Sterner made his hockey debut at 15 when he was accepted onto a second-division club where he made a name for himself with his speed and scoring ability. On 12 November 1959, he made his international debut with
Tre Kronor in a friendly match against
Czechoslovakia's team. He scored his first goal in that game, which Tre Kronor won 11–3. He was the team's youngest player of all time. Through the late 1950s and early 1960s, he was one of Sweden's most popular players. He is also credited with inventing the "stick to skate to stick" maneuver. At the
1962 World Ice Hockey Championships, Sterner scored what he described as his most memorable goal when he scored the 3–0 goal against
Team Canada. His team won the game 5–3 and took the gold medal. At the
1963 World Championship, he scored a hat trick against Canada in a 4–1 win. After the game, he and teammate
Sven "Tumba" Johansson met King
Gustaf VI Adolf and received a royal congratulations. Ultimately, Sterner played only four games in the NHL, and he did not register a point although Rangers coach
Red Sullivan praised Sterner for his puckhandling skills. But he had been reluctant to play physically or to instigate physical play. He was sent back down to the AHL, and it soon became clear that he was not willing to return to the NHL for the 1965-66 season although he had signed a two-year contract. As much as his skills carried him through games in the AHL, he simply did not have the training to play 60-minute games with full contact. In 1969, the IIHF adopted the same body-checking rules as the NHL, and four years later,
Börje Salming joined the
Toronto Maple Leafs, ending up playing 17 years in the NHL. ==Personal life==