Elis Herrlin leads Sweden Selects to undefeated championship
Sweden Selects was among the first teams to participate in the inaugural World Selects Invitational back in 2009. The ‘95-born squad competed in the 14U tournament with four future NHL Draft picks — Carl Dahlstrom, Robin Norell, Lukas Wallmark and Anton Cederholm — and since then, Sweden Selects has been represented in almost every WSI tournament since that year.
Despite being a mainstay for the past 16 years, Sweden had never claimed a 13U world championship until this past May. Led by Elis Herrlin’s 24 points, Sweden Selects went a perfect 8-0-0 on its way to a world title. Herrlin recorded a point in every game of the tournament, including a goal and an assist in the championship game against DraftDay. That propelled him to fifth all-time in tournament scoring behind notable names like Zach Stringer (27 points), Berkly Catton (27), Aleksandr Legkov (29) and Connor Bedard (32).
Sweden opened up the tournament with four straight games against North American-based teams. Goalie Isac Wiberg made 38 saves in a 5-3 win over Midwest Prime to open the tournament. He followed that up with a 42-save effort the following day to defeat East Coast Prime 4-2; Oskar Henriksson and Elvin Kesan finished with three points apiece as well.
The final day of pool-play action concluded with Herrlin scoring an overtime game-winning goal to defeat DraftDay 4-3 and secure the top seed in the tournament.
Playoffs proved to be chalk, with the higher ranked seed prevailing in three of the four quarterfinal matchups. DraftDay, Pro hockey and Midwest Prime — three teams that Sweden Selects had already defeated in pool play — remained in the semifinals.
A hat trick from Herrlin kept Sweden’s title hopes alive, as they eliminated Midwest Prime for the second time in the tournament, this time by a score of 5-1. That set the stage for a championship finale between the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds; two teams that played to an overtime finish just two days earlier.
After a scoreless first period, Albert Liu put DraftDay on the board first, just 28 seconds into the second. Herrlin tied the game at 1-1 just seven minutes later, and a pair of goals from Aston Salts — one of which was assisted by Herrlin — secured the come-from-behind win for Sweden Selects. It was also the fourth game of the tournament in which Wiberg made 40 or more saves, finishing with a tournament high .952 save percentage and 1.75 goals-against average.
It was Sweden Selects’ sixth WSI title in history, but first at the 13U age level. The club has now claimed a world championship in three of the last four years, adding a pair of 14U titles in 2024 and 2022.