Allvin, now 47, grew up in the small Swedish city of Leksand, idolizing the local hockey team Leksands IF.
“It’s a great small hockey town. The building is sold out all the time and really, it’s one of the most popular teams in Sweden,” Allvin told Postmedia. “I was fortunate to play for the team and wherever we went, it’s like every building sold out.”
Samuelsson is most famous, notorious even, for his hard-nosed play, which took him from Leksands to a long career in the NHL, including two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
And Labraaten was a highly-skilled forward who was imported from Leksands to North American hockey by the Winnipeg Jets in the mid 1970s. After six seasons in North America playing for the Jets, Detroit Red Wings and Calgary Flames, he returned to Sweden and remained a top player for Allvin’s hometown team through most of the 1980s.
