IIHF suspends 5 Swedish players, 3 coaches for medal ceremony incident at WJHC
The IIHF has doled out suspensions to five Swedish players and three coaches for their actions during the medal ceremony at the conclusion of the 2018 world juniors in Buffalo.
Following a 3-1 loss in the final to Canada, several Swedish players were seen taking their silver medals off their necks, most notably captain Lias Andersson, who famously tossed his consolation prize into the stands.
Although the event ended nearly four months ago, here are the issued suspensions for the players involved:
- Andersson: Four games
- Forward Axel Jonsson: Two games
- Forward Jesper Boqvist: Two games
- Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin: Two games
- Goalie Olle Eriksson Ek: Two games
All punishments are enforced for the 2019 world junior tournament, except for Dahlin, the consensus No. 1 pick in June's draft, who has been banned from the first two games of the 2019 U18 World Championship.
According to the IIHF, each player violated Regulations Article 5.5.8 of the tournament rulebook, which states all players and team officials have to wear their medals around their necks in a respectful manner for the duration of the closing ceremony and postgame media procedures.
"Taking off the silver medals presented to the players shows not only the disrespect against the spectators and the organizers of the championship, but also the disrespect against their opponents and winners of the championship. The fact that the players afterwards have apologized for their behavior and have assured that they had no intentions to be disrespectful to anyone, does not excuse the actions," the IIHF said.
As for the coaching staff, the disciplinary board suspended head coach Tomas Monten three games for the 2019 world juniors, and assistants Nizze Landen and Henrik Stridh for two each.