New Henrik Lundqvist Cafe Magazine Interview

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Name: Björn Henrik Lundqvist.
Born: March 2, 1982.
Family: Married to Therese and have children Charlise, 6, and Juli, 3.
Career: Started the hockey career in Järpens IF and made Elitseriedebut 18 years old for Frölunda before moving to New York for 2005 with Rangers. Has won SM (2005 and 2003), OS (2006) and World Cup (2017).
Current with: Watches the posts in Rangers box in their 14th NHL season.

If your children want to be elite riders - what advice would you give them?

- Rather, take a dream than a goal. There will be a significantly higher pressure on you if you set too sharp goals. I think many people go too far, telling themselves and their surroundings that this has to happen. Then it will be difficult with adversities on the road. Is it a dream you believe in, is it a more forgiving, more positive charge? 

What did you get for the advice of your parents?

- Dream big and see yourself succeed. And that you are going to work hard - nothing will happen automatically.

Are you feeling like being a hockey-and-mode icon?

- No, I'm not measured. Maybe because I do not see myself as a fashion person. I have my style, it's a personal expression. I had a period when I was younger when I tested more. Today, I'm not hitting trends as fast, but at the same time try not to get stuck in the old one.

Today you have a more relaxed style. Are you starting to get dressed?

- No, I still like dressed. It's a big part of my life, I do not think it's hard. Some can not wait a second to get rid of the suit - I'm not. My style may vary more.

You have a huge watch (Tag Heuer), is there no limit to how big they may be?

"Right now I have a big bell but I really like a bit of smaller watches so that the shirt screen comes over. It feels more elegant. I like when it's drag of racing and sports. Then I think it could be vintage. I'm not 25 years anymore, haha.

You are part of and finances care for severely ill children. How does it feel?

- It's incredible. Most rewarding is when we go to New York Presbyterian Hospital every Christmas. We visit children so sick that they can not get home at Christmas. It will be a good mindset. When we leave home, the thoughts follow: imagine what happens to my children. It gives perspective, it enriches my life. I know that what we do means so much to the children and their parents.

 What happens if you as a top athlete have a tough period in life?

"As a goalkeeper, it is much more a mental game than in other positions. It is true that you have a clean head when you go to match. If there is anything that affects you next to the plan, it will sooner or later affect your game on the ice.

Who do you talk to when life goes up and down?

"I have been able to talk to my family. And I have a good relationship with my goalkeeping coach. Sometimes it may also be useful to discuss with people who do not have any relation to hockey at all.

Is it ok to feel weak in your position?

"Yes, that feeling comes sooner or later for anyone who is playing elite riders. And it's pretty black and white for me. You see when it's not going well. Then it's important to be honest when the question comes: "No, that's not right. Why is not that right? "And work from there, fix it. Is it mental, technical, physical or coordination? I have been working with the same goalkeeper coach for 13 years. He feels so well. He sees immediately when my game goes down. He analyzes and comes up with suggestions on how I can improve.

 In order to get into your comfort zone before the match, you keep your routines hard - in a way that borders superstititude. Same music, same way to put on the equipment, same nap before match. Why?

"I want to feel safe. I'm going to perform every other day for six months. I am under great pressure then, I handle a lot of emotion, nervousness. Then my routines work as a way to get into my comfort zone, which makes me relax. Some things have been added, some have disappeared over the years.

But the tuppis is left?

"Rest and nap is not just a routine, it's a must. We lose a lot of sleep at night, get up and work the next day or match closely. Then you have to go back to sleep to rest your body physically. Of our 20 guys, maybe 18 are taking a nap in the afternoon.

You are 36 years now. On the ice: what is the biggest difference on Henke today and Henke 2005?

- Not very big. I'm as passionate about it today as ten years ago. Become as happy if we win, just as disappointed when we lose. Love to compete and work out - looking forward to this season starting. My biggest change actually occurred in 2005 when I moved as a 23-year-old to NHL. Then I went from being aggressive in my game to playing deeper into the goal. It's my biggest change in my game of life.

How are you at your best?

- I'm on my toes but still lappnad. Aggressive but still focused. I have a good balance with everything. Reading the game well, do not get too keen. Awareness of what's happening alongside all the time. I make the right decision when I see things happen. I'm not locking in things, I'm cooler, making better balances.







https://www.cafe.se/jag-brinner-lika-mycket-for-hockey-i-dag-som-for-tio-ar-sen/

New Henrik Lundqvist Bread & Boxers Video

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Henrik Lundqvist Post-Practice Video Interview

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Photos of Henrik Lundqvist at Cantor Fitzgerald Annual Charity Day 2018

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New Henrik Lundqvist Vanity Fair Article

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In celebration of the 2018 Best-Dressed List, Vanity Fair and Saks Fifth Avenue are collaborating with renowned photographer and grandson of Eleanor Lambert, Moses Berkson, to capture portraits of Best-Dressed List honorees. Each month, in the lead-up to the release of the Best-Dressed List we will be profiling a beloved style icon.

Henrik Lundqvist is lauded just as much for his medal-winning goaltending style—specifically known as the butterfly—as he is for his personal style, sartorially speaking, of course. The New York Rangers goalie looks equally effortless fending off pucks in his red, white, and blue jersey as he is off the ice and traveling to games in impeccably tailored suiting. Although, when Lundqvist isn’t required to suit up for game day or a chic social event, he prefers a more relaxed ensemble of jeans, a perfectly worn-in moto, and rugged boots.

The record-holding hockey player considers an iconic singer and actor, who famously declared that he’ll do things his way, as his ultimate style icon. The athlete’s favorite wardrobe essentials show a similarly bold and independent flair: a leather jacket, velvet shoes, and a sentimental one-of-a-kind accessory that holds a special place—literally and figuratively—near and dear to his heart. “A tie clip with a small diamond on it from my wife’s engagement ring,” he says.

While living in New York City during hockey season, Lundqvist enjoys shopping in SoHo. During the off-season, he relaxes in his second home in Göteborg, in his native Sweden. But no matter where he is, Lundqvist stays true to his own style and admires that same self-expressive mind-set in others. “Consistency and confidence in all that they wear,” he says, about sartorial flair that catches his attention. “When the style also inspires a lot of people, to me that’s an icon.” Well, Lundqvist doesn’t have to look far from home.


https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/09/henrik-lundqvist-the-independent-style-icon

Henrik Lundqvist Hockey Sweden Interview

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During all Henrik Lundqvist's years in New York Rangers, the club has been aiming for the Stanley Cup. But after last year's heavy season, the club leadership chose to change course and bet young. In an interview with hockeysverige.se, he tells about the difficult conversion after the message about the generation change.
"We all knew that the season ran out of our hands when we sent our top players," says the 36-year-old.

New York Rangers had gone to the finish line seven consecutive seasons, but last season the suite ended. Of course, this was a big miscarriage for one of Sweden's biggest goalkeepers throughout all ages, Henrik Lundqvist. Although he has won Olympic, World Cup and SM gold, Stanley Cup is left to bend off.
- The biggest thing for us last season was injuries. I think we had five injuries on top eight of our players. It started already in the fall when we lost (Chris) Kreider for four, five weeks, which was a big break, Henrik Lundqvist tells hockeysverige.se and continues:
- Then it continued. We had a very heavy break on the injury side. We did not have a sufficiently wide squad to handle it and we started losing a lot. The damage caused us not to keep the level required.

After seven straight playoffs, you missed going there, how were the crowds then among the fans?
"We were in the final playground during the half season. When it started to go a little slow, it started to hurt and the club decided to bet younger players, it was mixed reactions. Once you made the decision, nobody expected us to go to the playoffs. It was not realistic either when we sent four top players (Ryan McDonagh, Michael Grabner, Rick Nash and J.T. Miller) although we did get some good players back.
"The tongues this season, I still do not know how they go because we did not talk about what the realistic goal is. There is something that can grow up here under the camp.

Henrik Lundqvist is the one who has been with all of the players in today's Rangers - since 2005 - but any extra pressure that's why he is the one who is going to wear the team is nothing he knows.
"No, I feel no more pressure now than I have done in previous seasons. It always applies to playing at my highest level regardless of the situation of the team. In addition, there are always boys from below who challenge themselves to take care of their own efforts and to prepare themselves well.
- We will see what happens. There will be some changes with new coaches (David Quinn), a new system and many young guys. It will be exciting to see how we handle it, what kind of team we will be at the same time as every new coach wants to put his mark on the team.

Henrik Lundqvist injured himself in the World Cup in 2017 after Williams Nylanders' "jump" when it became apparent that the World Cup gold was secure. Despite the injury, now the 36-year-old goalkeeper made a clearly approved season in the Rangers shirt and made 63 of the team's matches.
- The first half felt better than in several years. It was really good. In conjunction with the All-Star match, after that we had four to five players away and we lost a lot. Once the club took this decision (to bet younger) it was quite tough mentally.
"I was able to process it for a couple of weeks and feel that we would not bet this season without it being for the future. It was unusual and something I had never experienced before in my 18 seasons, either in Sweden or elsewhere.

How did you handle it?
"I think it was tough first three, four weeks. Then it just went out, war and make the best of it.
"I always want to go out and try to win. That's why I'm playing. We all knew that the season ran out of our hands when we sent our top players. We saw it from another point of view that instead we would build for the future and prepare ourselves for this season.

"Now some of our young guys got the chance, which made me look the most important in the games in a different way. Build experience for them. Hopefully, it will pay off this season.

You are 36 years old, what do you feel that you have to develop in the goalkeeper game to keep up with the rapid development?
- The speed, how I move ... I think the goalkeeper's movement patterns have changed quite a bit. At the same time, I do not want to change too much and I have some basic reasons that I want to stick to.
- Then I have to try to adapt myself, because it's faster now. I have to keep that in. For my part, I have to work with the footwork because I build a lot of my game on it.

Do you have the same mental drive to the preschool training you had 15 years ago?
- Yes, and this year I've been doing well. The body physically looks very good. Much better than last year when I was injured with knee injury from the World Cup. I have been able to drive as I want and more on ice than I have done in previous years. The drive is there and I still think it's fun and everything feels good.

Has recovery mentally become more important over the years?
"I think it has always felt important. There will be a discharge both physically and mentally every year after the end of the season. This year it became a rather long break. It is important to put it in the right way. Firstly, you need to reload you mentally, and you must build yourself for the next season.
"It feels a bit like before, but a bit more motivating because I did not get that season I wanted last season. However, as I said, it is quite similar. I go to myself and look forward to what I need to improve and then work on it. 

A part that has changed Henrik Lundqvist's life beside hockey when compared to when he was younger is that he is now a parent. Daughters Charlise fills for almost five years while Juli is two years old.
- In some situations, I think this is a parent's distance to hockey eyes. At the same time, there are many aspects of me that are the same even though I have family and children. It's more that the time I put down on other stuff earlier, when I did not have hockey eyes, I instead put on the family.
"It's about being able to break this intense with hockey so I do not think about it 24 hours a day. There it helps to have children who direct their thoughts to something else. When it comes to preparation and how I feel about hockey it's about the same.

Now, a season of relatively new conditions for Henrik Lundqvist and New York Rangers is waiting. For the first time, the team has for many years no demands or expectations for the generation shift initiated last year.
"It will be exciting and there are some question marks in the air. We do not really know how the team will look when we begin. There are many young guys fighting at the camp about a place. Just the goal is something we can work out, sit down under the camp and talk about what's realistic.
"It feels like we have to have a really good year and that many of the guys are playing the top. Then we can win a final playground, which I think will be our goal. Then we have to put the ribbon from there. It will be a war and it does not feel like we have as deep a team as previous seasons. Young and hungry hopefully and there are also many guys who will be given greater responsibility than they had before.

Is not it exciting to see if these young guys manage to take the next step in their development next season?
- Yes, it is. It depends a lot on how it will be for us how they take this climb. Hopefully these young boys will continue to develop and surprise us positively for what we will need.
- We have a coach who is used to working with young guys and can help them to take these clicks.

NEW SWEDISH BLOOD IN RANGERS

There have been two new Swedish guys in the New York Rangers for the coming season. It's about Fredrik Claesson from Ottawa and Michael Lindqvist from Färjestad.
- I hope they will enjoy and have a great camp here. There are many young guys who will fight about the places here so it's about getting well prepared, having a good camp and sending good signals to the management about what role to get. There is nothing to be given without going out to take care of the front legs.
"Then it's nice to have Swedes in the team and I hope, of course, that they will have a really good season here.

Another Swedish Rangers leadership is making great hopes for Lias Andersson.
"He was on the NHL at the end of last season. It has given him a lot of insight into what is required. He is one of several young guys you hope to establish seriously this season. Then Lias is very young so it is important not to put too much pressure on him. It's more about establishing and taking this regular place and then building from there, Henrik Lundqvist concludes before continuing his journey through Manhattan's rush traffic on the way to the morning's training.



http://www.hockeysverige.se/2018/09/05/henrik-lundqvist-om-jobbiga-omstallningen-new-york-rangers/

Swedish Henrik Lundqvist Interview from June

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Lundqvist speaks out in difficult times
What happens if you remove the winning goal from an extremely competitive guy like Henrik Lundqvist?
"It became mentally difficult, telling the goalkeeper in a big interview about the future. In Kungsträdgården, Three Kronor rejoices after the second straight World Cup gold. But neither the last season's captain, Joel Lundqvist, nor the penalty hero Henrik Lundqvist are included in the celebration.
The evolution has taken the twins in an opposite direction - and that's nothing appreciated by two extreme winger shells. So what do you think next?
We went to Slottsskogen to find the answer. There, in an ice cold rink, Henrik Lundqvist builds up both body and self-confidence again.
The time is right after midnight in the morning. It is Sweden's national day and Henrik Lundqvist has decided on the ice with the former gold heroes Henrik Tömmernes and Nicklas Lasu, now in Geneva Servette and Kärpät.
"It's a fool of security to have it. Frölunda poses extremely well for us, letting us have ice and changing rooms and gymnasium, "says Henrik Lundqvist.

The last season started quite brilliantly.
His team New York Rangers won more than the team lost and in goal the Swedish star played better than in several years. Well, he even glanced so much that he was taken to the All Star match during the break - for the first time since 2012. But then something happened.
Rangers dropped all the concepts, the shape also dropped by the goalkeeper as the rebuilding of the team.
Four big stars were sold - and a lot of young talents were sent into the club.
"Then you know it will be tough. Then I always go in and think we can win matches, but we were not good enough. We had many young guys with talent at the end - and they need to match to get into it.
For Henrik Lundqvist, it meant an angry clinging mosquito bite on the brain.
"We began to lose, there were many injuries. And on top of that, management says that we will start rebuilding. Mentally it became difficult - feeling we should not go for it. It certainly took three to four weeks for me to process it, to really accept it.
Henrik silences for a second.

"I never had my 18th birthday in top hockey, five in Frölunda and 13 in Rangers, experienced that we did not go for it. Suddenly we would not do it. Now it was more about developing the guys we raised. There is a lot around hockey like I think it's fun, but in the end it's about winning matches. There was a conflict inside, how do I process it? It clearly drew down the feel of the last season.
Were you ever close to leaving Rangers - when the club would not go for the title?
- No, never. We had a talk early before everything broke out. They told me how they thought - and I said, this is where I want to be. I've been here for twelve years - and I'm with you! There was never a talk about any options. - Ah, decide and decide. I have a no trade, but there are two parties. And I want both to feel that's right. They were happy to hear that I want to join me - and that means a lot for me to drive!
Driving clearly means playing out the contract, which runs over three seasons. - That's the plan, haha.

The season ended after the NHL series - and Lundqvist was never allowed to go to the World Cup in Copenhagen. Rangers examined him and said definitely no.
"I would have liked if I could. But it was a blank no from New York when we did a MRI. I needed rest, says Henrik Lundqvist.
His knee, which was also an uncertainty factor during World Cup gold 2017, has been vibrated during the season.
- I needed to take this syringe. Previously I have had cortisone in my knee, but now it was PRP. You separate red and white blood cells - and you enter white blood cells to activate the area, "says Henrik.
What do you really do for damage?
"I can not go too much on details, but it was a bit hurt from last year. It healed well this summer, but then I hit it in the fall - and I never really got rid of it. It was under control, but it was not optimal.
Did you have to rest some matches because of your knee?
- No. Sometimes you can play 15-20 games in a row and feel fresh. Sometimes you play three matches and are completely over. It's a bit about tension. Sometimes you think more and overwork if you play less. Are you in a nice flow, you're more relaxed ...

In mid-May, Henrik's father Peter turned 70 years - and already, Mrs Therese went away
and the children Charlise and Juli home to Sweden to celebrate with the family.
Shortly thereafter, New York Rangers presented the new coach David Quinn, a 51-year-old from Boston University. It will be Rangers fourth coach during the years that Lundqvist played in the club.
- I've talked to some guys who had him - and they say he's very good. Every time you get a new coach you have the opportunity to learn something new. It will be a new idea. Everyone I've had has been extremely different. Partly how they handle the group, and how we play. It is also exciting ...

The team is being rebuilt in total - and young Lias Andersson is one of the players that the future is being built around. Even Färjestad's forward Michael Lindqvist, an unpredicted 23-year-old who scored 20 goals in SHL this winter will play for Rangers.
"We also have many young and skilled backs. It will be exciting - and it's an important summer for them to build themselves up too. The way we played the last two months, where we dared a lot, was good - but we also need more smartness. We have a lot to learn when to dare and not. It will be a new feeling with a new coach - and there are many hungry fighting for places.
You say hungry. How hungry are you?
"I've looked at the final game a lot - and I want to be there. There is no snack. I need these months to process what has been, but also to charge energy. It's only June. I know I had the fun of the first half of the last season. It was fun around, too, with trips, with matches. Then when we begin to lose ... then it will be heavier. The key is mentally trying to win as much as possible. But I think it's fun! Otherwise, the summer's scheme would have meant a lot more ice. June has just begun and Henrik Lundqvist has already been on ice a handful of times. Goalkeeper Benoit Allaire remains in Rangers - and he has sent a number of improvement points to the keeper.
"I know what to work on. I know quite well with the hand in hand what I need to develop and improve ...
If you look at the last season - what could you have done better?
"If we're going to nerd down in detail, I have to be more consistent in my playing field. It has helped me for many years. But in recent years there have been more open positions - and it has made me more aggressive in some situations and in other places I'm back. My game has varied. I'd rather play the same way all the time. I feel safer when I know what I can expect from myself. I have to be faster, work more technology with my feet. It is important!
Can you be faster than 36 years old?
- It's clear that it's over! Physically, you may not become explosive. You can become it, if you exercise correctly - but it's harder. Technically there is always room for development. It's just to check out how I play today against for 10-12 years. I have developed every year. But more is required now too, because the players are better, they shoot better and they shoot faster. I have to develop myself! I can not just stand and stamp ...

And the feeling of being in a team that does not win or does not go for the Stanley Cup ... it does not want Henrik Lundqvist to experience again.
"It's clear that you feel when you sit there and the season is over here, we will not be again. But at the same time it is very difficult - because we do not know where we stand when the season begins. How fast can it turn? We can rebuild a team, it may take time - but it can also go faster than you thought. I hope it's going to be fast. I hope, of course, that we can turn around at once, but it's no guarantee. Personally, I want us to be in playoffs again ...
Lundqvist would like to return to it. The feeling of winning - and especially in a final game match.
- It gets so much more intense. More adrenaline. Everything you know during the starting season comes more during the playoffs, so it will be more fun.
That's the high you want?
- Yes exactly. The important matches during the playoffs, when you win that one ... that's the high one you want to eat. We've had many game seven, overtime ... it's almost like winning a championship to win such a match.
At the end of the training, trion turns out. Empire and Lasu against Lundqvist, three pucks each close, shot or draw.
"We will set two goals to win," says Henrik Tömmernes. - Two goals were, huh?
Henke Flinar.
"Well, together, Nicklas Lasu replies.
And then Lundqvist turns on the winning shells. He does release a puck from Tömmernes, but someone else will not.
"That was important, Henke flips when he glides off the ice.
- Strange that he did not hit until we beat, Lasu picks up.
It feels harmoniously in the midst of seriousness. Henrik Lundqvist knows that the competitors

Now I can work more with details, nudge on some things that I feel I need. There is absolutely no stress. Amongst things, there may be a stress to get started in August, but now I feel I have so much time ... it's easier to work, work a bit more methodically. Usually I do not usually go on until the end of July. This is just the second time in 13 years as we miss out games.
The foundation for a new success will be built from behind. From goalkeeper and backs. Lite as Frölunda tries for the coming season.
- Now it will be a reboot. We need to find the right way to play - and I have read that the new coach wants us to focus on the defense. It sounds good, for the last three seasons we have been at the top, or rather the bottom, of the teams that give the most chances to us.
It may have a little to do with the fact that Rangers defense has not worked at all times - but also with the young players coming. Which is not as tactically controlled.
- Now the players are more "I'll try" ... and then they run! Many times it goes, but sometimes it goes wrong too. That is why there are situations for me too, it will be free. The players are much more creative, because they have practiced it. The skill is higher now than it ever has been, I would say. It's faster.
How are you going to be 36 years old then?
- Then you can train in June, haha!

For the first time in a long time, the whole family is also gathered in Gothenburg. The sister Gabriella is visiting with her family from the United States - and it involves a lot of dinner with brother Joel, father Peter and mom Eva.
In Frölundaborg's dressing room, what Frölunda arranged for all visitors
foreign player, Nicklas Lasu ficks on the phone. He's coming to-tomorrow at 09.15 to 12 - or Friday at 12 o'clock?
"We are running tomorrow at ten o'clock, Henke replies quickly.
Lasu and Tømmernes nods and goes out in the summer heat.
Lundqvist wears a hoodie in sweat material. The day is not over yet. A passport in the gym awaits.

No stress, but still a huge press.
Henrik Lundqvist
Age: 36.
Family: The wife Therese, the daughters Charlise and Juli, five and two years. 
Club: New York Rangers - contract until 2021.
Current: Home in Gothenburg and already exercising on ice ahead of the new season. On August 11, Henrik and Mats Zuccarello also organize a charity day at Ullevål in Oslo for 25,000 spectators. Celebrity matches and performances - and then a match with a lot of hockey stars. The surplus goes to Henrik Lundqvist Foundation and Right to play.