PHOTO: Bildbyrån
It affected both brothers Joel and Henrik Lundqvist enormously.
Now Lundqvist opens up about the tragedy in the family.
– It was very tough for the whole family, he says in the podcast “The road to the top”.
The twin brothers Henrik Lundqvist and Joel Lundqvist are two of Swedish hockey’s biggest profiles on each side of the Atlantic. Both grew up in Åre, then went via Rögle to Frölunda, where they would have their big breakthroughs on the ice.
Henrik’s career
Both would also try their luck in North America and the world’s best hockey league, the NHL. But where “Henke” really left his mark and became one of the world’s best goalkeepers in the New York Rangers, his brother Joel chose to return home to Sweden.
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Where he became faithful to Frölunda over the years and played right up to the age of 41. A few years ago, Henrik Lundqvist was forced to end his goalkeeping career due to heart problems, and this spring, Joel Lundqvist also said goodbye to his career.
READ MORE: Joel Lundqvist’s cheeky gesture towards his brother Henrik Lundqvist – which made hundreds of thousands of Swedes laugh
Joel’s career
Together, they have written Swedish sports history with three WC golds each for Tre Kronor and individually they are great NHL and SHL icons for their successful careers. But behind the successes is a tough family trauma that is now coming to the surface.
Joel Lundqvist opens up about the tragedy that affected both he and his brother Henrik during their hockey careers. For 2007, their father was affected Peter Lundqvist of a brain tumor and only the mother Eva Johansson remained in Sweden to take care of him.
READ MORE: Frölunda has managed to get his dream signing – the Three Kronor Swede is returning to the SHL after a full twelve years
“Very tough”
It became extra difficult as all the children were in North America during that time. Joel lived in Dallas, Henrik lived in New York and sister Gabriella lived in Sacramento.
– He would come in, have an operation and be on sick leave for a month. He was perfectly healthy and able to work. The operation was more complicated than they thought, says Joel Lundqvist in the podcast “Vägen till toppen”.
– It became permanent but so that he could not work after that. We had frequent dialogues with mother in the meantime about whether we should come home and interrupt the season.
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At this time, the father was working as a ski instructor in Åre, but when he woke up he could neither walk nor talk. The doctors found a benign tumor that was deep and blocked some blood vessels.
– It was a very tough event for him and the whole family. It is a very big thing that has affected me in life. My father-in-law also passed away at an early age and that has affected my life and family, admits Joel Lundqvist in the podcast run by the television profile Camilla Nordlund.
Peter Lundqvist has fought his way back to a more normal everyday life these days and can manage on his own today, although he is not fully recovered yet. When Joel Lundqvist received the award as “Most handsome player of the year” at the Hockey Gala on Tuesday evening, the father was there for the tributes to his son.
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