Sweden looking to North America to fix WJC coaching crisis

Team Sweden is in a very tough position for the World Junior Hockey Championships. With just days before the players and staff are supposed to travel to Canada to enter the bubble for the tournament that officially begins on Christmas Day, the team is without a head coach, assistant coach, goaltending coach and video coach. All four have tested positive for COVID-19 and won't make the trip to Alberta. According to SVT Sports out of Sweden, team management will "look broadly" to fill those roles, including Canada and the United States.

"The union is working to get [head coach Tomas] Montén's replacement, Anders Eriksén, to travel with the team on Sunday, but the authorities in the province of Alberta have not yet given it," said SVT Sports. "The reason is that Eriksén has not gone through all the testing required to enter the country due to the pandemic."

In an interview with Johan Stark, Secretary General for the team, he confirmed the search is reaching into Canada and the U.S. but refused to say who, exactly, they are looking at. SVT Sports is citing sources as saying Todd Woodcroft is one of the main candidates. Woodcroft is the current head coach of the University of Vermont men's ice hockey team, and has served as a video coach with the Minnesota Wild and Team Canada. He's also been an assistant coach with Belarus, in addition to various other hockey roles.

At least four members of Sweden's training camp had to leave the bubble after positive COVID-19 tests and won't be making the trip to Canada. That includes top prospects William Eklund and Karl Henriksson. You can read more about that below.

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