Henrik Lundqvist had just received his brand new Lamborghini.
But one detail caused the teammates to break out in anger.
Then there was nothing else for “Henke” to do but go straight back to the car dealer.
Henrik Lundqvist is now retired and an expert on television, but his work for the New York Rangers in the NHL will never be forgotten. For just over 15 years, Lundqvist was one of the world’s absolute best goalkeepers, and during all those years he was the face of the Rangers organization. To say that Lundqvist was a crowd favorite is a major understatement, and it was also what earned him the nickname “King Henrik”.
Henke’s move
Henrik Lundqvist was not only skilled on the ice. He was a leader for his team, and a role model for the younger ones. Anyone who played with Lundqvist can attest to the efforts he made for team cohesion, and how important he was to the winning mentality in the club. And that led to a really close-knit team, no matter what year it was.
– We always hung out, all of us. We did everything together, says former NHL player Brian Boyle, who played for the Rangers from 2009 to 2014.
Boyle also believes that there was a lot of banter between the players in Rangers, and particularly remembers the time when Henrik Lundqvist had bought a brand new Lamborghini, but something was a little odd about it.
– Henrik had just bought a Lamborghini, and he had specially designed it. He says he hadn’t asked the company to do it, but when he shows up… Lamborghini has a special font on the back, but when we go to practice, we saw what Henke had done, says Boyle.
READ MORE: When Henke got the entire hockey world to tan with five beautiful words – after the worst save of his career
Had to change
The odd thing about Lundqvist’s Lamborghini? Instead of the classic text on the back, Henke’s surname was written in the same font.
– The guy had to double check that he was looking right, but then he saw it: It didn’t say “Lamborghini”, but it said “Lundqvist”. Immediately, the white hockey tape came out of the dressing room!, says Boyle.
Of course, the teammates couldn’t keep from mocking Henrik Lundqvist – and it all ended with him having to go back to the car dealer to fix his “mistake”.
– We pressed the tape on each car, and then we wrote our own names on our cars. When we passed Hank, everyone honked and then we pointed to the back of our names. Henrik came in the next day and immediately said: “How come everyone teases me all the time?”. We just said: “Shut up!”, and two days later there was Lamborghini on the back of the car again.
READ MORE: Pekka Lindmark roars and says exactly what he thinks of Henrik Lundqvist: “For me, it’s a given”