Sweden's been considered a world power in hockey now for ages, but really hit its peak about five years ago in terms of NHL representation. The country has struggled at the junior level the past decade, however, something that we will likely see at the highest level over the next few years.

Sweden's current crop of junior players is on the upswing, though, and it's expected Victor Hedman and a handful of other Swedes will be chosen fairly early in the 2009 entry draft. They'll be tough to beat at the world juniors in the next few years.

The leaders in career NHL games played are Mats Sundin, Nick Lidstrom, Borje Salming, Calle Johansson and Ulf Samuelsson. Sundin is the only Swedish born player to record more than 1,000 points, with Lidstrom, Peter Forsberg, Daniel Alfredsson and Markus Naslund rounding out the top five NHL scorers.

Forty Swedes have played at least a game in the NHL so far this season, and the team's best young talent includes Henrik Lundqvist, Nicklas Backstrom and Niklas Kronwall. Quite a few of the country's best players, however, are very close to retirement age.