Photo: Bildbyrån
Charles Berglund and Mats Sundin played together in Djurgården and Tre Kronor.
During a trip to Toronto a few years later, “Challe” was ruining his friend at a golf club.
– We knew that it was Mats who would get the chance, he says to Sportbibeln.
When Mats Sundin53, broke through in Djurgården in the 1989/1990 season already existed Charles “Challe” Berglund59, there. They only did one season together (and part of the 1994/1995 season when there was an NHL lockout), but still became quite close. They also played a lot together in Tre Kronor.
Not mentioned in the book
Recently, Mats Sundin has released his new autobiography “Tur och retur: My story” which is about his upbringing, his career and life in Canada. Of course, a lot of stories from the time in Djurgården are discussed. However, “Challe” Berglund is never mentioned in the book. The Sports Bible has reviewed every single page and discovered that his name does not appear at all. What does it mean for their relationship, if they even have one today?
Do you have any contact these days?
– Very rarely. I can congratulate him sometimes on the successes with the horses, Borup’s Victory and so on. I meet him at the Elitloppet sometimes. It was probably the last time I met him, at the Elitloppet this year, says “Challe” and continues:
READ MORE: Challe Berglund takes out his absolute dream fifth
– Then I also had contact with him at the beginning of August, also via SMS, because we were going to celebrate a friend, Janne Viktorsonwho turned 60 years old. I asked if he had the opportunity to come along, but unfortunately he couldn’t because he was away.
Funny memory from Toronto
Even though they don’t have much contact today, “Challe” and “Sudden” have still been seen on and off even after their time together in Djurgården. When Sportbibeln asks Berglund to tell a memory he has of Sundin, he will think of a, according to him, funny thing that happened in Canada in the early 2000s
– There was an NHL lockout there in 2004/2005. Me, Janne Viktorson and another friend went over to Mats in Toronto. We went there for five days and played golf on different courses. Then we were at a track called Magna outside of Toronto and he got generous and offered a lot there. The last day we played it was quite cold outside, and at that club you couldn’t pay, but an invoice went to the members, says “Challe”.
READ MORE: Mats Sundin got a shock when he first played with Börje Salming
– So me and Janne Viktorson went in and started to put on lots of clothes, hats, vests, sweaters and stuff. After all, we knew that it was Mats who would get to do the work. Then he came to the end and said: “Now you damn well give up!”. He thought we started picking too much. It was fun.
Earned more than a billion
Enough that it was certainly an expensive story for Mats Sundin, but he could clearly afford that. In December 2022, he told in the podcast The market that he pulled in roughly SEK 830 million during his 18 years in the NHL. With today’s exchange rate, this corresponds to a little over SEK 1.3 billion.
– It’s something you realize if you’ve been in the NHL for many years, it feels like it’s only growing. Players earn even more today in all sports. Ultimately, it’s a matter of interest. How many people find this interesting to follow and watch it on television that drives the big sports industries that the NHL is, he said.
What an incredible memory of “Challe” Berglund, an exciting anecdote about Mats Sundin. It doesn’t seem like that little incident completely ruined their friendship.
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