Henrik Lundqvist - International Play

International Play

Lundqvist is the all time leader among goaltenders, and eleventh overall of all players, in games played for the Swedish national junior's ice hockey team.

At the 2001 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Moscow, Russia, Lundqvist led the Sweden men's national junior ice hockey team to a fourth place finish in the tournament. After an upset 3–2 win over the hosting nation Russia in the quarterfinals, Sweden lost 0–1 against Czech Republic in the semifinals, and 1–2 in over time against Canada in the bronze medal game.

Lundqvist debuted for Sweden men's national ice hockey team on 10 November 2002, during the 2002 Karjala Tournament in Helsinki, Finland.

Lundqvist was selected to the 2003 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships but was third string goaltender behind Tommy Salo and Mikael Tellqvist. The following year at the 2004 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships Lundqvist was the starting goaltender and he was selected to the tournament all star team.

Lundqvist and Jörgen Jönsson were the only two Elitserien players selected to play for Sweden at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Lacking experience on the smaller ice surface Lundqvist was again third string behind Salo and Tellqvist.

In the Euro Hockey Tour during the 2004–05 season, Lundqvist was named best goaltender in Karjala Tournament and Sweden Hockey Games by the directorate and also to the media all star team in both tournaments. At the 2005 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships in Vienna and Innsbruck, Austria, Lundqvist played in all nine games during the tournament where Sweden lost the bronze medal game against Russia.

Lundqvist's most memorable international performance came at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, where he led Sweden to the gold medal over their arch rival, Finland. In six Olympic starts, Lundqvist went 5–1, allowing only 12 goals with a .907 save percentage.