Photo: Bildbyrån
They met in the meantime in Färjestad and quickly noticed that they were cast in the same mold.
When Mats Lusth moved to Malmö, he wanted his party buddy Peter “Pekka” Lindmark with him.
“We are not exactly the religious types. The impression that became in this team was that when it was celebrated, it was done almost excessively”, writes Lusth in his new book “Oversten från Orsa”.
He was known as a rawhide, a hated (loved by some) and hard back who would not give in to anything. Mats Lusth62, from Dalarna was a professional in Mora, Färjestad, Malmö, Leksand and Västerås in Sweden. But perhaps it was during the years in Karlstad that he was at his best. It was also when he met his best friend: Peter “Pekka” Lindmark67.
The friendship with “Pekka”
He moved to Värmland as a 21-year-old. During the years in Färjestad, both the club and the player Mats Lusth were very successful. They were in three straight finals and won two SC golds during his five years at the club. He also got to know the goalkeeper icon “Pekka” Lindmark, whom FBK recruited from Timrå.
– Me and “Pekka” found each other immediately. We hung out a lot and complemented each other very well. It clicked between us. “Pekka” is still one of my very best friends, says Lusth to Expressen.
When there wasn’t a match, there was always a large group of hockey players out partying and drinking at the pubs in Karlstad. Neither Mats Lusth nor “Pekka” Lindmark spat in the glass. They discovered that they were quite similar to each other, which is why they fit so well together.
READ MORE: Pekka Lindmark reveals the truth about the big claim that he hates training – now admits 40 years later
– We always played on Thursdays and Sundays in the Elitserien at that time. After the Friday training, it happened every now and then that Olle Eastthe club’s general manager, gave me, “Pekka” and some other players SEK 500 so that we could go out and have fun. It was a different time, there were hardly any mobile phones and we weren’t as guarded then as players are today, he says.
Tells about the party
Mats Lusth is very current with a new autobiography that he co-wrote Ronnie Rönnkvist. In “Oversten från Orsa”, the former player, now the coach, talks about how partying and alcohol became a very big part of his, and Lindmark’s, life. Both when they fought together in Färjestad and in the fledgling Malmö IF. There was the contractor Percy Nilsson as chairman and investor and he paid for everything, including the players’ nights out.
“Me and “Pekka” were the first to come to Malmö and we are not exactly the religious types. The character that became this team was that when it was celebrated, it was done almost excessively. That it was too much. Then when it was a match, training or, above all, playoffs, it was hard training. There were fights every week at training,” he writes in the book.
READ MORE: Lasse Granqvist’s beautiful tribute to Pekka Lindmark sends shivers through hockey Sweden: “We shall remember”
Always interesting to hear anecdotes and stories from old players about how it used to be, although in this case it’s quite destructive behaviors that are highlighted.
Mats Lusth and “Pekka” Lindmark are two real legends in Swedish ice hockey. Hats off to that kind of big player.
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