Things aren't much different in sports. Hockey fans need to know their history.
When it comes to the LA Kings and players from Sweden, there are three names you need to know - Mattias Norstrom, Tomas Sandstrom and Peter Forsberg.
Sorry Freddy Modin...nice audition you put in for a few months this season, but we're going to need to see a greater body of work for you to be included in this conversation.
Much has been made about the Kings-Red Wings rivalry during the first few years after the team moved into Staples Center to start the decade. Somewhat lost in the shuffle for many is their equally intense rivalry with the Colorado Avalanche.
After the Frenzy on Figueroa in '01, it was the Avs that took out the Kings in the second round (needing 7 games to do it). The following year it was another 7 game series with the Avs...and another loss for the Kings. Forsberg was front and center for the Avs during this period. He was a Kings killer.
For somebody actually wearing a Kings jersey, there is Norstrom. Having recently served as an Assistant Coach for his native country in the Vancouver Olympics, he hasn't strayed too far from hockey in his post-retirement life. He wore the "C" for 5 seasons with the Kings and was simply known as "the Warrior."
Which brings us to perhaps one of the most underrated and under-appreciated Kings of the Gretzky era (or the McNall era, if you prefer), Sandstrom. You wanna talk warrior? This guy had his leg broken in game two of a playoff series vs the Oilers in '91 (damn you Craig Muni!). That's fine though, all Sandstrom did was come back and play six nights later...ON A BROKEN LEG!
