola Wagstrom.

Wagstrom's answers did seem a bit uncharacteristic, as if his unwavering enthusiasm for his draftee team had faltered if but for a moment. While he did not verbalize any complaints, some have started to speculate about his contract situation. Wagstrom's latest deal is up after S50, where he will yet again be an unrestricted free agent if he doesn't sign an extension before that offseason. Of course, every time the Swede's deals have been about to expire in the past, the media has been abuzz with rumors that he was getting traded or wanted out before Wagstrom was even eligible to sign an extension. But still, some flattering comments he has made about other teams have not been reassuring to the Jets' fan base. There was indication that the Wagstrom camp wanted to sign a long-term deal with a home town discount once this two-year bridge was up, but it will have to be seen if Wagstrom and the Jets reach such an accord this offseason. He cannot sign an extension like that even if he wants to until the end of the postseason.

"I have no comment on my contract situation. I wish you guys would stop asking me about this, you sound like a broken record. What happens will happen, just wait and see. This postseason hasn't even started yet, my deal is a long ways away from even being up. There are more important things to concentrate on right now, and we don't need these kinds of things being gossiped about. It gets inside players' heads, and that's not what you would want going on during the playoffs," said Ola Wagstrom.

-----------

To change the subject away from SHL matters, Ola Wagstrom is coming off of a gold medal win in the most recent IIHF tournament. Few thought that Sweden would take the gold, but the young team stunned the pundits by soaring through the round robin and taking care of the medal round. Sweden faced all of the nations that were considered the IIHF's greatest, and defeated all of them handily. First came Canada, a club that was stacked from line 1 to line 4, who the Swedes edged by one goal. Next up was Ireland, a team that most of you know for winning a ton of gold medals in the recent era thanks to slowly recruiting tons of S36 draftees. The Irish sure made it exciting and fought tooth and nail, but the Swedes pulled through and defeated them in overtime. Last up was the USA, widely considered the deepest and most skilled team in the IIHF, but USA never even led in the game. The Swedes came out of the gate determined to win and put up two early goals, ending the game 4-2. Grinning from ear to ear, they rushed the ice and celebrated with such exuberance, circling around goaltender Sebastian Primeau, who had arguably been the team's hero. The gold medal ceremony was something that Wagstrom says he will remember for the rest of his life.

"I remember chills just running down my spine. I couldn't believe what was happening, it didn't feel real when the IIHF commissioner placed that medal around my neck. I had dreamed of representing my nation since I was a little boy, and once I actually got to that point, I wanted so badly to win a gold medal. Nobody thought we could do it, and even I would have told you we were a few years away, but we had the spirit and the heart of champions, and that was how we pulled off such a Cinderella season. It was a true upset, basically the movie Miracle on Ice, but USA lost and were facing Sweden, not Russia. I really treasure my medal and our victory; the gold medal is framed right above my fireplace, it's very obvious how much it is my pride and joy," said Ola Wagstrom.

Interestingly, Wagstrom played defense for the duration of the tournament, often pairing up with American-born Leopold Lockhart, who just transferred to be eligible to play for Sweden, or his long-time friend Dylan Karlsson. Wagstrom had never played defenseman in any professional setting, not even juniors, so this came as quite the surprise. He performed quite well playing plenty of minutes in an unfamiliar position. It was a true demonstration of his adaptability and all-around skill, and with the Jets sorely lacking in defensemen with the departure of Jax Duggan, some thought it was a training exercise for him to move to the blue line in the SHL. Wagstrom vehemently denied these suggestions, and insisted that him playing defense was a one-time occurrence.

"I would not, under any circumstances, move to defense in the SHL. I'm planning to move to center next year, but that's it as far as position changes go. I like my career as is, and I genuinely love being a forward and playing the style that I play right now. I don't particularly enjoy playing defense; I want to score goals and create offensive chances. I respect defensemen, of course, but it's not for me. I did it in IIHF because I want what's best for my country and it's only a handful of games, it's fun as an experiment for an offseason event after all. This year in the IIHF, I will not be playing defense, I will instead be playing center for the first time in three seasons. We will see how that goes but I'm exciting to be moving back down the middle, centers get a lot of action, and winning draws is a major part of keeping possession for your team. I'm not opposed to moving back to defense some day in IIHF if Sweden needs me to or if we can find someone else to slot in at center, but for now it's not part of the plan," said Ola Wagstrom.

The Swedish team will be looking to defend their gold medal title this offseason, and will be riding high more than likely off of last year's victory. They just transferred in power forward Noah Gallagher, and have some promising new youngsters joining the crew, including Gylfi Eriksson, Marcus Ohlsson, and Henrik Lekberg Osterman. While they will miss legends Mattias Enqvist and Crossfit Jesus, Ola Wagstrom moving back to forward and the addition of Gallagher should be enough to compensate. Besides those two retirees, everyone else is back and has progressed even more than where they were when they won gold last year, so Sweden could be a good pick to go far again. They have arguably the strongest goalie tandem in the IIHF, between Kata Vilde and Sebastian Primeau, and goaltending is what wins championships after all. They also have a very solid blue line that has filled out nicely with recent additions, and a crew of forwards that can light the lamp with wild efficiency. They will have plenty of competition of course; certainly USA and Canada will be as ferocious as ever and out for revenge. One thing is for sure, other federations won't be underestimating Sweden this time around.

"I would love to win it all again. I definitely think we can do it, and I'm excited to see how all our new players fit into our plan and our lineup. The Irish created a dynasty for the longest time, I don't see why we can't do the same thing. We have so many great young players who are only getting better, like take Gunnar Soderberg or Kristoffer Svensson for instance, and then you have guys who are already developed into stars like Hippo Passamus. It's a great mix and a great vibe that we have going, and I think it's enough to take us all the way again. That ratio of veterans and youngsters is perfect, and I think we have strategies and team chemistry down pat too. There will be challenges this year, just as there were this year and every other year, but I feel extremely confident that we can overcome them. That nothing can get in our way. That nothing can stop us. That we can be the champions of the world again. I love having an excuse to sing We Are the Champions or any Queen song for that matter, so let's make it happen," said Ola Wagstrom.

***luke*** · 08-30-2019, 12:12 AM

CONGRATS!

***Inf1d3l*** · 08-30-2019, 05:24 AM

Grats buddy

Navigation

Extra Menu

About us