Staffan Kronwall lowered Eric Lindros – in training.
Before the next match, the Swede heard something really unexpected from the big star.
For the Swedish hockey audience, Staffan Kronwall is a popular expert on C More, where he mainly covers the SHL. But as a player, he was a fantastically skilled defender, who reaped great success in the KHL.
Lowered the star – in training
But at the beginning of his career, there were several seasons in North America, and during his first year in the league, in the Toronto Maple Leafs, he got to play with Eric Lindros himself. Lindros was one of North America’s most hyped players ever before he was drafted, and was extremely physical and skilled during his career. However, he had problems with injuries and several concussions.
It was therefore not very popular when Kronwall – during an internal match before the season – chose to put a real stopper on Lindros. The stars are protected in a different way in North America during training, compared to Sweden, and Kronwall was most pleased that he got a damn stopper there, but his teammates were not as happy. He got a furious Tie Domi after him, and lots of reporters threw themselves at him after training.
“Hey Kid”
What then did Lindros think of it all? Kronwall tells in the podcast Släpp Sargen that he took it easy – and answered really unexpectedly.
– The funny thing was that he then, when we were going to play the first match, just before we left, said: “Hi, boy. Just play like you did in the internal match and it will go well ”.
Lindros thus knew that it was not so dangerous to slam on during a training session and took everything with a heel kick, unlike some of his teammates.
– He probably knew that it was a nice tackle, so there were no hard feelings between us. In fact, he was actually fucking nice to me, and invited me to the summer cottage and such. But it was a fun start, and I know that Mats Sundin also came forward and said: “That was the best thing you could have done. Now everyone knows who you are ”.
READ MORE: That time Lidas had to act as an interpreter for the Swede – when Dominik Hasek just roared one and the same word on the ice