STOCKHOLM -- When Mats Sundin's wife heard that he had been awarded the 2025 Borje Salming Courage Award presented by SAP, she asked a simple question: Can you get an award 16 years after you retire?
But once Sundin explained it to her, that the award goes to a European NHL Alumni member who has been a positive influence in their community and who best embodies Salming's lasting legacy of bravery, courage and dedication on and off the ice, she understood: Sundin was the perfect recipient.
Sundin, who received the award on Saturday afternoon in a Swedish hockey star-studded ballroom at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, was the third person to receive the award, after Nicklas Lidstrom won in 2023 and Jari Kurri won in 2024. During the presentation, Lidstrom and Kurri jointly carried the Stanley Cup into the room.
"Very proud," said Sundin of the award that is presented by the NHL Alumni Association. "Borje Salming, (was) my mentor playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and helped me out during my career with the Toronto Maple Leafs. So, very special honor for me."
Salming was the first player born and trained in Europe to play 1,000 NHL games and was also the first NHL player from Europe to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame (1996). The defenseman and native of Kiruna, Sweden, had 787 points (150 goals, 637 assists) in 1,148 games. Salming died Nov. 24, 2022, after being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Sundin was given the award by Lidstrom, his longtime teammate on Sweden's national team, with Sundin serving as captain and Lidstrom as alternate at the 2006 Olympics, where Sweden won gold.
"I think it's well deserved," Lidstrom said. "Mats was such a terrific player for almost 20 years in the NHL. … He was such a skilled player, but his leadership was what really sticks in my mind, that he would lead by example but he would also say the best things at the right time in the locker room. He would push guys in a positive way to play better. So I think this award is well deserved."
Sundin served as Maple Leafs captain for 10 seasons, from 1997 to 2008 and earned the Mark Messier Leadership award after the 2007-08 season. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012 and was named one of the 100 Greatest Players in NHL history during the League's Centennial celebration in 2017.
The forward, the first European player taken No. 1, was selected in the 1989 NHL Draft by the Quebec Nordiques, but made his greatest impact in the 13 seasons he played for the Maple Leafs. Sundin had 1,349 points (564 goals, 785 assists) in 1,346 games during 18 seasons with the Nordiques, Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks, and is the highest-scoring Swedish-born player in NHL history. He is the only Swedish player to have scored 500 goals.
"His game on the ice was unparalleled," NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said of the native of Bromma, Sweden. "He physically dominated when on the ice. He had laser sharp hockey IQ. His vision and anticipation skills, unparalleled, and he was a leader, most importantly, and that's in part why he's earned this award.
"He … earned the respect of his teammates, the media, and hockey community generally. Great teammate, soft spoken, humble, all the attributes you would attribute to the ideal NHL player. And as Borje paved the way for Mats, Mats has paved the way for other Swedish players playing in the League today."
There were not only alumni in the crowd as Sundin was given the award. Members of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators, in Stockholm for the 2025 NHL Global Series Sweden presented by Fastenal were among the crowd, including Penguins defenseman and Sweden native Erik Karlsson. The Penguins and Predators play their second game in Sweden at Avicii Arena on Sunday (9 a.m. ET; FDSNSO, SN-PIT, NHLN, SN).
During the presentation of the award, Sundin was given a one-of-a-kind custom engraved Scottish broadsword with the phrase "Rise and Rise Again Until Lambs Become Lions" on it.
"He told me he didn't deserve this award," NHL Alumni Association executive director Glenn Healy said. "Well, if he doesn't, who does?
"But he had as much fun watching other people score as himself. He was as unselfish a person and a player as you can ever, ever imagine – and that's a real testament when a lot of the stuff we do as NHL players is self-preservation. Not Mats. It was about the team, it was about everybody else and he never took credit for it. But man oh man did he light the lamp and have one heck of a career."
