The IIHF pays out prize money to the top teams in the Men’s World Championships, and Sweden, the 2017 winner has received 10 million SEK according to a press report.  That total sum, just over 1.5 million dollars, is mostly taken by the Swedish Federation and used to fund the growth and development of the game.

Some of the money, however, is paid out to the players.  The Swedish federation officials won’t say how much, but is reported to be 3.1 million SEK, or just under $500,000.

The team decided to have captain Joel Lundqvist and alternates Gabriel Landeskog and Victor Hedman decide how to divvy that money up.  They chose to split it evenly into 26 shares of SEK 120,000 or approximately $18,000 each.  William Nylander has a little extra money to spend on necessities now.

The total roster for the team that won the gold medal, and appears in that photo above, was 25.  The 26th portion was split into three and given out to Calle Rosén, Mario Kempe and Niklas Svedberg.  Those three players all spent the full tournament in Germany, practiced with the team, and stayed ready to move onto the roster if there was a need.

Their prize for that work was a nice gesture of respect for players who never quite got the glory or the gold medal, but still put in the work.

As of now, the IIHF still does not pay any prize money to the winners of the Women’s World Championship.

IIHF World Championships