Patrick Berglund has been spotted walking the ice in Västerås and speculation about a return is starting to gather momentum.
Sporting director Patrick Zetterberg is opening the door if the 34-year-old is ready.
Everyone wants a hungry “Poulain” in the team, he tells Sportbladet.
Patrick Berglund has not played hockey since parting ways with Brinas after the 2020/21 season.
Nowadays he resides in Västerås and was recently spotted at the ABB Arena where he also went snowboarding. This has caused speculation about the 34-year-old’s return to gain momentum.
– Patrick told me he put the skates on the shelf. Now he’s here in the auditorium for a while, watching training and sipping coffee with the subject manager. Then he put his skates on on his own and did some driving, says Patrick Zetterberg, Västerås sports director.
Ready if Berglund wanted
So far, the conversation about a comeback isn’t particularly far-fetched, Zetterberg says.
– What it will be and if he’s keen to move on, we’ll see and it’s up to him. If he feels the urge and wants to give it a chance, we’ll obviously have a dialogue and look into it, he says.
So if he’s ready, you say leadership?
– Yes, why don’t we. He’s a guy from Västerås and we saw Hjalmarsson, for example, who came back a while ago. Zetterberg says it’s more about those players having to drive and the body’s response:
– I wouldn’t bully him if he had a burning desire to come back and was ready to play. It would be a great new signing. Everyone wants a hungry Bulan on the team.
Looking forward
Västerås, just like all the other clubs, is on the market and looking. Primarily, they are looking for a back to fill the void left by Patrick Parkkkonen who has chosen to leave. But Zetterberg would also like to have a striker / center in the team, which could be Berglund.
– Of course it would be a great piece of the puzzle. Then if we want to add on top of that, I’m not closing any doors at the moment. We need to power the machines, first of all with what we have. One player won’t change everything, but the moon will have an effect I think, just keep your fingers crossed.