Red Wings Player Defends Teammate Accused of ‘Cowardly’ Attack

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Erik Gustafsson was unhappy with how the IIHF World Championship came to a conclusion for him. But he wasn’t nearly as unhappy about the finish of the tournament as was Danish forward Mikkel Aaagard.

In the closing moments of Sweden’s 6-2 win over Denmark in Sunday’s bronze medal game, Swedish forward Jesper Froden crashed Aagaard into Sweden goaltender Samuel Ersson in front of the Swedish net. That’s when Gustafsson was entering the chat. And then things really go out of hand.

Gustafsson grabbed Aagaard, eventually slamming the Danish player to the ice.

“I just tried to get him away, but he was pretty strong,” Gustafsson told Swedish website Aftonbladet. “The only way was to pull him down.”

The Danish player then chose to direct his ire toward the Red Wings defenseman. They wound up engaging in a heated verbal spat.

“I felt that Frödén pushed me into the goalkeeper and thought it was quite unnecessary (for Gustafsson) to pull me down from behind,” Aargaard said.

Later, Gustafsson would downplay their wordplay as simply part of the game.

“It’s just hockey,” Gustafsson said. “There are emotions out there. There are words here and there, but that’s how it is.”

Gustafsson declined to repeat anything that he’d said to Aargaard.

“I don’t need to say that here,” was Gustafsson’s response. “Hockey is about emotions. That’s how the sport should be played. I don’t know if he heard anything.

“Maybe I should apologize.”

Aargaard claimed that he heard none of Gustafsson’s utterings.

“I don’t really know what he said,” Aargaard said. “I saw his mouth moving.”

Aargaard went on to describe Froden’s goalmouth hit as a cowardly act, as well as being pointless at that stage of the game with the outcome no longer in doubt.

More Ice Time For Red Wings Player

Swedish coach Sam Hallam was giving some of his lesser-used players more ice time in the bronze medal game. Froden and Gustafsson both fell into that category. It was a fact that left Gustafsson bristling with frustration.

Really nice play at the blue line by Erik Gustafsson and he makes a nice pass for the assist. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/BX4oa3wXpL

— Red Wings Prospects (@LGRWProspects) May 9, 2025

Through the first seven games, he was enjoying a productive tournament. Gustafsson accounted for six assists and a plus-five rating. But the Detroit defender was told to take a seat on the bench after the arrival of Washington Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin.

Gustafsson would add his seventh assist of the tourney in the bronze medal game, skating 19:44 on the night.

“I don’t know if the bronze medal is a band-aid,” Gustafsson told Swedish website Expressen. “It’s at least something we can give back to the fans who support us.

“I think the (semifinal) loss against the USA will stick with us for a long time, that it happened on home soil in that way. It’s very heavy.”