Henrik Lundqvist is still the king of Manhattan.
That was proven last night.
The Swede appeared in the stands with two superstars – who shocked everyone.
Henrik Lundqvist was for more than 15 years the face of the New York Rangers, and he is classified as one of the organization’s absolute greatest of all time. Lundqvist was always considered one of the world’s best goalkeepers, and was a crowd favorite of rank in Manhattan.
Henke was praised
Lundqvist never played for another NHL club, and it was not particularly surprising that his jersey number was hoisted to the ceiling of Madison Square Garden after his career ended. The career was forced to end after a heart defect was discovered in Lundqvist, but even though it has been a while since he retired, there is no one who questions his continued enormous popularity in New York.
Lundqvist has worked a lot on TV in the past year, and it is not often that he is seen in the “regular” stands of Madison Square Garden. But last night he was there, and when cameras picked up on this in the second period of the game between the New York Rangers and the Minnesota Wild, the cheers never stopped. But maybe it was also due to the company.
READ MORE: Rasmus Dahlin’s heartwarming gesture to the little supporter – now widely praised: “Incredibly adorable”
The gesture of the stars
Next to Lundqvist sat the Hollywood star, also his countryman, Alexander Skarsgård. On Lundqvist’s other side sat Ryan Reynolds, one of the world’s greatest actors, also a New York resident. Reynolds has a great interest in sports and he owns, among other things, the football club Wrexham, in Wales. He has also been open about his plans to take over the ownership of the NHL club Ottawa Senators.
When Reynolds was filmed on the jumbotron, to the great cheers of the fans, he chose to turn to Lundqvist and give him a big kiss. The same thing had been done by colleague Alexander Skarsgård a while earlier – and on social media everyone is now widely praised for their wonderful gesture. Inside Madison Square Garden, it didn’t take long before Lundqvist’s name was loudly chanted by the crowd.
READ MORE: Börje Salming’s beautiful greeting to two little guys shows how incredibly missed the icon is: “So terribly nice”