Leading up to the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, we’re dedicating one article to each day of the tournament, making a tongue-in-cheek comparison between an Asterix comic book and famous aspects of international hockey history.

Tomorrow the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship begins with 16 teams dreaming of gold, and thus we turn our attention to a golden moment in the Asterix canon and a great victory for the top Nordic hockey nation.

In Asterix and the Golden Sickle, the druid Getafix breaks his golden sickle, which he needs to make the magic potion that enables Asterix’s village to fight off the Romans.

This brings to mind the opening faceoff of the third period of the 2006 Olympic men’s hockey final between Sweden and Finland. At least it does for hockey-obsessed weirdos!

On 26 February, the score was tied 2-2 at the Palasport Olimpico in Turin, Italy. Taking the draw versus Mats Sundin, Finland’s Saku Koivu likewise broke his tool of the trade – his stick!

Koivu hustled to the bench to get a new stick, but unfortunately, unlike Asterix, there was no happy ending for him. The play opened up extra ice for Tre Kronor’s superstars. Peter Forsberg grabbed the loose puck and charged into the Finnish zone. He fed it back to Sundin, who in turn backhanded it to Nicklas Lidstrom at the blue line. Just 10 seconds into the third, the legendary defenceman’s rising slap shot beat goalie Antero Niitymaki. Would it prove to be the winning goal?

Yes! Although the Finns searched for the equalizer like Asterix and Obelix search for Obelix’s sickle-making cousin Metallurgix, they had no luck. Suomi settled for silver in its finest Olympic performance ever!

The Swedes didn’t get a golden sickle, but they did get their second Olympic gold medal of all time, having previously won in 1994! These Swedes are crazy! (They probably had herring at their victory banquet instead of wild boar!)

This is a 17-part series prior to the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, of which Asterix and Obelix are the official mascots. Click on News to find the stories.