Kempe remembers watching Sweden in best-on-best tournaments on television as a kid, looking up to heroes like Peter Forsberg and Mats Sundin. He was 9 when Sweden won gold at the 2006 Turin Olympics, the last best-on-best tournament Canada didn’t win.
“It was super cool to see best-on-best -- Forsberg, Sundin, all those guys play,” he said. “It was something that I grew up watching as much as I could.”
The Los Angeles Kings selected Kempe with the No. 29 pick of the 2014 NHL Draft. He came to North America at the end of the 2014-15 season and helped Manchester of the American Hockey League win the Calder Cup.
After a season with Ontario of the AHL and another split between Ontario and Los Angeles, he stuck with the Kings full time. His father, Michael, a coach in Sweden, advised him to take after teammate Anze Kopitar.
“I told him, ‘You have one of the best players in the League,’” his father said. “After Sidney Crosby, I think Kopitar is the best center to play in the last 15 years, so watch him every practice, follow him and do the things that he does.”
Kempe has set NHL career highs for points each of the past three seasons: 54 points (35 goals, 19 assists) in 78 games in 2021-22, 67 points (41 goals, 26 assists) in 82 games in 2022-23 and 75 points (28 goals, 47 points) in 77 games last season.
“When they started thinking about the tournament a couple years ago, I was like, ‘Oh, I hope he makes the team. That would be a big dream,’” his father said.
After playing for Sweden at the world championship four times, winning gold in 2018 and bronze last year, Kempe was named to roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off on Dec. 5.
He leads Los Angeles in goals (25) and points (46) this season. Among players from Sweden, he is tied for second in goals and ranks sixth in points.
“We play the Kings a lot in our division, so I tend to see him a lot,” said Pettersson, who plays for the Vancouver Canucks in the Pacific Division. “Speedy player, make plays and pure goal-scorer.”
It’s easy to see the logic behind the Kempe-Pettersson-Forsberg line. Pettersson is a cerebral playmaker. He’s also tall and slight at 6-foot-2, 176 pounds. Kempe is 6-2, 200. Forsberg is 6-1, 205 and tied for fourth among Swedes in goals with 21.
“They’re all players that can make plays from tough situations, but with Kempe and Forsberg on the wings, you have some power around ‘Petey,’” Hallam said. “I’ve coached Petey before. I know how intelligent and how skilled he is. We want to give him a chance to have two really strong wingers on each side, and Kempe plays a big role.”
Sweden is going to need all the help it can get against a powerhouse Canada team stacked with champions and award winners. The fact that this is an NHL tournament with NHL rules on NHL-sized ice should help Kempe.
“We’re playing on a smaller rink,” Kempe said. “I like playing on a smaller rink. I think I get a little bit to the net, get more shooting opportunities, so hopefully I can bring that to the team too. Whatever role I get, hopefully I’m just going to take it as good as I can. But hopefully I’m going to score.”
