Red Wings prospect Jonatan Berggren has battled through back and shoulder issues over the past two seasons, having surgery to repair his shoulder last year. This morning, Berggren engages in an interview with Hockeysverige.se’s Mans Karlsson, discussing his injury-riddled past, his healthier present and his goals for the future. What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:
“The injuries will help me get better in the long run”
After two seasons of injury hell, the Skelleftea prospect is ready to take the SHL by storm.It’s only this year that Jonatan Berggren makes the senior team, but it feels that he hasn’t been with us for any real length of time. His career so far has been defined by injuries as much as his fine play in the Skelleftea jersey. But Berggren himself is convinced that the hell he’s gone through will help him in the long run. This is an interview about the two difficult injuries–but it’s just as much an interview about positivity and the longing to play an entire season.
During the 2018-2019 season, Jonatan Berggren, newly 18 years old, wanted to establish himself in the SHL. After posting points and having a playhouse of a time at the junior level, he was predicted to be the next Skelleftea talent to break through the SHL. But in November, the promising rookie’s season was over. A stress fracture in the back meant that he missed the World Junior Championship and almost the entire SHL season.
He only played in 16 games.
Now we rewind the tape back to the 2019-2020 season. Jonatan Berggren fought back, joined the World Junior Championship team, scored 4 goals in 7 games and had a small breakthrough with 12 points in 24 games in the SHL. A good result for a junior player.
But in January, his season ended. This time it was a shoulder injury that forced him to have surgery and a rehab period of six months.
What was not allowed to happen happened again.
“The first few days it was pitch black”Jonatan Berggren has already experienced injury problems that many don’t have to go through during an entire career.
“If you look at something positively in terms of the injuries that came last season, it was that I didn’t miss as much time as I should have, considering the coronavirus. The coronavirus ‘saved’ a bit, if you can say so,” says Berggren to hockeysverige.se, and he continues:
“Luckily I had time to play in the World Junior Championship, which was my big goal for the season, and I did well there. Of course it was disappointing that I injured myself again, but it wasn’t like the first injury I had. Then, my entire season was ruined. Last season, I think I can still be very happy with it.”
The 20-year-old passing genius is clearly aware, however, that he’s experienced a lead-heavy blow when his shoulder injury came, and he realized that last season ended prematurely.
“The first few days it felt pitch black. But I think that I had a small advantage of going through a long rehab once before. I knew roughly what was going to happen, and most of all, I knew that things were going to get better. Everything will heal in the end. I also knew how much I was building up myself the first time I injured myself. Then I showed that I could come back stronger and faster than ever, and that was a boost for me to know I could do the same thing this time.”
It’s a positive attitude that permeates the Detroit-drafted talent. Despite two massive injuries, he’s tried to keep his spirits up–and the fact is that the giant talent even believes that the injury problems will help his career in the long run.“I know that my physique is the part that I’ve needed to improve the most, and I’ve been able to build upon it when I was injured. I’ve build on a good physique and probably wouldn’t have taken my shape as seriously as I do now, if it weren’t for the injuries. I know what it takes for my body to be whole, so, to be honest, I think that the injuries have helped me get better in the long run. They’ve helped me more than they’ve harmed me.”
His rehab wasn’t as horrible as it could have been–with many thanks to a teammate who also saw his season ruined by a shoulder injury.
“It actually went faster than I expected in terms of my return, and I actually ahd fun during the rehabilitation as well. I had (Jacob) Olofsson with me during the whole experience, and we battled together. We have trained a lot and gone through everything together. It was really nice to have him with me, and to go through this with someone who was going through the same thing as me.”
When Jonatan Berggren entered last season, he didn’t know what to expect from himself. He hadn’t had the chance to prove himself or others that he was at the SHL’s level.
Now the situation is completely different.
“I personally think that I showed that I can do my thing at the SHL level. last summer, people wondered whether, ‘Can he do the same things he did at the J20 level in the SHL?’ and so on, but I showed that I have the game. This season, the most important thing is that I stay injury-free, and the rest will resolve itself. It’s been found. Now I’m incredibly determined to play a whole season, help the team and show that I can play good ice hockey.”One can safely say that the 20-year-old has started in the best way. He was one of the ice-time giants when Skelleftea defeated Leksand 5-4 in overtime during the premiere. He scored the first goal of the entire SHL season and the Enkoping-educated forward also posted an assist.
“I’m basically a scorer, so it’s nice to be able to chip in the puck there. Especially at the beginning of the season, so your self-confidence gets an extra boost. It was damn fun to get started, too, after an incredibly long preseason.”
Many people believe that Skelleftea can challenge for the absolute top, thanks in part to Jonatan Berggren and the other young stars on the rise. Skelleftea AIK is no longer dependent on the older stars Joakim Lindstrom and Oscar Moller.
“I agree with that. We have four lines where everyone can produce and a strong playing system that everyone follows on defense. It feels like everyone can trust everyone else, and that we have a great mix of different types of players and ages on the team, and I think it looks like all the younger players have grown when compared to last season.”
“We have a slightly new coaching staff (Andreas Falk replaced Tommy Samuelsson), but most of our game is the same. We actually play the same way that Skelleftea has always done since they came up to the SHL, with slightly small details that are different. So everyone is safe in their system.”
In addition to hoping to play an entire season, without problems in his back, shoulders, or anything else, Berggren dreams of one thing:
“We always go for gold in Skelleftea. It’s a long way away, but hopefully we can get better and better during the season, and then we will have our very best in the last game. It is the last game that we must win. That’s when you can win gold.
Tonight, Orebro is waiting away from home against Skelleftea.
