STOCKHOLM (AFP) - The National Hockey League (NHL) lockout has proven a windfall for Sweden's elite hockey league, with many teams signing homegrown talent to short-term contracts amid hopes of higher ticket sales.
Peter Forsberg, the NHL's 2003 Most Valuable Player and winner of that year's scoring title whose contract with the Colorado Avalanche expired last year, has signed with his former team Modo to the delight of Swedish fans.
And Henrik Zetterberg, who has played for the Detroit Red Wings for two seasons, will join Timraa for the length of the lockout, as will the Calgary Flames' star goalie Miikka Kiprusoff.
Meanwhile, the Djurgaarden team will be bolstered by the arrival of no less than four NHL players: New York Islanders winger Mariusz Czerkawski, Calgary Flames forward Marcus Nilson, the Atlanta Thrashers Daniel Tjarnqvist, and the San Jose Sharks forward Nils Ekman.
Other NHL players due to play in Sweden this season include Henrik Tallander of the Buffalo Sabres, Kristian Huselius of the Florida Panthers, Brendan Morrison of the Vancouver Canucks and Mike Knuble of the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Carolina Hurricane's Niclas Wallin will also return to Sweden, as well as Shawn Horcoff of Edmonton, Daniel Cleary of Phoenix, Niclas Havelid of Atlanta and Dick Tarnstrom of Pittsburgh.
The NHL locked out players last week after players' unions and owners were unable to reach agreement over owners' demands for a salary cap.
Many have predicted the cancellation of the entire season and the failure to award the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1919, when an influenza epidemic prevented conclusion of the finals.
In the last such work stoppage in the NHL, the league locked out players for 103 days in 1994, and then played an abbreviated 48-game season.