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Mark your calendars, the boys with the winged wheel are heading to Sweden. Well, not until October, where they’ll play a two-game series with the St. Louis Blues at the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, but it’s never too early to plan ahead.
The games will be played on Oct. 2 and 3 and will be part of a four-game showcase that also includes the Chicago Blackhawks taking on the Florida Panthers in Helsinki.
There are currently seven players on the Red Wings roster who hail from Sweden, all of which seem excited at the idea of displaying Detroit’s style of play in their home country. Said captain Nicklas Lidstrom, who became the first European captain of a Stanley Cup winning team last season:
“I think we all think it’s great that we get a chance to go over to Europe and Sweden and play, especially with all the Swedes that we have.”
Lidstrom hoped this time would come, what with other NHL teams playing overseas in recent years. The Anaheim Ducks and L.A. Kings opened their respective 2007-08 seasons in London.
“We’re going to be excited being back home and playing for the Wings over there, and I know the fans are looking forward to the chance to see the Red Wings play over there,” Lidstrom said.
With so many Swedes on the team Detroit expects the fans to be heavily behind them, especially with the way Swedish hockey fans love to participate in the games.
“The fans, especially with the club teams, are singing a lot,” Lidstrom said. “I don’t know if that’s going to happen when we’re over there, but the fans really get into games over there.”
Added forward Henrik Zetterberg:
“We’ve got a great fan base over there, and it would be wonderful to play there. The Cup was almost two weeks in Sweden, so Red Wings are big in Sweden, so I think they will be really happy if we can come there.”
Nicklas Kronwall, who is from Stockholm, said “I never thought that I would be able to come home and play for a team over here in my hometown.” Lidstrom also joked that Kronwall will have to serve as a tour guide for the team.
“That time of the year, Stockholm is a really beautiful place,” Kronwall said. “It’s right on the water. It’s an old town. The arena is awesome. I played there for four years before I came over here. When it’s sold out, it’s a pretty good atmosphere.”
Even members of the Red Wings who aren’t Swedish are excited at the prospect of starting the season in another country, especially for their Swedish teammates.
“Having so many Swedes here, it’s a great opportunity for them to go back home and bring the Red Wings into their country,” Kris Draper said. “In that way, it’s nice. Teams that have gone overseas haven’t gotten off to the greatest starts, so that’s something that has to be a little bit of a concern. But the opportunity to play in another country, with so many Swedish players, it’s a great opportunity for them and for us to come along.”
Concerns over suffering jet lag when they touch back down in Detroit shouldn’t be a problem, Lidstrom said, because “you’re going to get about a week after you’re done with the two games over there to recover and get back to the time over here, so I don’t think that’s a big concern for the team at all.”
Paul Benvin covers the Detroit Red Wings for The Hockey Writers. Feel free to contact him with tips, video, or general dissension.
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