Peter Forsberg played despite enormous pain in his feet.
It made him sit on the bench during the games – and do what no one else in NHL history has probably done.
– I could barely move, he said.
Peter Forsberg charmed the entire NHL with his fantastic playing style. Foppa was so much more than just a scorer and forward, he could do just about everything on the ice. And with his enormous physique, and his ability to almost never lose the puck, he became a favorite player for so many during his years in the world’s best hockey league.
The injury problems
Forsberg is one of the players in NHL history with the best scoring average, and if only he could have avoided the injuries that dogged him throughout his career, he would have been one of the best scorers in history. But Forsberg was dogged by injuries, and it caused him to miss many games during his prime.
It was the problems in his right foot that were the worst, and the nightmare really began in the summer of 2001, shortly after the Avalanche and Forsberg won their second Stanley Cup title. The pain in his calf became chronic, and after being sidelined for an entire year, he returned for the 2002/2003 season and won the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP, and as the league’s leading scorer with 106 points. But at the end of the season, the pain in the calf came back again, and this time it was barely manageable.
The move on the bench
It forced Forsberg to do something on the bench that no other player in NHL history has probably been forced to do.
– There were many games then, if we were leading by a couple of goals, that I had to take off my skates to let go of the pain, and I was done for that night. But if the opponents scored a couple of quick goals, I had to lace up the skates again and jump in and drive, Forsberg told The Denver Post.
For Forsberg, there was no talk of using his skates several games in a row either, it simply hurt too much.
– I used a new pair of skates for almost every match towards the end, because the feet felt better if everything was hard and the feet were in place. If the skates became a little looser and more used, I could hardly move, says Foppa.
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