HENRIK LUNDQVIST
“I’m just comfortable wearing a suit, especially if I’m going to a game. I have a good feeling inside when I put on my suit and drive down to the Garden. I know it’s game time.”
Tiger of Sweden suit Gucci oxfords, $465, and John Lobb belt, $435, both at mrporter.com
A lot has changed in Madison Square Garden in the seven years that Henrik Lundqvist has been the
New York Rangers’ superstar goaltender.
This year, the “World’s Most Famous Arena” underwent a major makeover, completely transforming its aesthetic — and so has the team that Lundqvist, 29, leads.
“This team dresses a lot better now than it did a few years ago,” says the devastatingly dapper Swede as he fusses with his
Hermès belt.
Fresh from practice at the team’s Westchester facility, the 29-year-old newlywed (he married his longtime sweetheart, Therese Andersson, this summer) settles on a slim blue suit from his go-to label, Tiger of Sweden, and a tie clip his new wife made for him.
“It’s funny because I took some heat coming here my first year. Some of the older guys thought it was funny, like my suits were pretty tight-fitting and skinny ties,” he says. “There’s a lot of younger guys now, and more than half the team wears tailored suits.”
And though hockey players seem to be known more for missing teeth than razor-sharp style, the Rangers are the exception.
In 2008, the team’s on-and-off (now on again) pugilist, Sean Avery, made waves when he landed an internship at Vogue.
Lundqvist frequents Fashion Week and, despite being one of the
NHL’s top goalies, looks like he might be more suited to the catwalk than the ice.
“It’s not just me and Sean. It’s fun that a lot of the guys love fashion now,” says Lundqvist, who was photographed, along with some of his teammates, at downtown sports bar the Fulton.
“When you see Henrik dressed like that, you have to bring your A-game,” quips 27-year-old defenseman Dan Girardi.
“We all know Henrik is the best-dressed, and he takes pride in that.”
And if Lundqvist has raised the bar off the ice, he refuses to say if the Broadway Blueshirts are the most fashionable franchise in the NHL.
His teammate Brandon Prust isn’t so coy when asked if his team rules in the style department.
“I would say so. I think we’re just getting better and better. Everybody’s style keeps increasing,” says Prust, who arrived in the Big Apple in 2009 from Calgary.
“When I came to New York, I really got into fashion, and I kind of changed my own style. It’s almost like a competition, too. You want to be better-dressed than the next guy,” says the 27-year-old West Village resident.
The team’s newest superstar, Brad Richards, 31, has experienced the same culture shock since signing a $60 million contract with the Rangers this summer.
“People here put a lot more work into how they dress,” says the former Dallas Star.
“As a whole team, I was surprised that everyone was so well turned-out. Unlike other cities, you’re meeting people who work in fashion and are exposed to designers,” says Richards, who adds that he doesn’t try to copy anyone, especially the team’s most flamboyant fashionisto.
“The aura of Sean [Avery] pushing people in what they wear isn’t really true. He’ll toy with certain things that are a little off the wall. Everybody knows he has his own style, and everyone respects that,” adds the TriBeCa resident.
But if the team looks like a walking GQ spread, the players are not precious when it comes to game time — a side fans will see Wednesday at 10 p.m. when HBO’s docuseries “24/7 Flyers/Rangers: Road to the NHL Winter Classic” debuts.
The raw, fly-on-the-wall show chronicles the lead-up to the Jan. 2 game, when the Rangers will take on the Philadelphia Flyers at Philly’s Citizens Bank Park for this year’s outdoor Winter Classic.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/fashion/power_players_n7NmRqR2objtlBEHjEDPvI#ixzz1gICsxLYs
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