Mattias Ritola was to celebrate the Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup win.
Then he was fooled by teammate Andreas Lilja – and suffered in front of 1.4 million people.
– That bastard !, he says to Hockeypuls.
Mattias Ritola is in Sweden most associated with his many seasons in Leksand. But the forward has also done several seasons in North America – and the fact is that he has actually been involved in celebrating a Stanley Cup title.
Grundlurades
It was the 2007-2008 season that Ritola played in North America for the first time. He belonged to the Detroit Red Wings, but was only allowed to make two appearances during the season, and unfortunately none in the playoffs. The Red Wings had a completely fabulous year, and won the title, which meant that the reserve Ritola also got to be part of the celebration when a player bus went through Detroit.
Andreas Lilja also played in the team, and he was not shy to take the first best chance to fool around a bit with his younger compatriot and teammate.
– We had partyed in the evening after we won in Pittsburgh, and I asked Andreas Lilja about what clothes were on the parade. You do not want to make a mistake as a rookie when it comes to dress code, says Ritola to Hockeypuls.
“That bastard”
Ritola also followed Lilja’s advice, but it was something he had to regret afterwards.
– Lilja told me to put on suit pants and a polo shirt, that bastard (laughs). It was the hottest day of the year, probably 35 degrees outside, and one million people in downtown Detroit. It’s the warmest I’ve experienced, it felt like I was dying, he says.
And with Lilja, and the other players, there was no talk of any suit pants.
– The others appeared on the parade half “on the light” in Hawaiian shirts and shorts. It was not a fucking dress code…
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