Henrik Lundqvist and Pete DeBoer were among the more than 400 participants at the recent Global Hockey Forum to engage in a dialogue that will make the game better.
“To me, hockey is a community. We’re all here from different places around the world. You’re all here for a reason and that’s to grow the game of hockey and I’m very happy to be here,” Henrik Lundqvist said at the Global Hockey Forum opening event on Monday.
Two days later, NHL coach DeBoer, who was in Nice to give a presentation on the different pathways female coaches have in hockey, echoed the sentiment.
“I’m amazed that more than 70 countries are represented here. I had a bite to eat with someone from Iceland, and I had no idea they even had a program on the IIHF level, same with Luxemburg. It’s been eye-opening,” he said.
“Hearing their stories about the hurdles they have to overcome. It’s been educational.”
Players always talk about the special feeling of wearing the national team jersey, but international competition is equally important for the people behind the benches even if the national emblems are smaller on their clothes. DeBoer, for example, has always been ready to step behind Team Canada’s bench when Hockey Canada has called.
All in all, he’s coached in two IIHF World Junior World Championships and four IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships.
“I got involved with Hockey Canada 25 years ago and it was the best thing I ever did as a young coach. It was such a great learning experience and it’s now my turn to pay it forward like Dave King, Ken Hitchcock, Mike Babcock did when I was coming up as a young coach,” he says
“Wearing the Team Canada colors and to getting to coach Team Canada has been the pinnacle of my career right from the first time I got to do it at the under-18 level 25 years ago to being named on the coaching staff to the 2022 Olympics,” he said. DeBoer was an assistant coach at the 1996 Pacific Cup (now the Hlinka Gretzky Cup).
The hockey world owes a not-so-small deal of gratitude to the kindergarten teachers who took the Lundqvist twins, Joel and Henrik, to play hockey for the first time. And while it may have been Joel who raised Henrik’s hand when asked who wants to play goal, he only did it because they could read each other’s thoughts anyway.
Even though it was a tough go in the beginning – Henrik says he allowed thirty goals in his first two games – the boys were hooked from the get-go.
“At that time, you look around to find role models, and my first one was Peter Lindmark, who was the best at the time. There was something about his style and personality,” Lundqvist told the Global Hockey Forum audience on Monday.
Lindmark was the star goaltender of Team Sweden in 1987 when the Swedes upset the Soviet Union by winning the World Championship gold medals. The Lundqvists were just five then. Lindmark was also on the gold-medal winning team in 1991 and on Henrik Lundqvist’s 12th birthday, Lindmark was a two-time world champion, an Olympic bronze medalist, and a four-time Swedish league champion.
“The reason I played hockey was seeing the Swedish national team play in the World Championships,” Lundqvist said of the influence Tre Kronor had on him.
“I was proud to play in New York for fifteen years but there’s something very pure about the national team. I still remember being sixteen and getting to wear the Sweden jersey for the first time. It was a huge moment,” he says.
It was partly due to the international play that Lundqvist didn’t make the jump to the NHL until he was 23, and then as an Olympic – and Swedish – champion.
“As a kid, I had a couple of dreams. One was to play for Frölunda’s Swedish league team, another to play for Sweden, and it was important for me to get to do those things,” he said.
“The feeling when you represent your country is hard to compare to anything else. And, as they say, timing is everything. I wasn’t ready at age 20, but when I did move to New York as a 23-year-old, I was.”
Lundqvist encourages young players who do get the opportunity to play in international tournaments to go for it.
“Between the ages of 19 and 23, I learned a lot from those international experiences, and what [staying in Sweden] did to my development was amazing. If you have an opportunity to play [internationally], go for it and the rest will follow.
“Some of my best moments as an athlete came through those experiences.”
“To me, hockey is a community. We’re all here from different places around the world. You’re all here for a reason and that’s to grow the game of hockey and I’m very happy to be here,” Henrik Lundqvist said at the Global Hockey Forum opening event on Monday.
Two days later, NHL coach DeBoer, who was in Nice to give a presentation on the different pathways female coaches have in hockey, echoed the sentiment.
“I’m amazed that more than 70 countries are represented here. I had a bite to eat with someone from Iceland, and I had no idea they even had a program on the IIHF level, same with Luxemburg. It’s been eye-opening,” he said.
“Hearing their stories about the hurdles they have to overcome. It’s been educational.”
Players always talk about the special feeling of wearing the national team jersey, but international competition is equally important for the people behind the benches even if the national emblems are smaller on their clothes. DeBoer, for example, has always been ready to step behind Team Canada’s bench when Hockey Canada has called.
All in all, he’s coached in two IIHF World Junior World Championships and four IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships.
“I got involved with Hockey Canada 25 years ago and it was the best thing I ever did as a young coach. It was such a great learning experience and it’s now my turn to pay it forward like Dave King, Ken Hitchcock, Mike Babcock did when I was coming up as a young coach,” he says
“Wearing the Team Canada colors and to getting to coach Team Canada has been the pinnacle of my career right from the first time I got to do it at the under-18 level 25 years ago to being named on the coaching staff to the 2022 Olympics,” he said. DeBoer was an assistant coach at the 1996 Pacific Cup (now the Hlinka Gretzky Cup).
The hockey world owes a not-so-small deal of gratitude to the kindergarten teachers who took the Lundqvist twins, Joel and Henrik, to play hockey for the first time. And while it may have been Joel who raised Henrik’s hand when asked who wants to play goal, he only did it because they could read each other’s thoughts anyway.
Even though it was a tough go in the beginning – Henrik says he allowed thirty goals in his first two games – the boys were hooked from the get-go.
“At that time, you look around to find role models, and my first one was Peter Lindmark, who was the best at the time. There was something about his style and personality,” Lundqvist told the Global Hockey Forum audience on Monday.
Lindmark was the star goaltender of Team Sweden in 1987 when the Swedes upset the Soviet Union by winning the World Championship gold medals. The Lundqvists were just five then. Lindmark was also on the gold-medal winning team in 1991 and on Henrik Lundqvist’s 12th birthday, Lindmark was a two-time world champion, an Olympic bronze medalist, and a four-time Swedish league champion.
“The reason I played hockey was seeing the Swedish national team play in the World Championships,” Lundqvist said of the influence Tre Kronor had on him.
“I was proud to play in New York for fifteen years but there’s something very pure about the national team. I still remember being sixteen and getting to wear the Sweden jersey for the first time. It was a huge moment,” he says.
It was partly due to the international play that Lundqvist didn’t make the jump to the NHL until he was 23, and then as an Olympic – and Swedish – champion.
“As a kid, I had a couple of dreams. One was to play for Frölunda’s Swedish league team, another to play for Sweden, and it was important for me to get to do those things,” he said.
“The feeling when you represent your country is hard to compare to anything else. And, as they say, timing is everything. I wasn’t ready at age 20, but when I did move to New York as a 23-year-old, I was.”
Lundqvist encourages young players who do get the opportunity to play in international tournaments to go for it.
“Between the ages of 19 and 23, I learned a lot from those international experiences, and what [staying in Sweden] did to my development was amazing. If you have an opportunity to play [internationally], go for it and the rest will follow.
“Some of my best moments as an athlete came through those experiences.”