‘I got scared’: Sharks’ William Eklund reacts to wrist injury with Swedish national team
This story originally appeared on hockeysverige.se and has been translated from Swedish to English.
Expectations were high for San Jose Sharks forward William Eklund ahead of the 2025 IIHF World Championship on home ice in Stockholm.
But after having his wrist cut in Sweden’s pre-tournament game against the Czech Republic on Saturday by Filip Hronek, the 22-year-old won’t participate in the main event. He required surgery and will need three months to recover from the horrific injury.
“It was an accident you don’t want to see in hockey, but it happened, and of course it’s unfortunate,” Eklund said days after the incident. “I had a lot of thoughts running through my head right away, and obviously I got scared.”
Swedish coach Sam Hallam had Eklund on the roster when he presented his team ahead of the World Championship on Monday. But Eklund realized right away that it wasn’t an option.
“Pretty quickly after, I (went) to the hospital. Even (Sunday) when I was down with the Swedish team, I understood it,” Eklund said.
Despite feeling sad about missing out on the big event on home soil, he also feels lucky that things didn’t turn out worse than they did.
“I don’t have an exact number on how many stitches I got, but it’s a wrist injury that I’d rather not go into too much detail about”, he said. ”There’s a very good reason to use everything available to protect against skate cuts. I’m also very grateful it wasn’t worse.”
He hasn’t used that kind of protection in the past, but claims that he will in the future.
Despite his absence, Eklund believes Sweden has a good chance to go all the way.
“The guys can go all the way. The team has everything it takes to go the distance,” Eklund said. “It would be awesome if they could pull it off. I really hope they do.”
Eklund doesn’t live far from Avicii Arena, home of Group A action. Even though he won’t be playing, he plans on watching closely.
“I’ll be there for some games. Other games I might not be there in person, but I’ll follow every game one way or another.”
Eklund enjoyed a breakthrough season with the Sharks, setting a personal record with 17 goals and 58 points in 77 regular-season games. The Sharks came last in the NHL, and will pick second in the 2025 NHL Draft. His younger brother, Victor, is projected to be a top 10 pick this year.
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