Red Wings free agent signing Mathias Brome checked in with HockeyNews.se’s Mattias Persson this morning, discussing his initial impressions from the Wings’ training camp. What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:
Brome’s successful start at the NHL camp: “Feeling fit and fresh”
Mathias Brome has started the Detroit Red Wings’ training camp in the best way, and already in the first game he scored two goals.
Afterwards, he was praised by coach Jeff Blashill.
Now the forward talks about his lonely Christmas celebration, the first days at camp and how he sees his chances of earning a spot in Detroit.
“As long as I go down there and do my best, I can walk away with my head held high,” he says to HockeyNews.se.
On December 21, Mathias Brome left Orebro and Sweden to fly over and prepare for an NHL training camp. A solitary Christmas celebration in quarantine in a hotel room, and 15 days later, he’s now engaged in his first days at the Detroit Red Wings’ training camp.
“It’s been fun and educational and very different compared to Sweden. There’s a lot to take in, but it’s fun to be here and try to take a spot. I will do my best every day,” says Brome, who was quarantined for seven days before he could attend camp:
“I was just hanging out in the hotel room because the only thing we had to do was buy food. I didn’t do much, it was special because it was my first Christmas where I was alone. I thought it would take longer than it did, but the days flew by pretty fast, actually. I had time to check out a lot on YouTube series and so on,” he says.
What was it like to celebrate Christmas alone?
“It’s clear that it was different, but fortunately you can use FaceTime so that you could join and celebrate Christmas even though I wasn’t at home.”
Was there any Christmas food?
“No, not really. No Christmas food at all. I ate ordinary food, there was nothing Christmas at all.”
For Mathias Brome, the camp has started in the best way. In the first internal game, which was played on Tuesday, he scored his first goal in the game that ended 2-2 after regulation time. In the penalty shootout, he then scored another marker.
“It’s felt good for myself, actually. I feel refreshed and fresh and feel that I am in shape, so I shouldn’t complain,” he says.
After the internal scrimmage, he was praised by coach Jeff Blashil.
“He continues to do a very good job. He has had a positive impact and works very hard. He’s a little faster than I thought,” said Jeff Blashill to the NHL’s website.
“He seems to be smart, he has been good on the power play when he got the chance and he’s good in 5-vs.-5. We hope he’s a guy who can play on a top line and give us more depth.”
In addition to the former Orebro forward, two other Swedes are taking part in Detroit’s camp, but Brome did not know the Swedish duo before.
“No, not really. There are Gustav Lindstrom, Patrick Nemeth and Frans Nielsen (Danish) who speak Swedish, so it’s nice to have someone to buzz with.”
How do you assess your chances of taking a spot in the NHL?
“Oh, I don’t know. It’s very difficult to say. I just try to go down to the rink and do my best every day so I can see how far it goes. I’ve said it before, but I’m going to do everything I can to get a job in Detroit, then what it means or how long it takes to get that job, it remains to be seen if my job is enough. As long as I go down there and do my best, I can walk away with my head held high. Then there is a lot that needs to be done by me to succeed in taking a spot as well, but I will do everything I can in any case.”
