Expressen’s Niklas A. Svensson spoke with former Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg about purchasing a trotting horse as a post-career hobby, and eventually Svensson and Zetterberg get down to chatting about Zetterberg’s post-career life.
What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:
Star’s bet–has bought a trotting horse
Former ice hockey star Henrik Zetterberg, 39, re-enters the trotting sport.
“Zata,” who recently moved back home to Sweden, has bought a one-year-old trotting horse from coach Robert Bergh.
“It fit well. Now we can go to the farm and greet the horse now and then,” says Henrik Zetterberg.
Henrik Zetterberg, who ended his ice hockey career in the NHL one year ago, has moved back home to Sweden.
Now, he chooses to enter the sport of trotting again.
The Detroit legend has previously owned horses with trotting coach Robert Bergh, who has found a new talent for “Zata.”
Namely, one-year-old talent Louis, who Zetterberg bought.
How good can that horse be?
“He (Robert Bergh) is very positive until next year at least, when he starts running. He has good boarding so the conditions are good. Then you never know. Above all, it feels good to have a horse with Robban again. After Aleksei we took a little break, and I told Robban that I will wait until I move home to Sweden, so I will be able to look at the horse,” says Zetterberg.
Robban and I have been in contact a bit, and then it was a little bit strange that we only live 45-50 minutes apart again,” he says, and laughs. “So it fit well. Now we can go up to the farm and greet the horse now and then.”
How did your real interest arise?
“I grew up with the ‘V65’ as it was called at the time. Both my dad and my grandfather played every Saturday. So I grew up with trotting. Then I was at ‘Bergharn’ pretty much and greeted him. The trotting interest has been all in the family. It’s a wonderful sport. I was at the Sundsvall Open Trot this weekend, it was a lovely folk party there.
Mats Sundin, Peter Forsberg and the Sedin brothers are all examples of some former ice hockey stars who own trotting horses.
Henrik Zetterberg, just like many others, believes that it is the “kick” you get when your own horse starts that makes it so easy to get “bitten” by the trot.
“It’s difficult to describe if you don’t have a starting horse yourself. It’s something special. I think that’s why many are very interested. But I don’t know why trotting and hockey go so well together, but it does. It’s a common interest that we have together,” he says.
Are you planning to buy even more horses now that you don’t have ice hockey to focus on?
“Yes, we’ll see. We decided we would start like this now, and then I don’t think it will be impossible for it to expand. We’ll start with this and we’ll see if we can find some starting horses as well. Robban has his eyes open.
Purchased a farm in Angelholm: “Feels Good”
After 15 years in Detroit, Henrik Zetterberg and his wife Emma decided to move back to Sweden.
Just recently, the couple moved with their son Love into their new luxury estate outside Angelholm.
“We’ve been down here in Skane for many summers. We moved in a week ago, so it feels good. Our son Love goes to kindergarten, and we start getting into everyday life after the summer,” says Henrik Zetterberg.
How does it feel to move home?
“It feels good. It was a good choice to stay one year in Detroit after the career so you had to slow things down a bit. I was still involved with the team and able to participate in training. Then we took the step of moving home here now, and now the containers of stuff have arrived, so it feels good to be at home again.”
“It has been a wonderful chapter to play over there, but now I feel satisfied and finished with that part. It feels great to just be able to relax now.”
You don’t miss the hockey?
“I miss the guys and that part of it. But I have no problem sitting and watching a hockey game, I don’t feel bad abstaining from not being on the ice. I think it’s pretty nice to see them wearing out there,” he says, laughing.
