Sunday, August 25, 2019

New Swedish Henrik Lundqvist Interview





HERE HAVE YOU NEVER been in the New York Rangers goal cage other than number one, Henrik Lundqvist.
Challenged, tested - absolutely. Just as damned always come back as the go-to guy.
The guy to trust.
The guy to lead the team.
The end of last season, however, was not "Henkes" best (thus he followed the whole Rangers curve, started well but fell back), Bulgaria-born Russian Aleksandr Georgijev, 23, came in and impressed, and in the NHL media there has been speculation about that The King might be about to be detronized.
52 (of 82) matches last season, the lowest score in the career if we count off injured 14/15 and lockout winter 12/13; You can click on the Swedish NHL career on your own.
But… in a situation when the team building Rangers feels super exciting (we will get to that), 
Henrik Lundqvist, 37, has no idea whatsoever of letting go of the first track:
- The goal is to be one, to play a lot. Then I take nothing for granted, I almost never did. If I can only reach the level that I feel I had in the first half of last season, then I will be one. It's about being there, it's up to me to find that level. Easier to do it in a team that has to do with the endgame talk, which really has things to play for every night.
After a good start, Rangers were 20 points from the playoffs last spring.

Other now, because you know what kindled the hope in Manhattan:

- Artemij Panarin, the Russian scorer and artist, from Columbus.
- Kaapo Kakko, Finnish second in the draft, you saw him in the World Cup; say no more, type.
- Jacob Trouba, hard-hitting, point-scoring back with a cannon season behind him, from Winnipeg.
- Adam Fox, 21-year-old exciting back who after three years at Harvard is now making an interesting start in the NHL. The guy has stood out at the university level.

Rangers have released well-paid slop Kevin Shattenkirk (Tampa), GM Jeff Gorton's redevelopment is likely to have a good bit left if you want to go all the way, but no talk about the club's fans going in with completely different expectations this fall.

How has it affected Henrik Lundqvist's summer? I wondered. The answer:
- The preparation has not changed, the upload ... you have your stuff that you try to run every year. But mentally I am extra charged, it will be exciting to see if we get it together, it is exciting player.
"Henke" is not 37 and routinely for naught, it is noticeable in the snack, he does not float away, does not raise Panarin and Kakko to the skies and predict immediate success in new surroundings, knows that things must take their time. However, he says:
- Of course I feel a little extra optimism after this summer. I certainly hope we can take some steps. Playoffs? It is difficult to know where we stand, it is something we must discuss during the camp, what is realistic, what pressure we should put on the group. You usually feel a bit then.
** But probably should Panarin, the guy who was nicknamed The Bread Man, be able to light the candles in Manhattan and fix some ... hm, bread and spectacle?
- Yes, but we probably shouldn't put too much pressure on a player. But hope that Panarin, Mika (Zibanejad) and who now becomes third link can become a good chain for us.
* Does it feel like Mika should be his center?
- Yes it does.
** Your thoughts on Kaapo Kakko that you encountered in the World Cup?
- Interesting to see him, he has played some senior hockey after all, it can be tough sometimes (rookie in the NHL) for young guys, but he seems quite sensible.
** Surely it should be a really fun season for you, right?
- Yes, there are conditions for that. But ... it's so little ... sometimes it's so little that makes every season go.

Clearly, Henrik Lundqvist does not want to take too big words in his mouth; after the final loss in 2014 and the semi-final loss the following year, Rangers have only won a playoff series of four years, the last two seasons have all ended before the fun even started.
No playoffs, no party.Lundqvist, who won the Vezina Trophy in 2012 and is a hockey icon in Manhattan, has come ever further from the dream of one day lifting Lord Stanley's buck.

** Is it still alive, "Henke"? Is the dream still there?
- The dream, of course. I don't know how long I am, I don't know where we are in a year, but it is clear that ... there is no reason not to have that dream.
** Because it is probably a driving force?
- Yes, but what drives us now is to prepare me for the season, do it as best I can, see where we stand as a team, agree with the group on what we should have for the goal. Then, to win the Stanley Cup, there is a long way behind it, it's nothing I think of now, not in the situation we're in now. Some years we have been in another position
ion, now we're going to do it as best we can and try to make it to the playoffs.

Henrik Lundqvist has run some passes with Frölunda, most notably he has trained with other NHL players, other ex-Frölundaites in Slottsskogsrinken and Frölundaborg.
Right fate on the stands. Surprisingly few take the chance to see Lundqvist, John Klingberg, Andreas Johnsson & Co.
The more people see and hear the Swedish goalkeeper watch out on TV:
"Watch the cash register? Say what I dooo… ”
The commercials with "shampoo guy" are popular and I am often struck by how good "Henke" is in that role.
Not all celebrities are there in front of the camera.
Not everyone acts unforced, relaxed.
But "Henke" seems to feel as at home and full of confidence in the TV world as ... well, when he is guarding another type of bag.

** Do you really look to have fun?
- It has been fun. Talented people that I've worked with, it's been a long collaboration, eight years, with different teams. I have to think about it, come up with my own ideas. It has been an interesting project.
** Do you write parts of the script yourself?
- Yes, some pieces I write.
** Anything you want to go on with the day the hockey career is over?
- Haha I do not know.
For a while, there is full focus on the bags that are anchored in North American rinks.
The New York Rangers are going to take another step, grow as a team and hopefully go to the playoffs with a sharper, more exciting team than last season,
Here at home, Henrik Lundqvist is not only a hockey star but also a shampoo guy.
In The Garden he is only The King, the King.
The veteran has two years left on the contract, and he does not want to know anything detronizing.







https://rakapuckar.com/blog/wdpGAxRweRDngWy



Saturday, August 17, 2019

New Henrik Lundqvist Swedish Interview





Just before the draft start in Vancouver so
the American broadcaster NBC is rolling out
the news: the New York Rangers have changed their mind
star keeper Henrik Lundqvist and one
second choice for New Jersey Devils - i
exchange for a first choice for New York
Rangers.
The hockey world is leaking.

New York Rangers most expensive player, with 8.5
million dollars in annual salary - to the local competitor?
 - It was so absurd it was not
many in my immediate circle who responded
on it, says Henrik Lundqvist at home in
Gothenburg.
And the battle between New York and New
Jersey never becomes a reality.
- It really came from nowhere. It is
a lot of rumors back and forth, it's angled
things here and there. I don't know from where it
Come! Really weird. It was someone who put on
the mistake afterwards? Or was it
the ostrich? Down with your head in the sand ...

In any case, it is clear that Henrik Lundqvist is
remains in the New York Rangers - and has the plan
to play out the contract that runs until year
2021. Although the competition from
Alexandar Georgiyev splits with Igor
Six-jerkin from the KHL team SKA St.Petersburg.
– So it always is! There is always someone coming
who want my place. I know how good first
half of last season felt. It's there
I want to reach again. Do we have a little better go in the team in
years so maybe you can keep all the way. I
know it's there. It just has to reach
up.

Last season it did not hold. Rangers management decided to rebuild
the team even more, the Norwegian Mats Zuccarello
was shipped to the Dallas Stars. Then it burst too
Henrik Lundqvist in front of the television cameras in
Rangers changing room.
- It was so much that happened in those weeks.
There was a lot that led to it
the reaction, much more than just Mats. The
were many emotions. Many that I've played
with, gone through a lot with, just
disappeared for a couple of seasons. They were
suddenly gone. It was one of the toughest
seasons that I've gone through mentally. The judging process was much tougher than I was
thought it would be ...
He continues:
- I think I fought well first
half of the season, it felt very good.
I joined the All star team. But it was
tough to reload when almost everyone was gone,
when we are where we were. Where we should be. A bit like that
was it.

Lundqvist has just trained a hard workout
with Frölunda HC on the ice in Frölundaborg.
Brother Joel failed to score on him
here during the training either.
- They have good speed when they drive! Roger
(Rönnberg) is constantly pushing, that it should
be intensity and speed. It's incredibly good
speed. It's good to feel it, because when we
other players who are home over
summer is running we can be eight,
sometimes ten. It's hard to keep up
the pressure, you can't handle it. You feel
a little slow when driving with Frölunda,
ha ha.

The 37-year-old looks good. He is
tan after the summer - and
the batteries are recharged. The amusement park in central Gothenburg has of course been visited
of the Lundqvist family. After the flop in the World Cup so
Henrik promised to go home and let the family,
with the children Charlise and Juli, comfort him.
- We usually promise the children two visits
Liseberg. Or three. There have been two. But
summer is not over, haha. Otherwise we have
had many visits. Friends from the US and
Sweden has come here and greeted. We have
relaxed by the sea, been in town, traveled part of
Europe. It's been a good summer.

The super-tall Kaapo Kakko was chosen as
number two in the draft this summer.
- I've had a great dialogue with John
Davidson, our new president. I knew
him from my first years in Rangers. Then
he worked on our TV channel. He was in
Rangers for 25 years, as a player and then as
TV anchor. Then he left before my
second year. He went to St. Louis and was there
seven years - and then to Columbus for five years. It
is fun he's back! He's one sharp
man, says Lundqvist.

So there is a chance that you might
belongs to a winning team again?
- When you have been in a club for 14 years, it increases
Of course, you run the risk of going through one of these
period. That it will be a rebuild, that you may take
the good with the bad. The important thing now is
just to take the next step - to be with it when
also turns before I get off the train.
Do you think so now that you see the end?
- Yes of course. I can't play to
forever. I have a few years left, but I don't know
how many. As long as I reach that level
I can, that we win, that we have a good bunch
- yes, then it's incredibly fun to play. Then there is
there is no need to do anything else.












Meet Henrik Lundqvist at a Bread & Boxers Event





Meet superstar Henrik Lundqvist in Stockholm.

Thursday, August 15 at 17:00, Henrik Lundqvist himself will be on site for signing! Come in time to secure your place in the queue, there will be lots of people!

SIGNATURE TIME
Thursday, August 15 - 5 pm-6pm

PLACE
Åhléns City Stockholm - The entrance from Drottninggatan
Klarabergsgatan 50, 111 21 Stockholm, Sweden