Sad Forsberg is sad.

Heading into the gold-medal game of the 2013 World Junior Championships, the Swedes were confident they could repeat as champions. They had just beaten the host country, Team Russia, 3-2 in a shootout. They had gone undefeated in the World Junior Championships, winning their first 5 games with a goal differential of 22-10.

On Saturday, their first and only loss came to Team USA in the title game. Despite being named to the WJC tournament all-star team, Caps prospect Filip Forsberg, the captain of Team Sweden, took the loss hard.

In Forsberg’s post-game interview with Swedish reporters captured expertly by Aftonbladet, Forsberg struggles with finding his words. “It’s just sad,” he tells the press.

Below, friend-of-the-blog Jacob Ware (@JacobWare95) translates the full interview.

So, Sweden captain Filip Forsberg, it just wasn’t enough…

No, unfortunately it wasn’t. We just didn’t score enough goals.

How sour is this?

Well, it’s only been a few minutes since the final buzzer, so of course we’re disappointed, especially when it finishes so close. It [bleeping] stings.*

Is there anything you might have done differently?

I don’t really know. We actually started pretty well, but we lost it a little after all the penalties. They had the advantage in the first-period. We played ourselves into the game and had some chances but he (Team USA goaltender John Gibson) played really well in net.

Nicklas Lundström (Sweden goaltender) was clearly angry after their second goal. I saw him talking to you. What was he saying?

I’m not sure. I didn’t really see the goal. I think he said it was a high stick, or that he (goalscorer Rocco Grimaldi) gloved it in. I didn’t really pick up on what happened, unfortunately.

What’s been said in the locker room?

Well, we’ve not said too much. Everyone is just down. There’s not too much you can say, really. It’s just sad.

Do you feel you played as well as you could today?

It’s hard to say so soon after the end. We’ll have to analyze the game a bit. We could have started better, but then in the second and third we played our way into the game. We could have scored a few more goals.

Yeah, you had some great chances there in the third-period, but the puck just didn’t want to go in today…

Yeah, they do have a great goalie. After all, he was named as the tournament’s best. Obviously, that makes it tougher. But I do think we could have been more clinical with our finishes. But he was good, definitely.

And what happens now?

I don’t know. We’ll see.

Ok. Thank you very much.

Thanks.

* The curse word Forsberg says translates to “fucking” in American, but in Sweden, the word he uses is not taboo.

Riley Barber is in the second row, directly to the left of the cup. (Photo credit: Andre Ringuette/HHOF-IIHF Images)

Washington Capitals prospect Riley Barber and Team USA upset Filip Forsberg and Christian Djoos of the defending champion Team Sweden 3-1 on Saturday to win the 2013 World Junior Championships. This is the first time that the USA has won the tournament since 2010, when some guy named John Carlson scored in sudden-death overtime.

Team USA was led in the title game by John Gibson, named best goalie of the tournament with a .955 save percentage, and Rocco Grimaldi, who scored two goals. Former Caps defenseman Phil Housley, in his first year coaching Team USA, was the victorious head coach. Assistant Grant Potulny, who scored 19 goals in 50 games during the 2007-08 season for the Hershey Bears, also won gold as an assistant coach.

Highlights are below.

None of the three Caps prospects who played in the game figured into the score sheet. Forsberg, the Caps talented 2012 first-round pick, was named to the tournament’s all-star team and finished the World Junior Championships with three goals and two assists. Djoos finished the tournament with three assists; Barber had six points (3 goals, 3 assists).

Via @romao83, since 2006, the Capitals have had a prospect on each WJC-winning team.

2006 – Sasha Pokulok, Team Canada
2007 – Karl Alzner, Team Canada
2008 – Karl Alzner (captain), Team Canada
2009 – Stefan Della-Rovere, Team Canada
2010 – John Carlson, Team USA
2011 – Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov, Team Russia
2012 – Filip Forsberg, Team Sweden
2013 – Riley Barber, Team USA

Congrats, Riley!

Unbelievable ……. Gold sure tastes good #USAWJChampions

— Riley Barber (@rileybarber94) January 5, 2013

Additional Photos

Barber shoots. (Photo credit: Richard Wolowicz)

Barber almost scores. (Photo credit: Andre Ringuette)

Barber, all the way to the left, poses with his teammates and the American flag. (Photo credit: aftonbladet.se)

The Swedes: sad. (Photo credit: aftonbladet.se)

Barber, right, with his gold medal. (Photo credit: @rileybarber94)

Housley and Potulny pose with the cup. (Photo credit: @Potulny)

Team USA sings the national anthem.

Forsberg chases down Markus Granlund. (Photo credit: Richard Wolowicz/HHOF-IIHF Images)

Caps prospects Filip Forsberg and Christian Djoos had a big day as Sweden beat Finland 7-4 on Monday. Though the Swedish team didn’t need a victory to advance (they already guaranteed themselves a first-place finish in Group A when Switzerland forced the Czech Republic to overtime), they took care of business with their nordic rivals, eliminating Finland from medal contention of the 2013 WJC. Forsberg, Sweden’s captain, scored his second goal of the tournament, and Caps 7th-round pick Djoos had two assists.

Video and GIFs below the jump.

Djoos’ first assist is at the beginning of the video. His other assist and Forsberg’s goal are at 5:30 mark.

By the time the game turned 14 minutes old, Sweden already had a 3-0 lead. Sweden’s first goal came on a powerplay tip-in, when Christian Djoos blasted a shot from the point and Alexander Wennberg got his stick on it in the slot. Finnish goalie Joonas Korpisalo couldn’t react in time.

The Finns scored once before the first period ended. Four minutes into the second, as Sweden took their foot off the gas, Finland scored two quick goals to tie the game. Sweden then made a goalie switch, substituting Niklas Lundstrom in for Joel Lassinanti. That would prove to be the big difference in the game.

Two quick strikes 44 seconds apart later in the second period put Swedes back on top by two. The second of those goals was scored by Filip Forsberg on the powerplay. Djoos fed Forsberg near the left faceoff circle and the captain’s shot found a way between the pads of Korpisalo.

Things got interesting midway through the third when Ville Jarvelainen cut Sweden’s lead to one. That’s all Finland was able to do. With 90 seconds to go, Emil Molin scored on the powerplay to make it score 6-4.  23 seconds later, Viktor Arvidsson sealed the deal; final score: 7-4. Forsberg ended the preliminary stage with four points (two goals and two assists). Djoos had three points, all assists, good for second place among his team’s defense.

Sweden will now receive a bye for the WJC quarterfinals. In the semis they’ll face either Russia or Switzerland.

Another Caps prospect, Riley Barber, playing for the United States WJC team, did not factor on the scoresheet in a 9-3 beatdown of Slovakia that gave Americans their own playoff berth. In the quarterfinals, they’ll face the Czech Republic.

GIFs

Forsberg’s goal. I could watch this all day.

Filip celebrates. (GIFs by welshhockeyfan)

Forsberg and Latvian captain Edgars Siksna exchange ceremonial banners before the game. (Photo credit: Richard Wolowicz/HHOF-IIHF Images)

Last year, Washington Capitals top prospect and Team Russia captain Evgeny Kuznetsov was held pointless heading into Russia’s third game of the World Junior Championships, despite leading his team in shots and scoring chances. Then he broke out for an astonishing nine points against Latvia, a feat we termed the Kuznetrick.

Capitals 2012 1st-round pick and Team Sweden captain Filip Forsberg seems to be following the same script. Through two games, Forsberg had 16 shots, but just one point to the effort, a goal against the Czech Republic. In Sweden’s third game of the 2013 WJC against Latvia Saturday, Forsberg had his biggest point total of the tourney, collecting two assists and firing four shots on goal in his team’s 5-1 win. Caps 7th-round pick Christian Djoos also tallied his first career WJC point, an assist on a third period goal by Viktor Arvidsson.

Highlights of the game are below.

Forsberg’s first assist is at the 2:27 mark. Djoos and Forsberg both assist on the goal at 3:10.

The Latvians were able to contain Sweden’s dynamic offense through most of the game– tying the score at one after 35 minutes. Late in the second period, Sebastian Collberg gave the reigning WJC champions the lead.

The Swedes then dominated in the third period, when Forsberg and Djoos made their contributions. First, Forsberg was credited with an assist on Sweden’s third goal of the game by Viktor Arvidsson. Later, Forsberg and Djoos assisted on Sweden’s fourth goal and Arvidsson’s second tally of the game. They held on to win 5-1.

Sweden, undefeated at 3-0, will next play Finland on Monday to conclude their preliminary stage of the WJC.

Captain Filip Forsberg leads his team to a convincing victory over the Czechs. (Photo credit: Andrey Starostin/Scanpix)

On Wednesday, in his first World Juniors game as team captain, Washington Capitals top prospect Filip Forsberg scored a goal in Sweden’s 4-1 win over the Czech Republic. It was Forsberg’s first goal of his WJC career, after getting just one assist during Sweden’s championship run last year.

Video is below the jump.

Forsberg’s goal is at 0:27 mark.

Forsberg had a ton of chances to score, with a game-high six shots on goal. Forsberg showed off tremendous stickhandling during the game, beating a couple of Czech defenseman with moves reminiscent of Alex Ovechkin, but was denied by goalie Matej Machovski. He found the net only in the third period with his team already up 3-0.

Capitals 2012 seventh-round pick Christian Djoos also made the team, and had a solid game at both ends of the ice. He tied for the most shots on goal amongst both teams’ defensemen with three.