Jhonas Enroth and the Swedes will host the undefeated Swiss in Sunday's gold medal game. The Swiss zipped Team USA 3-0 in Saturday's semis to advance to the gold medal game.
Switzerland advances to their first opportunity for gold since 1935.
His name is Jhonas Freakin Enroth! He is now a national hero Sweden.
Before his friends and family in his hometown of Stockholm, Enroth has captured the collective imagination of his country by doing the unthinkable.
Enroth and his Tre Kronor teammates are heading to the gold medal game of the IIHF World Hockey Championships. Enroth pitched a 30 save shutout at Finland in the 3-0 Sweden win.
Sweden will play the winner of Switzerland vs. USA in the gold medal game.
Dallas Star sniper Loui Eriksson scored both goals for the Swedes in their semi finals win over their most bitter rivals the Finns.
Daniel Sedin added the empty netter.
Enroth must love the home cooking.
The Stockholm native has dominatied at the Worlds in his own home town.
On Thursday, he avenged the only loss that he has sustained in the World Championships. His shootout win over Canada knocked Lindy Ruff's squad out of the tournament.
Enroth entered Saturday's semifinals game with Finland with a 4-1 record with a 1.41 GAA and .944 save %. He's now 5-1 in the tourney, and his GAA and save % will improve dramatically as a result of his 3-0 shutout.
As Enroth goes, so go the Swedes. Enroth has punched Sweden's ticket to the gold medal game vs. the tournament darling Swiss or the impressive American crew.
The win over Finland put Enroth in a class of his own.
Meanwhile, back in Buffalo, Darcy Regier better get his abacus and his calculator ready for the Enroth contract negotiation that will happen in July. He becomes RFA in July, and this time around, Enroth is going to get paid.
Enroth's bridge contract expires at an opportune time, and he will have three key things working in his favor that he can leverage:
1). He reverted back to his winning form in 2013.
2). His brilliant play at the IIHF World Championships.
3). Ryan Miller likely being traded out of Buffalo.
Enroth singlehandedly willed his team to the playoffs in 2010-11. He posted a 9-2-2 record while starting in place of the concussed Ryan Miller during a key second half stretch on dominating hockey. The future looked bright for Jhonas, then for some inexplicable reason, Lindy Ruff decided to ride Miller to the point of exhaustion in 2011-12. The Sabres struggled mightily December-February that season and failed to make the playoffs. The seldom used Enroth suffered from an identity crisis and his confidence plummeted through the floor as he posted a disappointing 8-11-4 record. After the lockout ended, Ruff proclaimed Miller his starter "until further notice" which meant that Enroth would have been lucky to 'earn" a handful of starts. Then, on February 20, Ruff was fired. The skies parted, the sun began to shine, and the birds began to sing aloud. It can be argued that no Sabre player benefited more from the hiring of Ron Rolston than Enroth. Rolston wiped the dry-erase board clean and every Sabre (and Amerk) player started with a fresh sheet of ice. Enroth finished the lockout shortened season with a 4-4-1 record, however, he lowered his GAA from 2.70 to 2.60 year over year. Enroth got his groove back with the coaching change. Rolston trusts Enroth more than Ruff did, and the new coach doesn't treat the Swede like an after thought. Were it not for Enroth's late season heroics, the Sabres would not have crept as close to the eighth seed as they did.
The World Championships have illuminated Enroth's sick catching glove and his superior post to post drive. He's been Sweden's best player and will have to continue to be if they want to play for the gold medal in front of the home fans.
The biggest mitigating factor in my opinion, that Enroth will earn himself a huge pay raise (he earned $675,000 in 2013) is that Ryan Miller will likely be traded out of Buffalo. The Michigan State Spartan will fetch a plethora of jewels, including a scoring winger, a first rounder and a prospect on the trade market. The NY Islanders, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild, and Philadelphia Flyers are going to be among the teams that will be interested in Miller. When Miller leaves, Regier will able to maintain the needed confidence of the rest of the players on the room by inserting Enroth into the number one goalie role. Matt Hackett will be the back-up to Jhonas. The devil you know is better than the devil you don't know. Should Enroth stumble in a number one role, Hackett can be pulsed in as a "1A-1B goalie" rotation. Andrey Makarov and Connor Knapp will battle for David Leggio's net in Rochester.
Enroth has risen to the challenge of being a difference maker and a number one tender. Regier is taking notes.
"In God We Trust" is printed in the face of U.S. currency.
"Enroth We Trust" will be written on Jhonas' next contract.
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