Sven Thunman has gone down in the Swedish hockey history as “the only back Tumba could not get past.” A cornerstone of Swedish defense in the 1940s and early 1950s, Thunman played his entire career from 1941-59 with Södertälje SK. With Södertälje, Thunman won three Swedish titles in 1944, 1953 and 1956. He was capped 114 times with the Swedish national team between 1946-57, scoring 14 goals. He won an Olympic bronze in 1952, was World Champion in 1953 and won a World Championships silver in 1951 and bronze in 1954. He was also European Champion in 1951-53, while taking silvers in 1949 and 1954 and bronze at the 1950 and 1955 European Championships. Thunman was awarded the Stora Grabbars Märke (Big Boys’ Badge) #30 in ice hockey, a Swedish sports honorary award created in 1928 by Bo Ekelund. After finishing his sporting career, Thunman worked as a coach with Väsby IK from 1959-64. He also worked as an ice hockey and football referee in the 1960s and 1970s and was an active korpfotball (a Swedish form of soccer played by mixed teams) referee until his death in 2004.
Sweden