William Nylander speaks out on his decision to represent Sweden instead of Canada at 4 Nations Face-Off

William Nylander could have played for either Sweden or Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off. The forward ended up choosing Sweden, and as a result, is no longer playing in the tournament.

Had he chosen Canada, he'd be preparing for the final on Thursday night against Team USA. Since he chose Sweden, he is now done playing, although he and his teammates ended the tournament with an upset victory over Team USA.

Nylander revealed why he decided to go with Sweden:

“Yeah, like, I was born there. I mean, I left Canada when I was two years old, so I don’t really remember too much about it. I’ve always considered myself Swedish.”

Nylander was born in Canada, but he's spent most of his life in Sweden, so it wasn't an overly difficult choice for the Toronto Maple Leafs star.

---

William Nylander rebounded from Sweden's tough start

Sweden had been winless in 4 Nations Face-Off play before last night. It lost both games in excruciating fashion, both 4-3 losses in overtime. It still had a chance to get into the final had the Canada-Finland game gone into overtime, but it didn't.

William Nylander guided Sweden to a win (Imagn)

William Nylander said before last night's win, via Maple Leafs Daily:

"I mean, it's not great. We have two OT losses in two games. So, I mean, we just gotta regroup here and play the game against USA [to win]. And hopefully the scores go our way."

The forward also didn't care who they lost to, be it a rival or not:

"I mean, you guys build up the rivalry as if it's something crazy. But I mean, it's just, we just hate losing."

Nylander entered play last night with just one assist through the two losses, but he added another in the 2-1 win over Team USA. He had over 18 minutes of ice time.

Gustav Nyquist and Erik Karlsson provided the goals for Sweden. Chris Kreider, inserted into the lineup because some USA players were held out for injury precaution, scored the lone American goal in its first loss in 4 Nations play.