Former Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg spoke with Aftonbladet’s Daniel Soderback this morning, mostly discussing his interest in the Swedish horse sport of trotting, but there are enough tidbits regarding Zetterberg’s post-hockey life to keep things interesting.
What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:
Zetterberg: Used to be really nervous
Former NHL star and Tre Kronor star on: Being at home in Sweden; Trotting interest; New home purchase
Henrik Zetterberg, 38, is back home on Swedish soil. Now he chooses to take up his great trotting interest again.
To Trav365, the former Detroit and Tre Kronor star tells about his feelings regarding being back in Sweden, the trotting interest and the special feeling of having his own starting horse.
“I usually get really nervous, it’s an incredible kick,” he says.
He played 1,082 games in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings and won a Stanley Cup title. With the Tre Kronor, there was an Olympic and World Championship gold, among other things.
In September, 2018, Henrik Zetterberg announced that his career as a player was over.
“I’ve been here for a while, and now that the decision is made, it still feels a little bit strange. It hasn’t sunk in that I won’t play hockey any more,” he told Sportbladet then.
“Would take a little break”
Now, he, his wife Emma and son have moved back to Sweden in Angelholm.
Then Henrik Zetterberg took the opportunity to resume his old hobby: trotting and self-owned horses.
He bought one-year-old horse Louis, trained by Robert Bergh.
“It’s interesting, I think. I haven’t had a trotting horse since ‘Alexey’ (who made his last start in the V75 in September 2011). After that, we decided that we would take a little break because I spent most of the year in the U.S., and would pick it up when I got home. “Bergharn” heard it and then it went pretty fast. It’s such an interesting pedigree,” says Henrik Zetterberg to Trav365.
“He’s straight and honest”
Since his time as a player with Timra, Henrik Zetterberg has been in contact with Robert Bergh, since he had his base at Berg’s stable and among other things owned trotting horses ‘Aleksej’ and ‘Sex in the City’ which trained with Bergh.
“When I played in Timra, it was easy to come to his farm as it was close. The entire Timra team was there once and rode horses. The door is always open there. It’s fun that we’re only 50 minutes away from each other now, so it’s fitting,” says Zata, who praises the coach:
“Now I haven’t had a horse with anyone else, but I think that [Bergh] is a lovely person to have a horse with. He’s straight and gives honest answers and is obviously good at what he does. He has a good feeling about getting to the horses and has good solutions to problems.”
“Haven’t gotten the huge panic”
After 16 years in Detroit in the U.S., ice hockey is noticeably absent, and he’s had much to face before moving home to Sweden again.
“It feels good to be home. We stayed in Detroit all last season, so it took a little while to be prepared after 16 years over there,” he says, and continues:
“What you miss with ice hockey is very personal. I haven’t had a huge panic yet and I don’t think I’ll get it, either. The ice hockey is a completed chapter.”
“I will be going to Detroit again in September and we haven’t really decided what will happen in the future, if I’m to be involved. Right now it’s pretty nice to get away from that little neighbor and focus on getting into the system here at home. You get to spend time with family and friends and don’t have to have any limits. There’s been an incredible amount of moving, people have been relaxing and enjoying the summer and trying to get into routines with our son in daycare, among other things.”
“An incredible kick”
He has more or less grown up with trotting, admitting that he didn’t own a horse.
“I’ve been interested for a very long time, my dad and my grandfather liked trotting and played V65 and V75, so it has always been a big part of our Saturdays. I have missed it a little bit and now I have more time to be able to follow it in a completely different way, it was difficult to catch up with it before.”
You won’t saddle up completely and earn a license?
“Ha ha, no then, there are others who are better at it than me.”
Can you describe the feeling of having a starting horse?
“It’s a special feeling, an incredible kick when you have a starting horse. It’s not just the race, but everything around it. Everyone who has a horse probably knows the same thing. Above all, it’s fun to be part of the journey again and be part of the journey when it starts. What happens after that, you don’t know, but there’s so much that comes into play.”
“Losing an incredible job”
This past weekend, Henrik Zetterberg was at home when he followed the V75 and Sundsvall Open Trot at Bergsaker.
“There are fun people, it’s fun to be on the stable hill and mingle with your neighbors, that’s part of it. I was at the Sundsvall Open Trot for the very first time in a long time, and you notice again what a fun sport it is. There are incredibly knowledgeable people and it’s a great operation to make everything work every day, it’s an incredible amount of work that’s put in so that we normally get the chance to participate.”
Finally, it’s been a few years ago now, but how are you getting started with one of your horses?
“I usually get really nervous, I didn’t think that I would. But it doesn’t matter when it’s
Finally, it was a few years ago now, but how are you getting started with one of your horses?
“I usually get really nervous, I didn’t think I would. But it doesn’t matter what it is when it’s a starter, it can be a regular qualifying race or a big one, you get nervous, it’s a wonderful feeling, ha ha.
Didn’t you already post this article a few weeks ago? Or something extremely similar?