PHOTO: Bildbyrån
He is a real cult player in Swedish hockey.
Today we pay tribute to the legendary Anders Carlsson on his 63rd birthday.
And the veteran reveals how he got the nickname “The Mask” in childhood.
The real name is Anders Carlsson but he became “The Mask” with the entire Swedish people during his hockey career. The breakthrough came in Brynäs in the 80s and then went on to Södertälje, the New Jersey Devils in the NHL, Brynäs again, Västerås and finally Leksand during a long and successful career.
Carlsson’s career
Carlsson is actually the only hockey player ever to have played in the top league during the 70s, 80s, 90s and even the 2000s. There were a total of 653 games in the Elitserien, then SHL, and a total of 526 points for Gävlesonen, who today is considered a real cult player.
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The mask can also boast three SM golds at home on the prize shelf as well as double WC gold and triple WC silver with Tre Kronor. Where the World Cup silver in 1986 above all stands out when he single-handedly turned the match against Finland with two goals within half a minute.
– There are many people who still come forward and talk about that, says Masken Carlsson. It never gets annoying, just fun that people remember a couple of goals that I scored almost 30 years ago, he says in an interview with the local newspaper Gefle Dagblad.
The name “The Mask”
But where does the strange nickname actually come from? Well, when Anders was 13-14 years old and was going to run around a lake with his teammates in the soccer team, they stopped to swim instead.
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Then the others in the team thought they were masking and thus a legendary nickname was born. Carlsson could actually have become a successful soccer player instead of a hockey player and was sought after by several Allsvenskan clubs.
But there were financial concerns and squabbling over match prizes in the football team which led Brynä’s hockey team to act instead. Brynäs chairman Henry Jansson would rather have “The Mask” for hockey and saw his golden chance.
– He asked me how much money it was, and when I told him he said “No problem, go and pay them out at our office. But then you have to stop playing football,” Anders says in the interview.
READ MORE: When “The Mask’s” super penalty sent Myllys halfway to the Finnish wasteland
Carlsson got his money and therefore went to the football team to say goodbye to the football chief in Brynäs, Billy Axelsson.
– Billy was pissed, of course, and when I walked out the door he said that I would never become an ice hockey player in my life. We have met several times since then and had fun doing it, says the newly 63-year-old.
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