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New York. Well, it would be very difficult to return to the NHL after two full seasons in the stands.
But if there’s anyone who’s going to pull it off, it’s Gabriel Landskog – one of the most determined Swedish lions and determined to play in the best league in the world.
When editor Gladyer woke me up on Tuesday morning—well, it was morning the NHL had a weird circadian rhythm through the Stanley Cup playoffs…—and announced that Gabriel Landeskog would also miss next season due to new knee surgery, oh my, my spontaneous reaction was grief.
“Well, the last time we saw Gabriel on NHL ice was when he lifted the Stanley Cup on that delightful evening in Tampa last summer,” was the grim first thought.
But then I watched his press conference from his hotel room in Chicago — the city where the new surgery is taking place on Wednesday morning — and remembered who we were talking about.
Unique set
The 30-year-old Stockholmer has made it clear that he has no intention of retiring and not only aims to continue playing, but intends to make as big of a difference as before once he returns.
That’s what everyone in the same situation might imagine, but then again: It’s Gabriel Landeskoog we’re talking about here – a unique combination of willpower, determination, and seriousness.
I always felt that already in the glow of Peter Forsberg’s posters on the wall of the boy’s room at home in Älvsjö he had just decided that one day he would be an NHL star and so he became. Then he was determined that, in the obvious role of captain, he would one day lead the Colorado Avalanche to another Stanley Cup victory – and last year he also realized that dream.
No more spring chicken
Of course, this does not mean that the road ahead will be a walk in the park. Captain Landy was no longer a spring chicken and to settle back into a league where the pace picks up more and more each season and where those who don’t keep up are left relentlessly in the ditch, it will take titanic efforts after a two-year absence.
But we are talking about Gabriel Landskog. He can handle it.
