He is 60 years old but has not even tasted the word pension.
For Aftonbladet, Niklas Wickegaard talks about the future on TV4, the new happiness in love after a divorce, and the shock when Borre Salming died and started crying on live air.
-For me, it was a piece of me and ice hockey that died when that type of person disappeared.
Niklas Wikgaard is a former ice hockey coach who quickly began commentating his beloved sport on television throughout his time as a coach.
Today this outspoken man turns 60 years old and is being celebrated in an undisclosed location.
-I did something big when I turned 50, so I thought now you can hang yourself. But my partner surprised me so now we are going abroad. Apparently it’s raining a lot where we’re going and there won’t be much wine, so it sounds like a good celebration of his 60th birthday, Wikegård says with familiar sarcasm.
He commentates ice hockey on TV4 and has a contract until he turns 63.
-I have no plans to resign. I just think it gets funnier and funnier. There will be new players, new leaders and new teammates, like Joel Lundqvist this year. Breaking down why HV 71 plays well or Luleå plays poorly, these are pure games you make.
“He likes to be tackled.”
Niklas Wickegaard is known to be frank and outspoken, but he wants to improve his image.
– It is an exaggeration to say exactly what I think, you have to have a balance. I have no problem voicing my opinion, especially now that I’m 60 years old. Now I take things less seriously. If people think I’ve quit cycling completely, that’s fine. I like to be confronted.
Have you regretted something you thought or said?
– Not real. I never insulted anyone so audaciously, on the other hand, I felt very strong and definitely was able to express myself in a different way, as a leader and a player. But I did not regret the soul itself.
1/3Photo: Thomas Johansson/Shipstead
“Come as a shocker”
When ice hockey icon Borje Salming died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Niklas Vikgaard sat down and commentated on an ice hockey game. He was so shocked by the death sentence that he began crying on live television.
– Things went incredibly fast, and it came as a shock when I stood there in the booth at Leksand. You could hear the mumbling in the stands. Those of us who worked on the match probably heard it later than most. Then they wanted me to be on TV and commentate on it, which was difficult. For me, it was a piece of me and hockey that died when that type of person disappeared.
Secretly, Niklas Wickgaard has three adult daughters with his ex-wife Helena. The couple separated in 2016. Now he has met love again in 54-year-old Marie Berglund.
-It is amazing and exciting to meet love again. I am lucky. Some people search their whole life without meeting someone, and I was lucky enough to meet one person first and then another. Marie is a girl from Sundsvall and we have a French bulldog named Bourret, after Bourret Salming. He has the same attitude.
