If you look at Tom Willander’s Elite Prospects, you’ll see a barrage of silver-medal icons in his history.
At the hands of Team USA, the Stockholm native came in second place at the 2023 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship and 2024 IIHF U20 World Juniors Championship.
The main culprit?
No. 1 Boston College’s “kid line” of freshmen Gabe Perrault, Will Smith and Ryan Leonard.
The highly-touted trio was selected in the first round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, along with Willander who was taken 11th overall by the Vancouver Canucks.
“They’re pretty crafty. They’re very opportunistic with the chances they get in transition,” Willander said. “Obviously, if you’re not careful, it’s very easy for the puck to end up in your own net.”
Leonard scored the overtime tournament dagger at the U18s, and the entire line got on the scoresheet in Team USA’s 6-2 gold-medal victory at World Juniors.
“No hate to Canada, but I feel like Sweden and the U.S. has had a thing going here for a couple of years, starting with the ‘04 program and now the ‘05’s,” Willander said of the budding rivalry.
Now back at college and fresh off a BC series sweep, in which Perrault scored the game-winner the first night and Smith the second, Boston University’s Willander will have another chance to best his rival birth-years. This time around, it will be on the largest stage of his collegiate career thus far at Monday’s 71st Dunkin’ Beanpot semifinal — in front of a sold-out TD Garden, nonetheless.
Willander Commits to BU
However, in similar fashion to freshman Macklin Celebrini’s arrival to Comm. Ave, Willander would not have this opportunity if it were not for fortunate circumstances.
The BU coaching staff first made contact with Willander while he participated in the U18 Five Nations Tournament hosted by USA Hockey in Plymouth, Mich. in November 2022.
“How it all first started has to do with my agent knowing him,” Willander said on meeting BU associate head coach Joe Periera. “I met him at a Starbucks in Plymouth…that’s the first time I met him.”
Pereira had a tough task: convince the then-17-year-old to forego signing pro in the Swedish Hockey League and move half-way across the country to play NCAA hockey.
But when skimming Pereira, head coach Jay Pandolfo or assistant coach Kim Brandvold’s resumes, the decision becomes easier.
Just as Celebrini was impressed by the new leaders at the helm of BU’s program, Periera made it hard for Willander to say no. The offer was so sweet that Willander did not speak to any other schools. For him, it was either play at BU or make the jump to North America at a later date.
“It was a big move to go to the other side of the world to play,” Willander said. “The club I was playing for back in Sweden was a good place, too. So for me, it was really a choice between two good ones, and in the end BU seemed better.”
First Half in Review
Having now completed his first semester of collegiate play, Willander is already content with his decision. Outside of all the bells and whistles, the main reason he was attracted to the NCAA was for personal development. The young player understood his role would be limited in the SHL’s professional setting, with ice time reserved for more experienced players.
“Just how we play as a team and the aura with everything going on here — it’s really fun,” Willander said of playing at BU. “That together with the fact that it is clearly more focused on development than there in the senior leagues, I think it was a good choice for me.”
This developmental time is especially important for a player who surprisingly did not start playing the defensive position up until a couple of seasons ago. Following the COVID shutdown, Willander made the switch from forward to D during his time with AIK’s U18 team in the 2021-22 season.
“I’ve always had a thing for playing defense, so for me, it was pretty natural,” Willander said. “Especially those games where it gets tied, I just feel like having that much authority over the game as a D is a bit more fun, so that’s kind of why I made the change.”
While wearing the scarlet and white, Willander’s role is anything but limited. He is part of BU’s seven drafted defensemen that suit up on any given night — a luxury at the college level — and has shown great strides throughout his freshman season. Willander has proved his shut-down role and grown his two-way game, recording three goals, 10 assists and 20 blocks over his 23 games played.
Earning the trust of his BU coaching staff, Willander has solidified top-pair minutes and holds down the back end on the second power-play unit.
Although defensive pairs are subject to change throughout each game, Willander mainly started the season with fellow first-year and Canucks prospect Aiden Celebrini. Aiden was selected in the sixth round of last year’s draft, and the two are part of the Terriers’ rather large 10-player freshman class.
“We’re a lot of guys who take the same classes, hang out a lot outside practice,” Willander said of his class year. “We’re really close.”
Since then, he has skated with graduate Cade Webber before recently getting promoted to the top pair with star sophomore Lane Hutson. Willander came to BU to develop, so there are no better players to learn from than stay-at-home Webber or offensively-talented Hutson.
“Obviously, the more I play the more I get used to our systems, so it just feels more natural to play,” Willander said. “I think every game, more or less, has been a step in the right direction.”
World Juniors
But at the conclusion of the season’s first half, Willander and Hutson were anything but friends as the pair faced off against one another at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Of course, this experience was extra special for Willander who got to play in front of his raucous home crowd.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been on the ice for an atmosphere like that,” Willander said. “It was something different for sure.”
Willander notably scored the game-winner to secure a 2-0 victory over Canada in round-robin play on Dec. 29 — Sweden’s first win over Canada since 2015. Logging a team-high 27 shifts over that contest, Willander was heavily relied on in the tournament before ultimately being bested by Team USA in the gold medal game for the second consecutive year.
First Battle of Comm. Ave
In spite of the outcome, Willander will only continue to grow from his growing list of intense matchups he has participated in so far in his young career.
Competing for a top-10 team all season long, Willander is used to playing in hostile environments, but this reached new heights during last weekend’s home-and-home with then-No. 2 Boston College. In what felt like a playoff atmosphere, the top-two teams in the nation battled it out in front of sold-out crowds.
“College atmospheres are a bit different than World Juniors, [with] the student sections and everything,” Willander said. “It was two very fun games to play. Too bad we didn’t get the wins, but we’ll for sure get them next time.
Beanpot Preview
Although BU narrowly lost both nights, Willander and his Terriers will soon get a chance at redemption, facing off against BC for the third time in 11 days. In a culmination of the age-old rivalry itself, the standard buzz of the Beanpot and the playoff implications this outcome may hold — Monday’s matchup is reaching a boiling point.
Willander may not have known about the Beanpot tournament while growing up, but the first-year will get a true taste for what New England college hockey is all about when he steps onto the TD Garden ice.
“I think it’ll be amazing,” Willander said on playing in his first Beanpot. “We just saw the women’s Beanpot, and that was an experience…just the guys talking about it — seems like a huge deal.”
With all eyes on Monday’s result, the Terriers have a chance to make a statement. After getting swept by BC and losing to fellow Green-Line rival Northeastern University, 4-3, in overtime over the span of five days, the Terriers are trying to squash their mid-season slump, and a convincing 6-3 win over No. 18 UNH on Friday night was one step in the right direction.
“We obviously haven’t been the luckiest with things in the last couple of games, but I think we’re still up there forsure” Willander said. “It’s just about doing the small details the right way and being disciplined and things will figure themselves out.”
So, what better time for BU to right the ship than now?
The Beanpot semifinal game against Boston College is slated for the later time slot at 8 p.m., and the Boston Hockey Blog will have full, on-the-ground coverage so be sure to follow along on Twitter (X) @BOShockeyblog and Instagram @boston.hockey.blog.
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