When you put together a bunch of international journalists in order to allow them to cover an international hockey tournament, you, the internet viewer, occasionally find that the conglomerate of international journalists and an international hockey event yields interviews that you never thought would happen.
As it turns out, Red Wings forward and Team Sweden forward Theodor Niederbach has a connection to Czechia, and, as it turns out, Hokej.cz’s Daniel Kratky asked Niederbach about said connection over the course of an interview that was published on Monday night, in Czech.
What follows is good stuff, roughly translated from Czech:
His brother tried out in Pardubice, but the Swede Niederbach dreams of Detroit
Edmonton, from our reporter. The Swedish juniors are, as always, favorites to win the World Junior Championship. The name of their skilled center, Theodor Niederbach, also figures on the team. But the young Swede also has a minor connection with Czechia…
What kind?
His brother, Ludwig, who is seven years older, once had a try-out with Pardubice years ago. Maybe die-hard fans remember. Before the 2015-2016 season, there were numerous battles for contracts with Dynamo. Goaltender Brandon Maxwell earned a spot as a try-out at the time.
But Ludwig Niederbach also battled for a spot on the team that coach Milos Riha, Jr. coached. He was a lanky Swede who skated well but had some discipline issues. After all, it’s said that during the initial weeks of preparation in Pardubice, gloves and fists flew through the air during practice sessions.
In the end, Ludvig didn’t earn a contract, even though he played in two games for Dynamo. His steps were directed overseas, from where he came, and he returned to Sweden, where he actually plays in the third-highest league there.
In Edmonton, at the WJC, Theodor Niederbach wears the Tre Kronor jersey, and he explains how important his older brother Ludwig has been for his career.
“He’s my big role model, he influenced me a lot. I looked up to him a lot when I was growing up. He’s a hugely important part of my life and my hockey career,” recounts Theodor Niederbach, adding, “Ludwig has been playing at home in Sweden for several years now, and I would say that he’s doing quite well.”
Theodor Niederbach, a native of the village of Bjasta in eastern Sweden, was selected by the famous Steve Yzerman in the second round of the 2020 NHL draft, 51st overall, and thanks to that the Swedish blond is dreaming of wearing a Detroit jersey. These ideas were certainly supported when he attended the development camp of the Red Wings.
“When you see the locker rooms, the ice and the gyms that are there, you think that one day you would like to work there full-time,” describes the 20-year-old Swedish prospect. However, there are many Red Wings prospects in Rogers Place–not to mention Canadian goaltender Sebastian Cossa and defenseman Donovan Sebrango, American forwards Red Savage and Carter Mazur, and the Swedish duo of Simon Edvinsson and William Wallinder.
Will they make some time to say, “Hello” during the tournament? Well, maybe not. At least according to what Niederbach says.
“I’ve got Simon and William on the team, so I’m chatting with them. And, to be honest, I don’t even follow the other teams that much, so I honestly don’t think about it,” he says about his potential future teammates.
But Niederbach still has time for his overseas chapter. He will spend at least the next year in Sweden, where he’d like increase his skating speed, become stronger, and generally grow into an elite player in the SHL.
The young Swede even changed his place of employment in the top league in Sweden for the new season. From Frolunda, with whom he played well in Mlada Boleslav (he even scored a goal there), the 20-year-old, right-handed center moved to Rogle, where the Red Wings placed Moritz Seider some time ago, and it was from there that they took the Austrian Marco Kasper in this year’s draft.
“I wanted to try something new. And I think this is a good opportunity to play for Rogle. I know this is a team that wants to win. And the younger players get a lot of time there, too, so I believe it will help my development, too. I’m happy that I get the chance to play there,” says Niederbach, who owes being a Swedish player from Gothenburg for many things. “But I felt that I wanted to try something new,” he says, candidly.
Niederbach’s entry into the WJC in Edmonton, however, didn’t go well. In his first game against the Swiss, he seemed to take his older brother’s reputation. In the end, he took two minor penalties and took a major penalty and a game misconduct for a check.
“It certainly wasn’t like I wanted to hit someone on purpose. It was a rather unfortunate accident. Maybe I was a little over-motivated,” he explains. And in the following game, he converted his healthy motivation into hockey beauty.
On his line with Oskar Olausson and Daniel Torgersson he made a good day of the Austrians, with Niederbach finally able to help Torgersson score a goal.
But the entire hockey public was also met with sad news during the championship, because one of the biggest legends of Swedish hockey, Borje Salming, announced that he is suffering from ALS. And the Tre Kronor juniors decided to show their support with special #21 stickers on their sticks.
“We wanted to honor him a little because it was very bad news that we heard. We wanted to honor one of the best hockey players in the history of Sweden. I think that was a pretty nice gesture,” says the 20-year-old center, who can also play on the wing.
Even for the Swedish legend, Niederbach, et. al., would like to bring gold medals to Northern Europe.
