William Nylander is in Stockholm for Toronto Maple Leafs games at Avicii Arena.
He’s arranged around 90 tickets for these gigs – and there’s one person in particular who the star striker is looking forward to inviting.
“My grandmother, she’s never seen me play a live NHL game before,” Nylander says.
The Toronto Maple Leafs barely had time to land in Arlanda before it was time for their first practice in Sweden.
The team quickly arrived at the hotel and then headed straight to Hovet to ski and snowboard and try to get rid of the long journey.
– It’s really cool to experience such an old, multi-story hockey arena, said head coach Sheldon Keefe, who is accustomed to more modern facilities in the NHL world, shortly after the ice session and looked around with wide eyes.
“it is a dream”
A bigger press pool around William Nylander, who is in top form right now – points on a 15-game winning streak during the season opener – and of course will be the subject of additional focus during the week at home in Stockholm.
– It was a dream to come here. I never thought I’d be able to play an NHL game on Swedish soil, so it’s very special, he says.
-I have a lot of family and friends who haven’t had the opportunity to see me play in the NHL before, so it will be fun for them to be able to come now.
1/2Photo: Jesper Zerman/BuildBerron
A few hours later, Sportbladet had a short chat of her own with “Lill-Nyllet”, when he donned a suit to go to the premiere of the new TV series based on the life of Börje Salming. Then he decided that there was one spectator in particular who was looking forward to playing ground ball in front of him.
– Grandma, she and Grandpa followed my career a lot, of course. But she had never been able to go to Canada before. Nylander says it will be fun to be able to see these matches now.
In all, he handed out about 90 tickets to loved ones during the two games at Avicii Arena — first against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, then against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.
-There’s plenty for family and friends, but Dad arranged for a few extra people too…
He will act as a guide in Stockholm
As a resident of Stockholm over the summer – William has his own apartment in the city – he is under pressure from his teammates to act as a guide in the Swedish capital in the coming days.
– Of course, we didn’t have time to do much yet, since we just landed, but I had time to recommend some restaurants for the guys to go to tonight.
Is there anything in particular you’d like to take the opportunity to showcase here in the city?
– No, we’re just going to have fun together and win some matches!
Father Michael Nylander took the subway home from Maple Leafs practice in Hoovett. Just taking the subway has been a topic of conversation around William recently, after a photo that attracted attention in Toronto.
– It’s getting a bit overdone actually. I’ve taken the subway to games many times before. And others on the team as well. I don’t know why it suddenly became so special.
Could it be the jacket?
– Haha, maybe so.