Borje Salming, NHL’s first star from Sweden, dies at age 71

Borje Salming, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Hall of Fame defenseman who became the NHL’s first Swedish star and a pioneer for the many European players who changed the face of the league, passed away Thursday in Nacka, Sweden. He turned 71.

The Leafs said the cause was amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Gary Bettman, the NHL commissioner, said in a statement that Salming “paved the path that many of the greatest players in NHL history followed while breaking all the stereotypes about European players prevalent in a league populated almost entirely by North Americans prior to his arrival in 1973.”

Salming played 16 seasons with the Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings in his final season, being named to the NHL’s first all-star team in 1976–77 and to the second all-star team five times. He was twice runner-up for the Norris Trophy, awarded to the league’s best defenseman, finishing behind Larry Robinson of the Montreal Canadiens each time. In 1996, he became the first Swedish player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

“When they called me, I was actually crying,” Salming recalls in a video from 2017 for “100 Greatest NHL Players Presented by Molson Canadian.“We showed the Canadians we can play hockey.”

Salming appeared in 1,099 regular season games for Toronto and set a franchise record for most assists (620) while recording most goals (148), points (768) and playoff points (49) by a defenseman in Leafs history. But his teams never reached the Stanley Cup final.

Salming, who was also an outstanding shot blocker, was named one of the top 100 NHL players in 2017, as the league celebrated its centenary.

Anders Borje Salming was born on April 17, 1951 in the northern Swedish city of Kiruna, a son of Erland and Karin Salming. His father died in a mining accident when he was 5.

The Maple Leafs signed Salming in May 1973 after a scout saw him and believed he could thrive in the North American hockey style, which featured a hard-hitting game as opposed to the Europeans’ emphasis on finesse.

“Opponents were beating him up, his body was covered in welts, but he just said, ‘I’m fine, I’m fine,'” said Lanny McDonald, the president of the Hockey Hall of Fame and an inductee as a player for his years with the Leafs, told NHLcom after Salming’s death.

“You got a lot of cheap shots, but that was just part of the game,” Salming said in the Molson video.

For all the talk of European hockey players of his day being soft, Salming was anything but that. In November 1986, his unprotected face absorbed a skate blade from Detroit’s Gerard Gallant, now the Rangers’ coach, when Gallant knocked over a prostrate defenseman from Toronto during a goal-mouth scramble at the Leafs’ net. An estimated 250 stitches were needed to close the wound. Two weeks later, with a visor on, Salming returned to action.

Salming played for Sweden in four International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships, three Canada Cups and the 1992 Winter Olympics. He was inducted into the federation’s Hall of Fame in 1998 and named a member of the centennial All-Star team in 2008. team. It recognized the six most outstanding players in the history of international ice hockey.

Salming flew his family to Toronto from Sweden in early November for additional medical treatment and also attended Hall of Fame inductions there. The Salmings visited the Leafs’ Scotiabank Arena as Toronto faced the Vancouver Canucks on November 12. The Leafs showed a video tribute to Salming, and even though ALS had severely weakened him, he dropped the puck for a ceremonial showdown. The Leafs started an all-Swedish lineup that night to honor him.

Salming’s number 21 jersey, which had been retired, hangs from the rafters at Scotiabank Arena.

Salming’s survivors include his wife Pia; their children Theresa, Anders, Rasmus, Bianca, Lisa and Sara; and a brother, Stig.

When the Leafs faced the Minnesota Wild in a road game on Friday, their players wore patches honoring Salming. They had “BORJE” written in yellow over a blue maple leaf with a yellow crown, reflecting the colors of the Swedish flag. That crown recalled Salming’s nickname: The King.