‘I feel energetic and fresh.’ One game away from 1,000, Lightning’s Victor Hedman has plenty left in tank
October 3, 2009.
Just months after being selected second overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning at the NHL Draft in Montréal, Victor Hedman made his North American debut.
“At Philips Arena in Atlanta. I had Mattias Öhlund as my defensive partner. I had an assist on a Martin St-Louis goal, a backdoor tap-in, so that was quite special. Then I remember we lost 5–2 and that Tobias Enström was on the other side along with Zach Bogosian, whom I’ve played with a lot in recent years. Ilya Kovalchuk and Johan Hedberg were also there,” says Hedman, starting to laugh. “Now (Hedberg) is coaching in the SHL. That’s when you realize you’re getting a bit older yourself, when players you’ve played with and against become coaches.”
Hedman remembers a lot from his debut – except perhaps the most impressive fact: that he played 26:27 as an 18-year-old rookie.
“I forgot that I played so much” he says. “They probably wanted to see what I was capable of right away (laughs). But that’s something I’ll remember. It was a very special feeling to debut in the NHL – and it’s been a long time now.”
So long ago that the now 32-year-old star defenseman will soon play his 1,000th NHL game for the same club he started his career with. Just over 14 years after that memorable debut, he is expected to reach the four-digit mark on Tuesday night when Lightning host the Dallas Stars at Amalie Arena.
“Time flies when you’re having fun,” Victor Hedman says with a smile when he’s reminded of what lies ahead. “It’s unreal. It was not something I thought about when I played my first game at 18. You can always dream, but after the first few years, I really didn’t think it would turn out like this. To do it with the same club also means everything to me – it’s a very special feeling.”
Hockey players are traditionally quite superstitious. Therefore, planning for a milestone like the one Hedman faces can be quite tricky.
“It’s very difficult,” he says. “Family members and some of my closest friends are coming over, but the tickets are rebookable, let’s put it that way (laughs). You never know, you can never count your chickens before they hatch. But the plan is for loved ones to be there.”
Among the players that have been with “the Bolts” in their plus-30-year history, only Vincent Lecavalier and current captain Steven Stamkos have played more games for the club than Hedman. Having the opportunity to spend his entire career in Tampa would mean a lot to the Swede.
“It would be a dream come true,” he says. “Of course, it has to work out from both the club’s and player’s side, but now I’ve been here so long it’s hard to see myself in another jersey,” he says. “We’ve had a lot of player turnover due to the salary cap, but our core group has been together a long time and had a lot of success, especially the last four, five years. It would mean a lot to us.”
Do you in the core group (Stamkos, Kucherov, Vasilevskiy, and Point) talk about how special it would be to do this together, considering many of you have only played for Tampa?
“Yes, especially since we get along so well and have a lot of fun together,” he says. “It feels like we’re doing a good job integrating new players into the group, both on the ice and in the locker room. We’re incredibly comfortable and think this is the best place to play hockey. It’s a fantastic organization that has come a long way under Jeff Vinik’s ownership. It has given the club a good reputation throughout the league. Now we just want the salary cap to go up so we can keep all our core players and build on that.”
Victor Hedman has another year left on his contract with Lightning after this season. The fact that he still maintains a high level and has avoided serious injuries during his career suggests there could be many more seasons in the tank. But what happens when he’s done playing? Has Tampa become such an important place for Hedman, his wife Sanna, and sons Rio and Viggo that they would stay loyal to Florida after his career?
“I don’t think so. We’re very comfortable here, but it’s also far from home,” he says. “Both my wife and I are from Örnsköldsvik, we have our families there with siblings and the cousins to our children… So no, it’s very far and there’s a time difference. It’s a 20-hour flight to get here and vice versa when going home. The plan now is to move back home when it’s all done, for the kids to grow up in beautiful Örnsköldsvik and experience winter, the slush of autumn and spring. We just bought a new house there where we intend to settle down once everything is over, so plans have already started. Then we’ll see if that’s in three or six years. Time will tell.”
In the meantime, Victor Hedman continues to play great hockey. This season he’s averaging around a point per game and seems to have taken his game to a slightly higher level than last year. He also testifies that this summer was very important for him personally. After three long playoffs in a row, he got the chance for both recovery and build-up after the exit against Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round last spring.
“Overall, I feel energetic and fresh,” he says. “It’s been nice to have a real summer where I could train properly and not just focus on rehab. It’s been a grind, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything, as it’s been incredibly fun with three consecutive Stanley Cup finals. But it’s not just about pressing a button, it takes a toll on the body. Sometimes you need a reset button to get back to reality.’
Tampa Bay Lightning has had a mixed start to the season, with some impressive victories but also some flops.
“What’s been good is that our record is quite good considering we’ve been missing (Andrei) Vasilevskiy almost the entire season,” he says. “Jonas (Johansson) and Matt (Tomkins) have been incredibly good and given us a chance to win every game. On the negative side, we’ve [dug] some deep troughs at times, where we haven’t managed to claw our way out of deficits. There are things to work on, but the positive is that we’re in the game and that we’ve played quite well overall.”
Jonas Johansson has had plenty of playing time in Vasilevskiy’s absence and Hedman is impressed with what his countryman has achieved.
“I had never met or played against him before, but he’s been incredibly skilled,” Hedman says. “It’s an unusual situation for him to play every other day, but he’s done fantastically well and been professional in what he does. It’s fun to have another Swede on the team.”
You haven’t been spoiled with Swedish teammates in Tampa over the years…
“No, there was Mattias Öhlund in my first years. (Johan) Harju was here for a while and Niklas Persson for a while. Then there was a gap after Anton Strålman, so now it’s fun to have someone here full time, so to speak. Simon Ryfors was in Syracuse (the farm team in AHL) for two seasons.”
There will, however, be plenty of Swedes in Tampa on Tuesday. Victor Hedman’s 1,000th NHL game will be a special experience for everyone who has followed his career closely.
“It’s hard to imagine, really,” concludes the jubilant blueliner with a big smile.
This story appeared on hockeysverige.se this week and has been translated from Swedish to English.
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