PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Dan Labraaten has left a big mark as a hockey player.
Now he reveals the forgotten quarrel with Wayne Gretzky himself.
– He didn’t like me, the Swedish legend admits to Expressen.
Anyone interested in hockey knows very well who Dan Labraaten is, but for the general public he is probably not as well known. But it is an admirable career for which the Swedish legend can feel immense pride.
The career of the labraate
Everything started in little Grums IK, but it was in Leksand that Labraaten would become an icon. He won three SM golds with the Dala club and the total was 363 points in 377 games for Leksand, he is still the fourth best goalscorer in the club’s history.
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Labraaten also salvaged a World Cup silver and four World Cup bronzes with Three Crowns. He is also one of the few Swedes who both played in the teamless professional league WHA and during the wild 70s in the NHL for the teams Winnipeg Jets, Detroit Red Wings and Calgary Flames. Immediately after his playing career, Dan became a talent scout for the New Jersey Devils and worked for the NHL team for a full 28 years, where he was part of three Stanley Cup titles.
Feud with Gretzky
In 2023, Dan Labraaten received great recognition by being elected to the Swedish hockey Hall of Fame. From the long career and all the hundreds of games on the ice, he remembers one moment in particular – when he became unfriended with himself Wayne Gretzky.
– Me and Wayne Gretzky didn’t get along very well. I once wondered why one of our tough guys slipped up on Gretzky and he said, “I don’t want all of Canada on me.” Sure, Gretzky had acquired a certain position because he was so valuable, but he was very quiet. I think he got a bit too much space, he says in an interview with Expressen.
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Then Labraaten and Gretzky were pitted against each other and things really heated up. Few Swedes probably even know about this forgotten brawl when “The Great One” lashed out at the Swede.
– In a training match when I was in Calgary, I played in a chain with a “goon” and one who was not much better and we were matched against Gretzky’s chain. I told my teammates I’m taking Gretzky, I knew I skated better than him, I was always on the right side and I twisted the puck away from him several times. When I pushed him up against the edge, nothing unseemly, he got angry and said: “Go home to Sweden, you bastard,” says Dan to the evening newspaper.
READ MORE: Tommy Salo reveals when he was taken by the police and Kenny Jönsson did the most respectful thing: “Means a lot to me”
Dan Labraaten really pissed off the world’s best hockey player of all time and even after his career, Gretzky was still annoyed with the Swede.
– He didn’t like me. Then there was a fight again in a corner and I put the stick in his chest so he fell over, I thought now I’ll get some of their mischief after me, but no other player did anything or said anything. I think even the people in Edmonton thought that time Gretzky had to fend for himself as he went around talking. Many years later I went over and greeted him in connection with a draft. Then he was still mad, haha, he says in the interview.
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