from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

The Tre Kronor is awfully well represented in the Stanley Cup finals. Four of the top eight defensemen in the series are Swedes, and perhaps 15 months from now, they'll all be teammates in the World Cup of Hockey.

Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya of the Chicago Blackhawks are minute monsters. The two Bolts are tops on their team in that department, while the two Hawks are behind only Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook in ice time.

In other words, these four Swedish defensemen are going to be a major factor in where the Stanley Cup ends up.

"It’s fun for them. All of them are great guys. I’m really excited for them," countryman Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Arizona Coyotes told ESPN.com from Sweden on Thursday. "Johnny and Hjalmarsson, they are more like shutdown players, and I would say Stralman and Hedman have some skill too and can score some points. Great players all four of them."

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