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In a podcast, three former hockey players explained the downsides of the sport.
The profile Niklas Wikegård saw many faults with the podcast.
– It was really damn bad, he says to Expressen.
Niklas Wikegård, 60, was a promising hockey talent as a youth. Due to injury problems, his career as a player was cut short, and he switched to hockey coaching. Wanting to be closer to family, he changed direction again after many years, this time becoming a hockey expert on television.
Wikegård’s criticism
In recent years, debates about hockey’s culture have flared up, both in Sweden and internationally. Several players have come forward and described injustices they experienced as hockey players, and the culture of silence they experience within the sport. Last year, the former hockey players did Oscar Alsenfelt, Jonathan Hedstrom and Nils Andersson a podcast on Aftonbladet about the negative sides of sport, under the name “The thing that has never been said”.
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The podcast focused on, among other things, gambling addiction, weight and the macho culture they experienced. But it painted an incorrect picture of hockey, Niklas Wikegård thinks.
– I thought that whole podcast was really damn bad, and that’s because everything was very unvarnished. They thought hockey is the world’s worst sport even though they spent their whole lives in the sport and made good money from the sport. They only presented the negative. It hurt my hockey soul, he says to Expressen.
“More harm than good”
The TV profile admits that the sport has some work to do, but does not think that “The Unsaid” handled it all in a good way.
– I know that there are problems that hockey needs to work on, just like all parts of society. But when you just press the problems without any nuance, it’s wrong for me. That podcast did more harm than good.
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The podcast should have been more nuanced and also covered hockey’s good sides, Wikegård thinks.
– Change involves telling the truth. But the image of future hockey players and their parents became distorted. There are lots of upsides to hockey as well, but they weren’t highlighted, he says to the evening newspaper.
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