Robban Nilsson was a star in Switzerland.
Then he got to play with an 18-year-old Auston Matthews – and he is still close friends with the world star.
– We still have fun, he says in the podcast Släpp Sargen.
Robban Nilsson played in both Leksand and Djurgården at home in Sweden, but it was also a long time away in North America. Nilsson, who is the icon Kenta Nilsson’s son, then tested for three years in Russia and the KHL, before moving to Switzerland.
Unexpected friendship
And it was really there that Robban Nilsson enjoyed himself best. He became a star player in Zurich, where he remained for a full seven years, and he managed to win titles and make friends for life. One of these friends was of the somewhat more unexpected kind.
As an 18-year-old, a young North American named Auston Matthews chose, instead of playing in junior leagues, to try out for senior games in Europe. Matthews was an extraordinary talent, and he got to play with “Mini-Magic” for one season. And an unexpected friendship thus took shape.
“Still having fun”
Nilsson tells in the podcast Släpp Sargen about what senseless talent Matthews was. And today he is perhaps the world’s best hockey player, as he won the league last season with 60 hits, and the most prestigious awards.
– He was just as cruel then, ass. It would have been fun to see if we could start playing with each other at the beginning of the season. We started playing with each other after 15 matches. There is a difference between 18-year-olds nowadays, and 18-year-olds now. I thought he was more mature than I was, and I was still 15 years older. It was damn fun to play with him, says Nilsson in the podcast.
Nilsson is asked what it was like to hang out with Matthews next to the ice, as many have the image of him as a “hockey robot”, ie someone who never does anything other than think about his career.
– He could have fun. His mother lived with him in Zurich, and it was the first time he was abroad, sort of. But I hang out with him a bit now that we live in Phoenix, he’s from there too. I know how serious they are with training and all that. But we can still have fun in the evenings, says Nilsson.
And there is no doubt that Nilsson left traces in Matthews as well, some years ago the star said the following:
– Robert was unreal and I loved playing with him. Sometimes I realized that I just went and looked at how good he was, this guy is disgustingly good.
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