Einar Svensson

It is not often often scoring the lone goal in a 12-1 drubbing can be described as a great moment in Sweden's long international hockey history, but that is exactly what happened way back in 1920.

1920 marked the first Olympic games for hockey, and the Canadians were heavily favored. Sweden iced bandy players for the tournament, and to a large degree used the Olympics as their initiation to the sport of hockey.

The Swedes didn't do so well, finishing in 4th place. But thanks to rover Einar Svensson, they did achieve one great moment in the tournament. Svensson was the only player to score against Canada.

Here's a newspaper account of the moment:

And then the miracle occurred! The Swedes were attacking - they had done so several times before - and the puck reached Svensson who shot from 10 meters distance. The puck just barely touched a player's leg, but this was enough to change its direction so that the goalkeeper did not have time to position himself, but had to watch it entering the goal. An enormous cheer followed this goal, and the American referee McCormick warily watched the ceiling to see if it would stand the trial. The Swedes thought that this goal was their prime achievement in the tournament. This was the only goal made by a losing team in the entire tournament, but above all it was the only goal any team succeeded in scoring against the outstanding Canadians. Not even the United States had managed to score against Canada.

Canada went on to win the game 12-1, and outscored their opponents 29-1.

Svensson also scored in Sweden's 4-0 win over France.

Einar "Stor-Klas" Svensson went on to star with IK Göta, an original Swedish team that was once a power house in Elitserien, Sweden's top league. He would also continue to represent "Tre Kroner" on the international stage, helping Sweden with the 1921 and 1923 European Championships.

He was a noted bandy and soccer player. In fact, after retiring his skates from active competition, he became manager of the Djurgårdens IF football team from 1935-1944.