This weekend, Börje Salming was celebrated with a charity match between veteran teams from Tre Kronor and the Toronto Maple Leafs. In connection with the event, which took place in Gävle, a total of nine million kroner was collected for Salming’s foundation for ALS research.
Last Saturday, the “Game for Salming” charity match was held in front of a packed arena in Gävle – an event organized to pay tribute to sports icon Börje Salming.
In the match, a veteran team from Tre Kronor met, consisting of, among others, Nicklas Lidström and Peter Forsberg, and a veteran team from the Toronto Maple Leafs, with, among others, Mats Sundin.
The veteran team from Tre Kronor was coached by Börje Salming’s older brother Stig Salming, while the veteran team from the Toronto Maple Leafs was coached by Salming’s former teammate and close friend Darryl Sittler. According to a press release, the match was played 2 times 21 minutes, when number 21 was Börje Salming’s classic jersey number in both Toronto as in Three Crowns. Toronto Maple Leafs won 3–1.
Pia Salming: “Unreal”
Before the game started, Salming was honored with a ceremony where his shirt, number 17, was hoisted to the ceiling while Jon Henrik Fjällgrens performed a touching joik – a nod to the hockey legend’s Sami roots.
“It feels completely unreal,” Salming’s wife Pia told the radio sport last Saturday. “Today I am completely speechless. Speechless in every way. It’s from the person who paid a ticket to get in here, their heart, their standing ovation for the players who lined up here today and to the staff who work here.”
Salming passed away from the complications of ALS in November 2022. Since the sports star’s passing, a foundation has been established in his name: Börje Salming ALS foundation – and during the celebration weekend, nine million kroner were collected for this.
