Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Rasmus Dahlin arrived back in Buffalo from the 2026 Winter Olympics on Sunday, and was on the ice for practice with his teammates on Monday.
The Olympics ended for Dahlin when his home nation, Sweden, lost in the Quarterfinal Round to Tage Thompson and Team USA, 2-1 in overtime. Ruff gave the Sabres captain a few days off before returning to Western New York.
Overall, Dahlin felt his experience at the Olympics in Italy was good.
"It was awesome to be at the Olympics, to represent the country, to hang out with the Swedish guys, speaking Swedish. But I wanted different results when it comes to hockey," Dahlin admitted following Monday's practice. "It’s a sour taste, but we’ve got to move on."
Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators) is an intense competitor, but often crosses the line with his on-ice play. He did just that in the Olympics when he slew-footed Dahlin late in their Quarterfinal Round matchup, making the defenseman fall hard backwards on the ice.
Despite that, Dahlin isn’t too concerned about it.
"We competed for the puck, and nothing happened on the play," Dahlin said. "We scored a goal, so it didn’t really matter. I wanted a power play, but we scored anyway, so I was happy."
Dahlin’s head coach for Sweden, Sam Hallam, in my opinion, is as clueless a coach as Ralph Krueger was with the Sabres.
In the Olympics and in the 4 Nations Face-Off, Dahlin may have been Sweden’s best player, yet Hallam never put him on the ice in any overtime or as penalty killer. He did get power play time in the Olympics and produced well.
Dahlin was annoyed with the decision not to play overtime, but he wasn’t going to bad mouth his coach in public.
"It’s not my decision," Dahlin said. "I wanted to be out there, that’s for sure, so it is what it is. I can’t do anything about it."
Dahlin can be hard on himself from time-to-time. I thought along with Lucas Raymond (Detroit Red Wings), they were Sweden’s best players in the Olympics. With that in mind, I did ask him how he thought he played.
"It was fun. Almost every game was a must-win for us, so I got a chance to work on handling emotions and handling pressure. That was awesome, and I got better at that. And playing against the best was awesome too," Dahlin said. "I had a great experience, but I wanted a different result. But I think I did a pretty good job."
Sweden was able to beat Italy and Slovakia in group play and beat Latvia in the Playoff Qualification. However, they lost to Finland in group play and the United States in the Quarterfinals.
In those five games, Dahlin had a goal and four assists for five points.
Mika Zibanejad (New York Rangers) had six points for the Swedes, while Raymond had nine.
Dahlin has gone up against many former teammates before, but when they played Team USA, he faced his current teammate in Thompson. He said that was a lot of fun.
"There was one situation there where he decided not to hit me in the corner, so that was nice," Dahlin chuckled. "I think he had a bomb when I was on the ice, so he’s a stud. It’s fun to play with him, that’s for sure."
This is the first time in his eight-year NHL career that Dahlin has been in a playoff race. He says it’s always on his mind, even after they got eliminated by the Americans in the Olympics.
"Losing that game, I switched my focus right away back to Buffalo," Dahlin admitted. "I’m so excited to get this thing going, and we have a really good thing going on. Now the fun begins, and the most important games start. So I can’t be more excited for this."
The last time the Sabres were on the ice for a game was Feb. 5 at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Many are worried that Buffalo could lose its focus after going 21-5-2 in their last 28 games. That’s a points percentage of .786, which was second in the NHL behind the Tampa Bay Lightning, who were .846. Both teams led the league with 44 points in that stretch.
Dahlin isn’t worried at about the team keeping that up.
"We have so much talent in that room, and we have a tight group. So in the first couple of games, we really have to focus on work, compete and skate. And then all the good stuff will come after," Dahlin said. "It’s going to be a great challenge for us."
There’s a pretty good chance the Sabres could face the Red Wings and Raymond in the playoffs. Dahlin admits he really wants that to happen.
"If that happens, I can’t wait for that," he said. "I always want to beat Detroit, but to beat Raymond, that’s probably the most fun thing I know."
Dahlin says there was a lot of trash talking in the Swedish locker room, and he told me others know the "Sabres are coming."
Raymond was the fourth overall pick of the Red Wings in 2020, two seasons after Dahlin was the first overall pick in 2018.
Dahlin and Thompson have a very unique friendship, as they go hard after each other to make the other one better. Dahlin was very happy that if he couldn't win gold, it was Thompson that did.
"I’m so happy for him," Dahlin said. "How hard he works, and not only did he win Olympic Gold, but he won the World Championship too. He really deserves it.
"He was a big part of that team. He scored some huge goals.:
Until those two gold medals, Thompson had never won anything on the pro level. Dahlin thinks that will make a difference when it comes to this team.
"When you’ve been on a winning team, you can know what it takes. I’m sure he learned a lot of things at the Olympics, so I’m fired up to hear what he says," Dahlin said.
Ruff says Team USA got back to the United States on Sunday night. As far as if Thompson will play Wednesday in New Jersey, Ruff is in wait-and-see mode.
"Hopefully he’s available to play. We really don’t have anything mapped out," Ruff acknowledged on Monday. "I think it just depends on how things go.
"He’s had an unbelievable experience, and it’s going to be a tough two or three days for all those guys. They’re busy, really busy, and it’s to be expected."
Ruff hadn’t seen the report on Zach Benson yet before practice, but he doesn’t think the winger will be available this week.
The good news, though, is center Josh Norris and goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will both be available for the Devils game Wednesday.
Over the last several practices, Norris has been centering Noah Ostlund and Josh Doan.
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