Maple Leafs legends reduced to tears during tribute to Borje Salming.

Although this was a difficult moment for those in attendance and for all of us watching at home, it is moments like these that truly make the hockey community so special to so many individuals around the globe.

On Saturday, a beautiful tribute to the late Borje Salming took place in his native country of Sweden, an event that also served as a fundraiser for ALS research. The event featured an exhibition game between many of Salming's former teammates with veteran players from Tre Kronors (Three Crowns) taking on veteran players from the Toronto Maple Leafs, and as a result many of Salming's close friends, former teammates and his family were all present for the event.

The event began with a banner raising ceremony that will long live in the minds of hockey fans who witnessed it, perhaps one of the most emotional banner raisings that we have witnessed in the sport. Salming's loved ones and former teammates were gathered in attendance on the ice as the banner was raised and a pair of musical artists gave an emotional live performance, bringing nearly all of those in attendance to tears.

Salming could not have asked for a better tribute in his memory with the Maple Leafs side of the ice featuring the likes of Al Iafrate, Mats Sundin, Fredrik Modin, Alex Steen and many more. 

The Tre Kronors side also had a great many legends of the sport on their side as well with the likes of Nicklas Lidstrom, Viktor Fasth, Henrik Zetterberg, Peter Forsberg and many more representing their home country on home soil.

It is clear that Salming's impact on many of these players and on the hockey community at large will continue to reverberate throughout the sport for many years to come. Hopefully events looking to raise awareness for ALS research, like this one held in his honor today, can also one day bring an end to the terrible disease that claimed his life far too soon.