Salming poses nude for artist

Borje Salming's play on defence was as close to artistry as the Toronto Maple Leafs had in the Harold Ballard era.

Now, the lanky Swede, who began the influx of European players into the National Hockey League, has become an objet d'art himself.

At 56, the remarkably fit Salming took off his clothes to pose for a series of paintings by Swedish artist Johan Wattberg. There are 31 canvases in all, and 10 of them go on display in Stockholm Thursday night.

The remaining 21 – matching the numeral Salming wore when he played 16 seasons on the Toronto blueline – will be shown in Toronto in the fall, publicist Andreas Grant said.

“We are working right now to find a good gallery, to show them around the time the NHL season starts,” Grant said in a telephone interview from Sweden.

The iconic Salming already had celebrity status in his homeland, both for his Hall of Fame hockey career and for his posthockey ventures. Salming's name is known by a new generation for the line of designer undergarments he manufactures.

“Borje was a bit hesitant at first, but then he saw Johan's earlier work,” Grant said. “There's a rough style to it and he identified with it. Johan's best known as a graffiti artist in the past, but he's evolved onto the mainstream art scene. His work still has a street feel to it.”

Salming said in a statement that he was skeptical at first. “I've never done anything like this before,” he said. “But it's not the everyday artsy-pantsy stuff. It's hard core. I like them and I think others will, too.”

Salming started his NHL career in 1973 and was already playing in his fourth all-star season when Wattberg was born in 1978. He played 1,148 regular season games and 81 playoff games, scoring a total of 150 regular-season goals and 637 assists. He was Sweden's first player enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.