“Up Close” is an All Habs Hockey Magazine feature that gives readers a back-stage pass to athletes, management and sports personalities via our exclusive interviews. Previous guests have included HNIC’s Steve Porter, NASCAR’s Andrew Ranger, Habs prospect Mark MacMillan, Montreal’s Annakin Slayd, Canadiens’ assistant captain Josh Gorges , Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Ken Dryden , legendary goalie coach Francois Allaire , sports apparel entrepreneur Jason Portnoy and media personality Dahlia Kurtz. This week, our newest All Habs team member, Malin Dunfors caught up with Mats Naslund, Peter Popovic and Jacob de la Rose.
Il etait une fois les boys Suédois/The Swedish connection
by Malin Dunfors, Digital Journalist, All Habs Hockey Magazine
MONTREAL, QC — With all due respect to Andreas Engqvist and Douglas Murray, it’s been a while since the Montréal Canadiens last had an impactful Swede on their roster. But this Fall, it might be time for another Viking to make his Habs debut.
As the 19-year-old Swedish centre Jacob de la Rose prepares to head over to Montréal, we look back at some of the Canadiens’ former blue-and-yellow players and how they came to define the team.
Number 26, numéro vingt six
First out is the man who needs no introduction.
Mats Näslund joined the Canadiens in 1982, playing for eight consecutive seasons. The 5′ 7″-tall offensive left winger helped secure the club’s 23rd Stanley Cup title in 1986.
“Montréal Canadiens has a tradition of small players, and I showed that I wasn’t a coward,” he says.
Explosive but with manners, Näslund also became known for being a gentleman on the ice.
“With my way of playing, you’re not supposed to get a lot of penalties,” he states. “I might have had an exceptional year where I was only in the penalty box four or five times.”
The fans nicknamed him, “Le Petit Viking.”
He says the team and him found each very quickly, and that he thrived – from the first to the last moment.
“I’m incredibly proud over having played for the Canadiens. It’s definitely the biggest team, much bigger than the Toronto Maple Leafs.”
He acknowledges that there’s a whole different ballgame playing for the Canadiens, compared to playing in Tampa or Los Angeles where no one really cares.
But the pressure didn’t get to the cool Viking.
“Everything [around hockey] has gotten more hysterical,” Näslund says.
Truth be told though, things were a bit hysterical in ’86 too.
Näslund won’t ever forget the parade. “One million people out on the streets,” he says.
The fact that Näslund won the Stanley Cup, as a lone European on a Canadian team, is one of the reasons why he has been called one of the five greatest Swedish players NHL players of all time.
As the Canadiens’ first European player, Näslund says he probably broke some kind of barrier.
But he’s quick to name another Swede, Kjell Dahlin, part of Stanley Cup-winning team. “He had a really good first year,” says Näslund of the former right wing, who set a club rookie goals record his first season.
Then, along came more Swedes.
Not Pope but “Poppe”
“It wasn’t that I hesitated or dilly-dallied,” Popovic explains. Things simply took time. As soon as the contract hit the table, he headed to Canada.
To play on North American ice proved different in other ways than just the smaller rink size.
“There were more games, more travel, and time differences between the places we played at,” Popovic says. “Naturally, it’s going differ from person to person how long it takes to adjust but for me it took two years.”
He didn’t have to change his game. But, “they shape you over there. You’re given a role,” he says. “Back in Sweden, you handle a little bit of everything on the ice but here you become one of two things – either an offensive, producing player or a defensive one.”
Now the assistant coach for Tre Kronor, the Swedish national team, Popovic sees a lot of young players making the same trip overseas.
“It’s about fulfilling dreams and you don’t want to hinder those,” he says. Although Sweden can’t shrink its rink size to make the transition to NHL smoother, Popovic offers budding NHL players one piece of advice: “Don’t leave too early.”
He stresses the value of maturing as a player and getting some solid experience on home ice, whether that means representing Tre Kronor, playing at the world championships or dominating the Swedish league.
“Some players make it anyway, because they’re so skilled,” he says. “But then there are those players who head over there and nothing comes out of it.”
As for his own time with the Canadiens, playing in a town he proclaims “the Mecca of hockey,” there are only superlatives.
“Fantastic. Incredibly cool atmosphere during the games,” he says.
Does he miss anything about Montréal?
“Nah, that time has passed. I guess I’ve turned Swedish again,” laughs Popovic.
La vie en Rose
One player, whose NHL dream will soon take him to la belle province, is Jacob de la Rose.
He’s about to head out to a high school celebration. It’s a Friday afternoon and the beginning of summer, which means long, bright days and air filled with the scent of lilac and of great things to come.
De la Rose, who had planned to go to Canada already last year, ended up playing for his Leksand club one more season since he had a contract with them.
“I stayed in Leksand for another year and that worked out well. I’ve had a good year in Leksand but now it feels great to go and I haven’t had any regrets since I made that decision,” he says.
He will participate in two camps, the development camp in July and the rookie camp in September.
“Regardless of what happens, it’s a new adventure in life,” says de la Rose. “I’ve only played in Sweden before so I’m really looking forward to this. I’ll give it my all and then we’ll see how far it goes.”
Montréal, his potential new hometown, made a lasting impression when he came out for last year’s development camp.
“It’s a very nice city and people are really crazy about hockey. They breathe… live for hockey. It makes you even more motivated to succeed there and live this life,” says de la Rose.