"Now we can see light in the tunnel"
Ice Hockey: He turned 36 in March and has just begun to charge for his 13th season in the world's toughest hockey league. In the gold-lined contract with the Rangers remains three years - and Henrik Lundqvist starting to look towards the inevitable end of his career. - Now you see the light in the tunnel in a different way, he says.
Henrik Lundqvist sits down on a wooden table in the sun peeks over the curious faces who gathered in front of him.
- Have you trained hard? Have you had fun? Have you bathed?
All questions are met with a unison "yeah" from the children that are in place for the annual hockey school in Öckerö.
- We've been driving this for 14 years now and this is the tenth year this out. I am really pleased how we got it together. There are many good instructors who have come back year after year and that is what needs to this school to work. Some of them have been with us since the beginning and I am incredibly grateful for, says Lundqvist.
He and his brother Joel's leading figures in the project, which attracts about 500 hockey mad children and adolescents each year, and made in collaboration with Archipelago SK and Frölunda.
We sit down on a sofa inside the rink. Lundqvist missed the World Cup in May because of a knee injury that forced him to rest and rehab. Now he says he will be fully restored.
- Oh, yeah, and it feels good to not have any flaws. I am excited about the run-up. There is little time left, but it is now you have to start scaling up technology and training and everything.
Will there be tougher over the years to reload for a new, long season?
- Every year is a little different, leaving each season with different emotions. This year felt the first half cannon, and then trejdade we removed many of the team and it was much damage so ... it was a difficult to analyze the season. Usually it takes a few months before you feel the real urge. Now it starts to get a little sneaky. And in August, begins many buddies go back to work, then it is time to start focusing on his own.
New York Rangers new strategy means that many young players have ommit to the club, who hope for success in the longer term. This means that Henrik Lundqvist role as the veteran of the team will be even more clear.
- It means I'm getting old, haha. But it is much hinges on how these young guys are taking the next step. For years we have had a pretty full team and it has been difficult for the young to enter. Now there are places to take, and it depends a bit on how it goes in the camp for many.
Do you feel old?
- Both yes and no. I'm 36 and many of the team is 22, 23 years. It is clear that there is a difference. But I still think it's fun to come to the rink and train and compete, play games. So that way I do not feel old.
Are you as mentally focused today as 15 years ago?
- Yes I think so. I want it just as much now as when I was younger. Maybe even more, because now you see the light in the tunnel in a different way. I realize that there is a limited time and then I want to do the most I can from it.
You have three years left on the contract - do you have any idea what happens next?
- Somewhere far away, there maybe a thought about running some years. But it depends on how the body is, if you can perform at the level required. It's up to me to bevisa.Är not at that level, it is perhaps time to do something else, but right now I feel like I'm there. The first half of last year was better than in many years.
In Gothenburg there are many who hope that the brothers Lundqvist will one day be reunited in Frölunda. Asked about Henry sees himself as a potential returnees he muses for a while.
- It is very difficult to answer. Now I have to run out this contract, and my goal is to make it. I have never closed any doors to anything, but right now I enjoy incredibly well in New York and want to focus on it. And we must see what my brother does too ...
Thank you to Maria Hilmersson for sending me this article!
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