For today’s Swedish players, the impact of the 2006 gold medal team resonates to this day.

At least for those old enough to remember.

Here’s the proof, albeit in a small sample size.

During the NHL/NHLPA European Player Media Tour at Milan’s Westin Palace hotel in August, NHL.com asked the Swedish players on hand what their greatest/favorite Olympic memory was. Eight of them — forwards Filip Forsberg (Nashville Predators), Mikael Backlund (Calgary Flames), William Nylander (Toronto Maple Leafs) andAlexander Wennberg (San Jose Sharks), defensemen Hampus Lindholm (Boston Bruins), Rasmus Sandin (Washington Capitals) and Philip Broberg (St. Louis Blues), and goalie Filip Gustavsson (Minnesota Wild) — listed the 2006 team.

Such is the impact Sundin and his teammates are still having two decades later.

“Sweden beating Finland in 2006. I’m sure you’ll get that answer a lot. You’ve probably already had it,” Filip Forsberg said. “That was special.”

Asked who his hockey hero was, he replied: “I would say that whole team. (Goalie) Henrik Lundqvist made a [huge] save at the end, Lidstrom scoring the winner from Forsberg and Sundin. That’s Swedish hockey summarized pretty well in one moment right there.”

Indeed, it does.

And Backlund, 36, said he still savors the memory all these years later of watching the celebration when the final horn sounded on the gold medal game, even though he’d missed part of it because he was playing himself.

“In 2006 I had a junior game at the same time as the gold-medal game,” he said. “We’re coming in in the intermission checking the score, and then at the end of our game I think I got to watch like the last 10 minutes of the gold medal game. Was very stressful. But yeah, having that winning goal scored by Lidstrom, assisted by Mats (Sundin) and Peter (Forsberg), well, that’s really special for Swedish hockey.”

It remains so to this day.

“I agree, that was very special, especially for that golden generation of Swedish players,” Lindholm said. “And it’s been a driving force for ours. I mean, if we could do it again …”

Could you imagine?

* * * *

It was Sundin who made sure that special moment was shared with his native people back home.

On Feb. 26, 2006, he and his teammates celebrated like never before in the minutes and hours following their championship win. Seven of the players on that roster — Sundin, Lidstrom, Lundqvist, Forsberg, Daniel Alfredsson, Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin — went on to be voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

At one point that day, former NHL forward Mats Naslund, the general manager of the Swedish Olympic team, congratulated the players and told them travel arrangements had been made for the NHLers on the roster to go back to North America to rejoin their pro teams the following day. Sundin, Lidstrom and Forsberg were having none of that.

“I told (Naslund) that we HAD to go to Sweden the next day,” Sundin recalled. “There was a bit of a commotion, for sure, until they told us a plane had been arranged by the Swedish Hockey Federation to take us to Stockholm. I think it was a big hassle for management and the Federation to arrange that, but it’s something we really wanted. It had to be done.”

In the end, it was worth it. And then some.

“It was amazing,” Sundin said. “It was such a special moment to share when we got there. Not only for the team, but for the people at home. For the people of Sweden to come out and celebrate with the players in downtown Stockholm and enjoy such a unique victory, it was just so special.

“It’s flattering to know to hear that some of the Swedish players of today remember and are inspired by it, especially since some of them were probably in diapers. Sweden had never won a best-on-best international tournament before and has never won one since.

“Imagine if they could do it this time around, same country, with the anniversary and all …”

An entire hockey-crazed country is doing just that.