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THE KING OF
NEW YORK, TIDNINGEN VARVET
2010
Henrik
Lundqvist is standing with his hands on his back and
screwed up his eyes
against the skyscrapers which begins were the treetops
ends. It´s a majestic
sight. Sheep Meadow, the parks large grass area
where both locals and tourists
spend time to enjoy the afternoon sun. In
the end you can see the incredible
skyline of Manhattan.
-Look, this
is
so damn cool. Magic, he says and shakes his head. Henrik Lundqvist has
lived
in NY for five years but still gets amazed every time he sees
it.
-I didn´t
think that I would get on well at first when I moved
here. Like it, yes, but
now I have just finished renovating a home that I
would like to live in for
real. I´m building my life here and will always
have something left in this
town, he continues about his love story of
this world metropolis.
We are
standing and talking about NY when an
unknown man in a tracksuit stands up
from the grass and comes ahead of
Henrik. He shakes Henriks hand and says –I´m
sorry Henrik, too bad you
lost the playoffs, but you will get on it again. Henrik
Smiles and answers
–It will be a long summer, that’s for sure. Thanks for
support. An
everyday reminder that he stays in NY for a reason: win the
Stanley
Cup.
When Varvet
meets Henrik he just got back home after a
couple of weeks of a total time off
after what become his first season in
NHL were his Rangers didn´t reached the
playoffs. Most memorable was when
the Rangers lost the match in the 82nd, the
absolute final, against
Philadelphia Flyers. –I still think about it Henrik
tells us when the
supporter has returned to the grass. –You can´t be
disappointed by the
fact that we lost the last match. But it still annoys me
the way we
practiced it. We lost a lot
during the journey, it slipped away from us.
He takes a sigh and reminds of it
again. I will knead this all summer
until I get a chance for revenge in the
autumn. But, if there is a
consolation, his status as very popular was not
changed after this year´s
suffer. His name echoed in the arena until the final
signal. –Personally,
I think the season was ok. But “ok” will not take you to
the Stanley Cup.
It has to be really good. And I wasn´t, the star tells self
criticly. –I´m
not going to take all the blame but as the goalkeeper you have
to show
some class when it is needed. For now, a long summer is waiting,
filled
with hard exercise.
This
particular day Henrik has decided for
a run in the park, but it will not be too
extreme, it´s a mental thing, he
explains. –You can´t work out hard all summer,
because when you are not
mentally thoroughly rested for a new long season he
admits and also
confess that it´s not always that tempting to put his shoes on
when the
sun is shining and his friends is going out for a day at the
beach.
-Training
does not do it itself, that’s for sure. Sometimes
there is a stress about
exercising in the early summer. For me it feels
better to keep a bit calm in
June and then intensify in July. And in
August you are totally in to it.
The way of
exercising for a goalkeeper
is ranging. He has had some trouble with his knees,
therefore running is
not always the best. –I like to come here and just walk
around. There´s a
track for about one (Swedish) mile and I use to skate with
rollerblades. I
haven´t run the track this year, but there are shorter
distances too. You
get totally inspired, not only by the environment, but also
by all the
people in movement here. They run, bicycles and rollerskates.
Henrik
Lundqvist does not live far away from the park, in fact he lives
in the district
Hell´s Kitchen. The newly renovated apartment was bought
last year and there is
a luxury gym inside the building.
Having a
park
and gym so nearby have all opportunities for staying in shape, he
admits.
–I like to exercise on my own, even if there are other players in
his team who
lives in NY. –We train so close all the time, so it´s nice to
be by yourself
for some time.
Before he
moved to USA and become “King
Henrik” of Manhattan he had already become a
legend in Göteborg, thanks to
his achievements in Frölunda´s golden season
2005. When he moved to
America he discovered that he liked the American form of
exercising. –In
Sweden there is a lot of team exercise, but here you can create
your own
schedule. That fits me better. But the past few years I have done it
in
the same way. I try not to focus on a specific part of the body, just
keep
the whole body in a good shape. A little bit of this and a little bit
of that.
I play a lot of tennis, I prefer cardio training in that way
instead of
spinning. As a goalkeeper it isn´t muscles the main object for
a successful
career in NHL. Nimbleness and flexibility is very important.
–My training is
static, not that much interval, that fits his job as a
goalkeeper best.
Last season
was his first in the new super contract he
signed in 2008, a contract that
gives him a good jackpot every month for
five years. Besides that he also gets
a large dose of satisfaction of the
knowledge of the fact that he can stay in
his beloved NY, and go for a run
in Central Park as often as he like. –This
contract means a lot to me. I
feel safe in the fact that the Rangers believes
in me and want me to play
for them for several years. And of course, the
economical part, he
adds.
Despite
feeling safe and economy, he and his girlfriend Therese
Andersson wants to
enjoy the city. –My brother can have some kids. I have
a lot of friends that
starts their family lifes right now, but we are not
there yet. We live in NY in
a completely different life. If I played for
Buffalo instead, maybe it would be
different, but it´s a different sort of
life here in NY. –I was 23 when I came
here and now I´m 28. It´s a huge
different and I feel much more grown up now. I
don´t know if I have
changed as a person. But the social part has become more
important, it´s
not just hockey, I have a great time.
The
hockeystar confess that
sometimes he has to stop and think of the fact that he
lives in NY and
that could not be a better place. But he still has a place in
his heart
for Göteborg. Just a couple of days after our meeting he travels to
Sweden
and more summertraining. –There´s a gym in town and I go for a run
in
Skatås. It´s a wonderful place. Slottskogen is good too, but Skatås
has more
tracks in the area.
Unfortunately,
there were no time for him to
run Göteborgsvarvet this year either. He´s got a
busy schedule that time
of the year.
Some of my friends runs and I have been in the audience,
applauding
them. It´s a lot of fun.
Thank you to Tove for translating this interview!
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